Wheel-rail contact mechanics

The scope of this chapter is the modelling of the force balance at the wheel-rail interface in railway vehicles. The focus is on simulation of vehicle dynamics and the requirements imposed on numerical efficiency. The introductory section addresses basic concepts related to profile geometry and contact area and is followed by a section on general models for normally and tangentially loaded contacts. Analytical and numerical methods are treated. The section on wheel-rail-specific solutions concentrates on numerical algorithms for dynamic application. Comparisons between elliptic and nonelliptic models are given. The chapter concludes with a section on vehicle dynamics ranging from simulation of contact conditions to a review of available simulation packages.