The Numerical Simulation of the Fatigue Analysis of UIC60 and 49E1 Rails for High Speed Moving Trains
İsmail Esen Mehmet Akif Koç Mustafa Eroğlu Yusuf Cay
AbstractIn this study, fatigue analyses of rails UIC60 and 49E1 were carried out numerically using a special program written in the MATLAB environment, considering the maximum dynamic stresses for two different rail systems under the effect of highspeed trains. Each sleeper region of the railway rail system is modelled as a simple supported Euler-Bernoulli beam. The highspeed train system is defined as a moving oscillator with fixed distances between them. For motion equations, the Lagrange function is determined by using kinetic and potential energies of the system and then Hamilton principle is applied. These differential equations are solved by using the fourth order RungeKutta method in time domain to determine the value of the maximum stresses generated, and its position on the rail. For a 40 tons of vehicle load the fatigue behaviour of UIC60 rail is found greater than the 49E1 rail. Using these data, the life determinations of these two different rails could then be numerically determined without the need for laborious, time consuming and costly experimental methods.