Siberian State Industrial University, Novokuznetsk, Russia

A. A. Umanskiy, Dr. Eng., Associate Prof., Director of the Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science, e-mail: umanskii@bk.ru
R. A. Shevchenko, Cand. Eng., Associate Prof., Dept. of Ferrous Metallurgy and Chemical Engineering, e-mail: shefn1200@mail.ru

EVRAZ West-Siberian Metal Plant, Novokuznetsk, Russia

R. N. Molokanov, Technical Director, e-mail: molokanov@evraz.com
A. S. Simachev, Cand. Eng., Director of the Materials Science Shared Use Center, e-mail: simachev_as@mail.ru

In order to substantiate the directions for improving the shape of the cross-section of railway rails of type P71, contact stresses arising during the operation of these rails have been modeled in relation to various variants of the shape of the head of their profile. In addition to varying the shape of the rail head, the multivariate modeling also included varying the amount of rail deflection and the amount of displacement of the railway wheels relative to the rolling axis. According to the data obtained, the lowest value of contact stresses at the standard rail slope (1/20) is formed when the profile head is outlined according to the type of Japanese rails. In the case of deviations from the standard value of the rail slope, both in the direction of increase and in the direction of decrease, the lowest contact stresses were recorded for rails with a profile head shape similar to American Arema rails. For all the considered rail profiles, it has been shown that the displacement of the wheels relative to the rolling axis, both during narrowing and widening of the track within the permissible limits, does not have a significant impact on the magnitude of the contact stresses. Additional studies have revealed a significant influence of the uneven wear of the rolling surface of railway wheels on the increase in the magnitude of the contact stresses in the rails; however, the relative impact of wheel wear on the magnitude of the contact stresses varies significantly (by a factor of 2 or more) depending on the rail profile and the magnitude of the rail slope.
This research was supported by grant No. 25-29-00415 from the Russian Science Foundation, https://rscf.ru/project/25-29-00415/.

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