Prediction of Wheel/Rail Interaction: The State-of-the-Art

SUMMARY This paper presents a survey of the state-of-the-art in predicting wheel/rail interaction. Current methods are presented for calculating contact geometry, defining the wheel/rail kinematic expressions, and obtaining contact plane forces due to creep. The paper concludes by examining where future research should be focused. While techniques for predicting wheel/rail interaction have developed considerably over the last twenty years, there is room for still further improvement.