Reducing Turnout Component Deterioration: An Analytical Assessment

Current results and future work for the Association of American Railroads Turnout Performance Research Project are presented. The project is built around the AAR's generalized vehicle dynamics model (NUCARS) to predict the wear and force environment for turnouts. Using NUCARS, it is shown that turnout entry angle can have a significant effect on switch wear. Also, NUCARS was used to show the improved wear performance and the reduced lateral force levels achieved by a typical European number 12 turnout relative to an AREA straight point number 12 turnout. NUCARS is shown to be a useful tool in evaluating turnout designs, and planned enhancements to the model are expected to significantly improve the already good quality of turnout modelling results.