Abstract
This paper describes a method to predict wear rates and time until fatigue crack initiation. A computer simulation of ratcheting wear is used to model the accumulation of plastic shear deformation in the rail and predict the wear rate, based on wheel-rail contact conditions. Contact data for two types of high speed trains at two sites on the East Coast Mainline, U.K., have been obtained from multi-body simulations of train-track interaction. Together with fracture mechanics models for larger cracks, these models provide guidelines for rail grinding in order to optimize rail life and safety.
