Zur Finite-Element-Modellierung des stationären Rollkontakts von Rad und Schiene

Scope of this work is the preparation of a suitable simulation tool for the numerical investigation of rolling contact phenomena. The main focus lies on the continuum–mechanical formulation of the mechanical field problem of contacting bodies and its numerical solution within the framework of the Finite Element Method. For reducing the numerical effort in rolling contact simulation, induced by the necessity of a very fine discretization within the expected contact area, a relative–kinematical description is utilized. This arbitrary LAGRANGian–EULERian approach is based upon the decomposition of the total motion into a rigid body motion and a superimposed deformation. The derivation of the equation of motion for the contact problem requires the relative–kinematical formulation of the continuum– mechanical fundamental equations, i. e. the balance equations and the constitutive relations. A suitable contact model including the contact of rough surfaces and varying contact boundary conditions is also necessary. The physical embedding into the environment is accomplished by NEUMANN and DIRICHLET boundary conditions. Based upon that foundation the elastomechanics’ equations of motion are derived, which however can not be solved analytically in general. Hence, the equations of motion are transferred into their weak form by the application of the principle of virtual displacements serving for the numerical solution. The implementation of the problem demands for an incremental and discrete formulation of the equations, especially regarding the terms of inertia and the contact terms. Thereby, special attention has to be paid to the distinction between sticking and sliding within the framework of the tangential contact analysis. The numerical solution of the finite elements’ system of equations provides the state of stress, displacement and contact of two bodies in rolling contact. The reliability of the developed algorithms is finally verified by means of meaningful numerical examples for both static contact and for stationary rolling contact, whereby the numerical results coincide well with available analytical reference solutions.