Could laser-based profile measurements be used in wheel/rail contact and vehicle dynamics simulations?

Contact-based profilometers have been the de facto standard in obtaining wheel and rail profiles for the purposes of vehicle-track and wheel-rail interaction studies. Still, they cannot collect profiles in large quantities. This paper explores the potential of laser-based profilometers for wheel and rail profile measurements in vehicle-track dynamic simulations. Comparisons between contact and laser-based profilometers were performed using sample rail profiles measured in the lab. Through contact simulations, contact preprocessing and multi-body dynamics simulations (MBD), differences in contact pressures, forces, and Y/Q were analyzed. The importance of data processing and profile smoothing is also discussed. Axle sum Y/Q showed the smallest differences between the two sets of profiles, with more than 80% of the MBD simulations having less than 10% difference. While far from perfect, the ability of wayside and vehicle-mounted laser profilometers can enable analyses to be performed at a much larger scale. The authors hope this work will lead to an open-minded approach to continue evaluating laser-based profiles in simulations.