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Experimental Investigation of Wheel/Rail Rolling Contact at Railhead Edge

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Abstract

Wheel-rail rolling contact at railhead edge, such as a gap in an insulated rail joint, is a complex problem; there are only limited analytical, numerical and experimental studies available on this problem in the academic literature. This paper describes experimental and numerical investigations of railhead strains in the vicinity of the edge under the contact of a loaded wheel. A full-scale test rig was developed to cyclically apply wheel/rail rolling contact load to the edge zone of the railhead. An image analysis technique was employed to determine the railhead vertical, lateral and shear strain components. The vertical strains determined using the image analysis method have been validated with the strain gauge measurements and used for the calibration of a 3D nonlinear Finite Element Model (FEM) that simulates the wheel/rail contact at the railhead edge and use suitable boundary conditions commensurate to the experimental setup. The FEM was then used to determine other states of strains.

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Acknowledgments

The financial support for the experiment and the first author’s scholarship top up given by the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Rail Innovation is acknowledged with thanks. The assistance of CQU laboratory staff to develop the test rig and carryout the testing is thankfully acknowledged. The financial support to the author from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is also appreciated.

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Correspondence to M. Dhanasekar.

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Bandula-Heva, T.M., Dhanasekar, M. & Boyd, P. Experimental Investigation of Wheel/Rail Rolling Contact at Railhead Edge. Exp Mech 53, 943–957 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-012-9701-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-012-9701-6

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