Vehicle System Dynamics

International Journal of Vehicle Mechanics and Mobility

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/nvsd20

Development of a Digital Twin for prediction of rail

surface damage in heavy haul railway operations

Sanjar Ahmad, Maksym Spiryagin, Qing Wu, Esteban Bernal, Yan Sun, Colin
Cole & Bruce Makin

To cite this article: Sanjar Ahmad, Maksym Spiryagin, Qing Wu, Esteban Bernal, Yan
Sun, Colin Cole & Bruce Makin (2023): Development of a Digital Twin for prediction of
rail surface damage in heavy haul railway operations, Vehicle System Dynamics, DOI:
10.1080/00423114.2023.2237620

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00423114.2023.2237620

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa

UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis
Group.

Published online: 20 Jul 2023.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 208

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=nvsd20
VEHICLE SYSTEM DYNAMICS
https://doi.org/10.1080/00423114.2023.2237620

Development of a Digital Twin for prediction of rail surface

damage in heavy haul railway operations
Sanjar Ahmad a,b , Maksym Spiryagina,b , Qing Wua,b , Esteban Bernala,b , Yan Suna,b ,
Colin Colea,b and Bruce Makinc
a Centre for Railway Engineering, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Australia; b Australasian
Centre for Rail Innovation, Canberra, Australia; c Arc Infrastructure, Perth, Australia

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Rail surface damage occurs due to repeated overstressing of the Received 27 September 2022
surface by wheel-rail contact cycles, which is also known as rolling Revised 13 March 2023
contact fatigue, and causes regular costly maintenance expenses to Accepted 15 March 2023
railways. The preventive strategies to reduce rail damage can be KEYWORDS
conservative if it is not based on measured data. A validated digi- Digital Twin; rolling contact
tal model of the physical system can provide data for maintenance fatigue; predictive
decision. Interaction between a physical system and a digital model maintenance; advanced
has evolved at the beginning of this century into a new process com- simulation; rail wear
monly referred to by the term ‘Digital Twin’. There is a lack of a Digital
Twin framework in decision-making on railway maintenance. The
term Digital Twin is often confused with advanced simulation meth-
ods where the communication of data is only one way, i.e. sensor or
design data of the physical system input to a model. In this paper, a
Digital Twin has been developed to predict rolling contact fatigue rail
surface damage, corresponding to traffic passing along a railway net-
work. Differences between the Digital Twin and advanced simulation
techniques have been presented. Finally, a predictive assessment
tool has been proposed to provide prediction from the Digital Twin
to the physical twin, and results are discussed.
Abbreviations: AS: Advanced Simulations; DS: Digital Shadow; DT:
Digital Twin; HPC: High Performance Computing; LTS: Longitudi-
nal Train Simulation; MBS: Multibody Simulation; MGT: Million Gross
Tonnes; NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration; RCF:
Rolling Contact Fatigue

1. Introduction
Rail surface damage occurs due to repeated overstressing of the surface by wheel-rail con-
tact load cycles [1]. The damage due to repeated wheel-rail contact is known as Rolling
Contact Fatigue (RCF). Heavy haul rail lines face more RCF due to the consistency of speed,
load, and uni-directional loaded train travel which results in regular repeated load cycles on
the rails. RCF has been considered a dominant reason for rail replacement, maintenance,
rail failure, and safety concerns [1]. Due to the high cost involved in rail replacement and

CONTACT Sanjar Ahmad s.ahmad@cqu.edu.au

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been
published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
2 S. AHMAD ET AL.

