Calculation of locomotive traction force in transient rolling contact

Abstract

To represent the wheel–rail contact in numerical simulations of rail vehicles, simplified models (Fastsim, Polá́ch etc.) are usually employed. These models are designed for steady rolling only, which is perfectly suitable in many cases. However, it is shown to be limiting for simulations at very low vehicle speeds, and therefore it does not actually allow simulation of vehicle running at arbitrarily variable speed. The simplified model of transient rolling, which involves calculation of the stress distribution in the discretised contact area, overcomes this disadvantage but might be unnecessarily complex for more simple simulations. In this paper, an approximative creep force computation method for transient rolling is presented. Its purpose is not to study the transient phenomena themselves but provide a simple and readily available way to prevent incorrect results of the numerical simulation when the vehicle speed approaches zero. The proper function of the proposed method is demonstrated by a simulation of start-up and interrupted sliding of a four-axle locomotive.