Keywords: finite element method, iterative method, railway track design, track maintenance, vehicle-track interaction, track geometry irregularities.

A co-simulation solution based on direct equilibrium of contact forces is proposed to simulate vehicle-track interaction (VTI) dynamics. It is developed in two platforms, which presents an iterative feedback loop that exchanges contact force files and structure response field in real-time. The load vector acting on the structure is described by a moving Gaussian pulse, which approximates the Dirac-delta function. Through this approach, system matrices are not exported and the additional identification of the correspondence between structure nodes and vehicle positions is avoided, which is contrary to the typical scheme in existing co-simulation methods for VTI problems. The direct information exchange in the current solution simplifies the VTI model development, making it easier for the application in track design and maintenance phase. The solution is demonstrated by a general beam model subject to a quarter car and has been calibrated and verified by benchmark cases coded in MATLAB. The example presented is a baseline model for demonstration purposes. And the proposed scheme allows for flexibility in incorporating more complex structure configurations and vehicle motions for further study.

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