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Civil-Comp Proceedings
ISSN 1759-3433
CCP: 110
PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RAILWAY TECHNOLOGY: RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE
Edited by: J. Pombo
Paper 250

Three-Dimensional Modelling for Rolling Contact Fatigue Crack Growth in Rails

S.H. Mai1, M.L. Nguyen-Tajan1 and A. Gravouil2

1SNCF-Innovation and Research, Paris, France
2Université de Lyon, CNRS INSA-Lyon, LaMCoS, UMR5259, Villeurbanne, France

Full Bibliographic Reference for this paper
S.H. Mai, M.L. Nguyen-Tajan, A. Gravouil, "Three-Dimensional Modelling for Rolling Contact Fatigue Crack Growth in Rails", in J. Pombo, (Editor), "Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Railway Technology: Research, Development and Maintenance", Civil-Comp Press, Stirlingshire, UK, Paper 250, 2016. doi:10.4203/ccp.110.250
Keywords: numerical simulations, XFEM, rail, wheel-rail contact, rail bending, frictional contact, fatigue, crack growth.

Summary
Due to the repeated passage of the wheels, rolling contact fatigue cracks can appear in the surface or subsurface of rails. These defects, such as squats and head-checks, can propagate and lead to rail fracture. If a fracture of the rails occurs, it could cause not only a heavy economic impact (delayed trains, maintenance costs), but also passenger safety (derailment). In order to avoid rail fractures, the French National Railroad Company (SNCF) performs a strict method with both corrective (consolidation or removing of damaged rails, local deep grinding, etc.) and preventive (initial and periodic grinding, periodic monitoring by ultrasound, etc.) maintenance strategy.

This paper investigates the fatigue crack growth in rails using two/three-dimensional numerical simulations with the eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) taking into account the frictional contact between crack faces and the rail bending. Firstly, a description is given of the models and simulation tools that were developed within the consortium IDR2 gathering SNCF, RATP the Parisian metro operator and TataSteel, one of the major rails manufacturers. Secondly, a parametric numerical study is performed using a two-dimensional model to better understand the effect on the fatigue phenomenon of various factors such as the wheel-rail contact forces, the residual stresses, the rail bending and track stiffness, the localization of the cracks (over or between sleepers), the crack path. Finally, a three-dimensional model is used to simulate the growth of different types of crack (on curves, in straight lines) subject to wheel-rail contact fatigue loading.

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