Simulation of curving behaviour under high traction in lubricated wheel-rail contacts

Migration of the flange lubricant to the top of the high rail may compromise the traction of a rail vehicle and affect its curving behaviour. In order to simulate this possible situation, a lubrication model has been coupled to commercial multi-body dynamics software to describe the tangential formulation of the lubricated high-rail contact. Different friction levels have been adopted for the low rail to study their influence on the curving behaviour and traction. Since the creep force in the wheel-rail contact approaches saturation of the friction, the traction control unit of the rail vehicle under study has also been modelled to account for the reduction of the wheel axle torque in the presence of wheel macro-slip.