Investigation of the effects of rail and wheel profiles on vehicle dynamics in light rail vehicles

Issues such as running safety, comfort, wear of rails and wheels are directly related to vehicle dynamics in rail vehicles engaged in urban and interurban passenger transport. Rail vehicle dynamics is the result of the working together of dynamic elements such as suspensions, hydraulic dampers on the bogie, starting from the rail-wheel contact. The first parameter that affects vehicle dynamics is the contact relationship between rail and wheel. This relationship varies according to the profile of the rail and the wheel. In this study, the effect of rail and wheel profiles on vehicle dynamics, running safety and wheel wear conditions were taken into consideration. The analyzes were made using Simpack which is multibody dynamics analysis program. The analyzes were carried out in four different scenarios by creating a dynamic model of a light rail vehicle that is bidirectional and two-module tram, with two different rail and wheel profiles. While creating the dynamic model, first of all, the dynamic elements that will affect the vehicle dynamics are introduced, and then the characteristic features of these elements are given. Running safety analyzes are evaluated within the scope of TS EN 14363 standard, and each rail and wheel profile; derailment ratios, wheel unloading factor and wheel raise values were compared. For the wheel wear analysis, first of all, the wear numbers, which are the determining factors in wear, were found for each scenario, and then the changes in the wheel profile due to wear were compared according to the analyzes. Key words: Light rail vehicle, rail vehicle dynamic, running safety, wear, rail profile, wheel profile