Effect of the vertical relative motion of stock/switch rails on wheel–rail contact mechanics in switch panel of railway turnout

Abstract

In order to enable the vehicle to change among the tracks, the stock and switch rails are separated and provided with different rail resilience levels on the baseplate in the railway turnout switch panel. Therefore, there will be vertical relative motion between stock/switch rails under wheel loads, and the relative motion will change the combined profile of stock/switch rails and consequently affect the wheel–rail contact mechanics. A method is developed in this article to investigate the effect of the relative motion of stock/switch rails on the wheel–rail contact mechanics along the railway turnout switch panel. First, the possible rigid wheel–rail contact points, called primary and secondary stock/switch rail contact points, are calculated based on the trace line method; second, the actual contact points are determined by the presented equations; finally, the distribution of wheel–rail contact forces on the stock/switch rails is obtained based on the continuity of interface displacements and forces. A numerical example is presented in order to investigate the effect of the relative motion of stock/switch rails on the wheel–rail contact points, stresses, and forces, and the results are presented and discussed.