A precise integration method for solving coupled vehicle-track dynamics with nonlinear wheel-rail contact

A new method is proposed as a solution for the large-scale coupled vehicle-track dynamic model with nonlinear wheel-rail contact. The vehicle is simplified as a multi-rigid-body model, and the track is treated as a three-layer beam model. In the track model, the rail is assumed to be an Euler-Bernoulli beam supported by discrete sleepers. The vehicle model and the track model are coupled using Hertzian nonlinear contact theory, and the contact forces of the vehicle subsystem and the track subsystem are approximated by the Lagrange interpolation polynomial. The response of the large-scale coupled vehicle-track model is calculated using the precise integration method. A more efficient algorithm based on the periodic property of the track is applied to calculate the exponential matrix and certain matrices related to the solution of the track subsystem. Numerical examples demonstrate the computational accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.