Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2013
The dynamic response of a railway track under a moving train in the presence of adefective wheel is studied. The goal of this study is to establish an efficient dynamicmodel for wheel tread defect analysis. The wheel irregularities which influence the trackvibration characteristics are classified in 2 major types: periodic out-of-roundness andlocal defect. While the periodic irregularities are distributed all around the wheel, thelocal defects such as wheelflats have more impact on the dynamic response. The influenceof each defect depends on its geometrical characteristics and the model parameters. Theseparate effects of different irregularities have been the subject of many previousresearches. However the contribution of each defect to a coupling of irregularities wasnot as much considered. For a comprehensive analysis of all types of defects, an efficientglobal model is presented. It includes 3 sub-models for vehicle, contact force and track.The time-domain responses of the model are evaluated in comparison to those of a finiteelement model. It is shown that the semi-analytical model of the track keeps a goodprecision while being less time consuming. The results of the global model for differenttypes of wheel irregularities are presented.