Modeling of railway turnout geometry in the frog area with the vehicle wheel trajectory

Abstract

In this study, three functions including the ‘V’, ‘U’, and ‘S’ shapes are considered for the analysis of alignment around the turnout in the frog area. The gap between the wing and nose rails is presented as an irregularity function that could be illustrated as a rectangular, single-slope, or double-slope trough model, and the dimension of the wheel of the vehicle is taken into account for the trajectory analysis. The wear and grinding of the nose rail are also demonstrated in detail. The vertical vibrations of the vehicle are simulated as passing through the functional model of the turnout. The results showed that the combination of an S-shaped alignment and a double-slope trough model could be suitable for the analysis of the turnout geometry in the frog area.