A Fast Wheel-Rail Forces Calculation Computer Code

In the simulations of rail vehicle dynamic behaviour, the computation of wheel-rail forces is repeated many times. Therefore a short calculation time is very important. A fast algorithm and computer code for the computation of wheel-rail forces under known contact geometry and creep and spin conditions is presented in the paper. The proposed method assumes ellipsoidal contact area and normal stress distribution according to Hertz. Because of the short calculation time it can be used instead of simple formulas to improve the accuracy or as a substitution of Kalker’s programme FASTSIM to save the computation time. The method has been tested and used in different simulation tools with very good experience. The computer code and some test results given in the appendix allow to apply this method in the user’s own computer simulation programmes.