Analysis of Three Dimensional Elastic-Plastic Stresses of Rail under Non-Ellipse Contact Area

The calculation of wheel/rail contact stresses is an important project in wheel/rail relations. In this paper, a model forwheel/rail with arbitrary profiles contacting in an arbitrary point is built to calculate contact area and contact surface stresses. Then bytakingthe calculated surface stresses as applied load, the stresses inside the railhead are calculated through the three dimensional elastic-plastic finite element method. Final calculations showthat the method presented in this paper is applicable to the calculation of wheel/rail contact stresses characterized by complex profiles.