Development of a simulation model of a high-speed vehicle for a derailment mechanism

During the operation of a high speed railway vehicle, safety is a basic requirement. However, due to the potentially large lateral displacements of the wheelsets, the precise mechanism of derailment is different from conventional vehicles and not fully understood. To obtain correct simulation results for this behaviour it is necessary to select methods for rapid and exact computation of the creep forces, the normal force, and the three-dimensional geometry at each contact point. In this paper, a dynamic model is presented and two types of derailment have been thoroughly investigated. High lateral force is used as a criterion for determining the critical point at which flange climb occurs and the critical speed for impact derailment is derived using the oblique-impact theory. Finally, an assessment method is proposed which distinguishes between the two types of derailment. The simulation model can also be used to identify the factors that lead to greatest risk of derailment.