Dynamic response and wear analysis of a swing nose crossing in heavy haul railways

Abstract Swing nose crossings (SNXs) have been widely used in heavy haul railways to create a smoother load transfer and hence reduced impact load. However, the current design of SNXs hasn’t been fully examined under heavy haul operating conditions. Additionally, maintenance guidelines for SNX wear-related issues in Australian heavy haul railways are relatively lacking. As such, this study aims to investigate the dynamic response of the wheel–rail contact and analyse the wear performance of an SNX currently used in Australian heavy haul railways. Dynamic implicit–explicit finite element analysis was conducted to simulate the wheel–rail contact along the SNX. The distribution of the wear intensity over the SNX was identified by using a local contact-based wear model. The influence of various scenarios on wear was also explored. The results verify the improved dynamic performance of the SNX, as the increased contact force after load transfer remains below 1.2 times the static load. The findings also indicate that the decrease in relative height and increase in nose rail inclination result in greater wear on the nose rail. Notably, the SNX considered in the current study exhibits better wear performance when used with moderately worn wheels.