Keywords: geometrical analysis, explicit finite element, turnout, transition, switches and crossing.

In this paper, a coupling strategy for analysing wheel-turnout interaction is presented. It attempts to take the advantage of the guidance of two dimensional static geometrical contact analysis and the accuracy of the three-dimensional explicit finite element analysis. Prior to the three-dimensional finite element analysis, the initial contact locus, the relative position and the normal clearance between the wheel and the turnout are determined for the different lateral shifts of the wheelset with a two-dimensional geometrical contact analysis. These contact properties will serve as guidance for the refining process so as to restrain the calculation expense of the finite element simulation to an acceptable level. From the explicit simulation results it can be seen that the P1 and P2 responses caused by the transition process from the wing rail to the crossing nose are comparable with the results from multibody simulation. And also, the detailed stress-strain response and the contact properties has been captured during the transition region. The transition distances obtained from both the two-dimensional geometrical and the three-dimensional finite element model are compared with the field measurements. This verification shows that the simulated transition distances agree quite well with the field measurements. It can be concluded that the coupling strategy of the two-dimensional geometrical and the three-dimensional finite element analysis is a robust and effective procedure for dealing with wheel-switches and crossing interaction problems.

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