To improve the understanding of dynamic impact in 1:9 crossing panel, which is suffering from rapid surface degradation, detailed modelling and experimental studies are performed. A three-dimensional explicit finite element (FE) model of a wheel rolling over a crossing rail, that has an adaptive mesh refinement procedure coupled with two-dimensional geometrical contact analyses, is developed. It is demonstrated that this modelling strategy performs much better than the ‘conventional’ FE modelling approach. Also, the experimental validations show that the FE results agree reasonably well with the field measurements. Using the validated FE model, the tribological behaviour of contact surfaces is studied. The results indicate that the proposed modelling strategy is a promising tool for addressing the problems of wheel-crossing dynamic impact.@en

Verification of the explicit finite element (FE) model with realistic wheel-rail profiles against the CONTACT model, which has not been sufficiently discussed, is performed by comparing the resulting shear stress, slip-adhesion area, etc., obtained from the two models. The follow-up studies using the verified FE model on the influence of the varying operational patterns (such as different friction, traction, etc.) on the surface and subsurface tribological responses of wheel-rail interaction are accomplished through a series of simulations. It can be concluded that the results obtained from most of the explicit FE simulations agree reasonably well with the ones from CONTACT. Also, the increase of the friction and traction can bring the stress concentrations from the subsurface upwards to the surface.@en

In this paper, a numerical procedure for surface crack propagation analysis is proposed. The complex stress-strain state for wheel-rail (W/R) contact is analysed by means of the sub-modelling approach together with the transient dynamic W/R rolling contact simulation. For that purpose, a three-dimensional semi-elliptical surface crack model is developed and utilized to analyse the stress/strain field around the crack tip. The validity of this procedure has been successfully confirmed using a comparison of simulation results and cutting boundary verification. The fracture parameters that are commonly used to characterize the crack propagation tendency are calculated with the domain integral approach. The influence of the crack geometry on the variation of the fracture parameters is assessed. Based on the results obtained, it was concluded that the proposed procedure is effective and efficient enough to perform the crack propagation analysis. @en