Simplified Damage Assessment Tool for Rails and Crossings Based on Standard Wear and RCF Models

A numerical tool is proposed to simultaneously assess various damage mechanisms that are driven by contact loading. The tool transfers loads to the contact-patch level using three contact parameters: the maximum contact pressure (pmax), the creepage (c) and the contact length (2a). The local wear and RCF predictions are implemented based on existing models from the literature. The load input can originate from numerical vehicle–track simulations or manual input of the user. The assessment tool is applied for a finite element analysis of a fixed manganese crossing nose to prove its validity. The algorithm is implemented via an automated Python code, which, on the one hand enables damage prediction for track components based on standard damage models. On the other hand, knowledge of novel local contact damage models can be transferred to the scale of track components.