Research on wheel wear of the light rail transit based on a modified semi-Hertzian contact model

Abstract

Purpose While the normal wheel–rail contact model cannot be accurately used for light rail transit (LRT) wheel wear analysis with large wheelset lateral displacement and wheelset yaw angle, a modified semi-Hertzian contact model (MSHM) is proposed in the paper. Design/methodology/approach MSHM was first proposed to consider the wheelset motion with the lateral displacement and the yaw angle. Then, a dynamic model of an LRT was established and the influence of some key factors on wheel wear is analyzed. At last, after operating for a certain mileage, the predicted wheel wear is compared with the tested wheel wear. Findings Compared with the tested wheel wear, the predicted wheel wear shows a good agreement with the measured result, verifying the accuracy of MSHM. Originality/value Considering larger wheelset lateral displacement and yaw angle, MSHM can be used to calculate the wheel wear of the LRT with high accuracy.