LOCAL FORCES IN THE CONTACT AREA BETWEEN SYNTHETIC WHEEL AND STEEL RAIL

This paper shows the normal pressure and tangential shear stress in the contact surface between wheel and rail. A measurement system has been developed to measure the contact stresses. Synthetic wheels with a much lower modulus of elasticity than steel wheels are suitable for determining local forces experimentally. Contact measurements can thus be obtained to the nearest centimeter with relatively low normal forces. The theoretical results of the normal pressure and tangential shear stress are calculated with the theory of Hertz 1 , Bufler 2 , Kalker 3 and Wang/Knothe 4 .