Keywords: finite element method, wheel rail contact, thermomechanical coupling, plastic dissipation, squat damage, dissipation by friction.

The aim of the project, described in this paper, is to develop numerical models of the wheel/rail contact that can be used to run simulations in order to understand the conditions of the appearance of the rolling contact fatigue defects. The models, in this project, were developed using finite element method with geometrical and material non-linearities (elastoplastic behaviour with isotropic hardening, contact modelling, finite sliding, etc.). In order to characterize the dissipation due to friction in the contact, the thermomechanical coupling is also taken into account: the friction dissipation as a thermic action and the temperature dependent variations of the mechanical characteristics. Firstly, a two dimensional model is used for a rapid analysis of the influence of various parameters on the simulation such as, the mesh refinement, boundary conditions effects, friction coefficient and sliding speed. When the factors are sufficiently analysed in the two-dimensional model, a three-dimensional model is then used in order to take the three-dimensional effects into account. The hypotheses used in the two-dimensional model are strong, thus, it is possible to have an idea of the curve tendencies using the two-dimensional model, but the numerical values have to be verified using a full three-dimensional model.

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