High-frequency vertical wheel–rail contact forces—Validation of a prediction model by field testing

The computer program DIFF, which is being developed at CHARMEC since the late 1980s, is used to simulate vertical vehicle–track interaction at high frequencies, from about 20 Hz to at least 2000 Hz. Measured results from two field test campaigns are used to validate the vehicle–track interaction model. The first test case involves impact loads from a wheel flat, while the other case studies the influence of a corrugated rail on dynamic vertical wheel–rail contact forces. Four vehicle models and two visco-elastic track models are compared. The track models are calibrated versus test data from laboratory and field tests. Input data on rail and wheel roughness are taken from field measurements. Good agreement between calculated and measured vertical contact forces is observed, both with respect to magnitude and frequency content, for most frequencies below 2000 Hz. The best agreement is obtained when using a vehicle model that accounts for both wheelsets in a bogie, instead of using a single wheelset model.