ANALYSIS OF WHEEL-RAIL CONTACT PRESSURE USING THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

• Main Author: Revaldi, Mochammad
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/84980
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Contact between wheels and rails is a critical element in rail transportation systems. High contact pressure can lead to the risk of premature failure and damage to wheel and rail components. This research examines the phenomenon of rail wheel contact pressure on trains and its influencing factors with the Finite Element Method using ANSYS Static Structural software simulation. In this study, DD and CC wheel designs with R60 and R54 profiled railroad rails with a slope of 1:40 were used. The modeling was validated with analytical calculations of the Hertzian method. The results showed that the FEM provided a fairly accurate estimation of the maximum contact pressure. A comparison between the DD and CC wheels and the R60 and R54 rails revealed that the maximum contact pressure varied significantly. The DD wheel showed a lower maximum contact pressure than the CC wheel, which is most likely due to the geometry. The contact pressure at a load of 100 kN received by the R60 rail on the CC wheel was 1281 MPa, while that on the DD wheel was 1249 MPa, the contact pressure on the CC wheel was 1269 MPa, while that on the DD wheel was 1254 MPa. This difference shows that wheels with smaller radii produce higher contact pressure values. The case study when the wheel and rail are on a curved track showed that a high contact pressure of 2943 MPa at the rail head angle was identified as the main risk factor that could trigger significant damage to the rail when the wheel is on a curved track.