Finite Element Method in Assessing Strength Properties of a Railway Surface and Its Elements

Abstract

Development of railway infrastructure at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as the speeds of trains in passenger and freight traffic are the result of improving the structure of modern rail vehicles and railway infrastructure optimization. The structure of the railway surface, which enables high speeds and transferring ever greater loads and pressures of up to 25–30 t/vehicle axis, must meet very strict strength and durability requirements. This paper discusses mathematical and numerical tools used in simulation and experimental tests of railway surfaces, as well as its selected elements. Issues addressed in this paper concern, among others, modeling of the railway track, calculations related to its static and dynamic loading, and simulation of the technological process of selected elements of railway turnout. Selected results of the simulation tests on numerical models showing their behavior under different loads are also presented in this paper. The concept of symmetry is included in the possibility of applying the method described in the article both for testing other sections of railway lines, as well as for testing other elements in which stresses occur.

Analysis of potential materials for local production of a rail car component using additive manufacturing

“…Some authors have reported on the behaviours of certain materials when used as a component of the railcar system under different loading conditions. The use of Finite Element Analysis and simulation tools have shown capability for the determination of dynamic behaviour of railcar components (Kukulski et al, 2019;Nejad, 2014).…”

Benefits from Implementing the EPLOS System in Logistics Companies

“…These can be various data, e.g. regarding the demand for materials, transport demand, technical or operational data of equipment and infrastructure [24][25][26]. It is no different when making operational decisions.…”

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“…Investigation of rail vehicles dynamics is one of the main elements in developing new vehicle designs, approval process and shaping and monitoring the railway track geometry [2,10]. A key factor in such investigations is random track irregularities which arise due to repetetive load from running vehicles [11]. These irregularities disturb the railway vehicle motion and result in vehicle vibrations which affect the ride comfort of travelling passengers [6] and the safety of the freight transportation [4,24].…”