Modeling of adhesion for railway vehicles

This paper describes the development of a mathematical model and application of the numerical results to predict the adhesion forces between wheels and rails. The adhesion force is realized on a small area of a wheel–rail contact. Many factors have an influence on the adhesion process for these surfaces (e.g., environment, pollution, parameters and conditions of railway vehicle service, track, etc.). The paper focuses on different modelling aspects. Experimental investigation on the process of friction in the contact zone wasperformed. The data obtained were used to create a mathematical model. The adhesion, which is dependent on load from the wheel to the rail, temperature, friction conditions in the contact zone and wheel slip, was calculated. Finally, a quick method to determine the adhesion force between the wheels (wheel pair) of a railway vehicle and rails (rail track) is presented.