failure, preventive rail grinding is used in railways which may also be conservative. To find
a solution to the RCF problem and management, rail and wheel wear models have been
extensively studied [2–7]. Researchers often use empirical relationships and engineering
assessments to obtain an estimation of wear on rail and wheels [3,8]. The experimental
estimation of rail wear often involved a controlled experiment with twin discs of equivalent
wheel and rail geometry [2].
The rail surface damage depends on contact geometry between wheel and rail which is
nearly impossible to measure during operation because of the inaccessibility of the contact
zone by a physical sensor. Multibody simulation allows estimating the contact patch area
using theories such as a fast algorithm for a simplified theory of rolling contact, modified
Fastsim, or extended contact algorithm [9–11].
With the advent of improved computing power, digitisation, and model-based system
engineering, the use of virtual product models has increased [12]. The virtual model can
coexist and interact with the physical system over the whole life cycle of the product-
design, manufacturing, usage, and service [13]. The virtual model that can communicate
with its physical system is regarded as the Digital Twin (DT) of the physical product.
The concept of DT has gained popularity recently in the field of railway engineering
[14–16]. However, there is a lack of a framework in applying a DT to the advancement
of rail vehicle simulations. A review of what constitutes a DT and application of DT in rail
vehicle simulation has been performed in this paper. In this paper, a DT has been developed
to provide rail surface damage indications along a railway route. The model representing
the situation more realistically by using the co-simulation approach between the train and
individual wagon is in this article referred to as a Digital Twin (DT) as distinct from the
other models Advanced Simulation (AS) and Digital Shadow (DS), although all the mod-
els compared here could serve as the basis for a DT. The DT developed in this paper uses
advancements in simulation techniques in Longitudinal Train Simulation (LTS), Multi-
body Simulation (MBS), and Co-simulation between simulation environments (including
power traction system simulations in Matlab/Simulink) that allows creating a more precise
digital world replica of a physical system. The proposed DT combines both model-driven
and data-driven approaches. The differences between a DT compared with either an AS or
a DS have been explained with a case study. Finally, an example case of using a DT for pre-
diction of Rolling contact fatigue (RCF) data on a rail along the track has been presented
and the results are discussed.

1.1. DT characteristics
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) believed that the DT was a
kind of simulation of a vehicle or system by using the best available physics-based models,
sensor updates, and fleet history to depict the states of the flying twin [17]. Glaessgen
and Stargel defined the DT as an integrated multi-physics, multiscale, probabilistic sim-
ulation of a complex product, which functions to mirror the life of its corresponding twin
[18]. A DT is not only representing the standalone model but also focuses on the bilateral
interdependency of the virtual and physical representations. This two-way communica-
tion between the physical model and the DT in real-time ensures interactive maintenance
during the operational activities and can adapt to modify the DT accordingly. Schleich
et al. [12] explained two-way communication as twinning between a physical system and a
 VEHICLE SYSTEM DYNAMICS 3

corresponding digital system by observation and prediction respectively. The information

transfer from the physical system to the digital system would be by sensors and obser-
vation. The prediction from the digital system to the physical system relies on scientific
assumptions, simulations, virtual testing of models, and consideration of uncertainty for
certain characteristics [12].
The use of a DT can provide ideas for vehicle development, intelligent operation and
maintenance of infrastructure, a virtual test of unmanned driving, and live traffic analysis
[19]. Tao suggested that a DT should consist of five dimensions, namely physical objects,
virtual models, data, services, and the connections between them [20]. Most researchers
agreed that a high-fidelity model and real-time interaction between physical and virtual
spaces are the main features of a DT [13,21,22].
One of the benefits of the DT is regarded as deciding on undertaking maintenance based
on technical conditions rather than regular preventive measures [23]. This would lead to
predictive maintenance which would determine the maintenance schedule when it is nec-
essary rather than relying on routine maintenance [24]. A data-driven approach to manage
track maintenance was proposed in [25]. The data-driven system relies on near real-time
monitoring of track by track-recording cars. The data obtained by sensors need to be pre-
processed to train a machine-learning algorithm to use for predictive maintenance [24].
The data in the server can be compared with a reference point to achieve a desired outcome
to be applied as input to a physical system [26].
A data-driven approach needs big data which must be sourced from physical sensors or
digital simulation. There is a limitation on physical sensor data as not all parameters can be
obtained physically. To overcome this shortage of sensor data, a digital model of the phys-
ical system can be used to generate additional sensor data that can be used for predictive
maintenance. The use of a digital model is also useful to test various severe conditions that
are not possible to test in a regular operation.
Wright and Davidson [27] identified three important parts of the DT of an object based
on definitions of various sources, namely a model of the object, an evolving data set relat-
ing to the object, and a means of dynamically updating the model based on that data. It
was also noted that a DT must have a corresponding physical object. Without the physical
object, the DT would be considered just a model. DTs for design can be implemented at the
prototype stage where test data from the prototype can be used to update the parameters
in the digital model. The results from the digital model, engineering understanding, and
previous experience can be used to predict the performance of the physical model. The
process of improvement in design can continue by doing extra iterations in a controlled
environment.
In the case of high-value engineering applications, the success of prediction by the DT
would require a system that can input supplier data, in-house testing results, and online
and offline measurement results into a DT of a product [27]. Depending on the accuracy
of the model and data, the DT of the product can supply rapid performance predictions.
Schwarz and Wang [28] identified that the presence of communication is a key differ-
entiator between DTs and models. Three terminologies were introduced – digital model,
digital shadow, and DT. A digital model represents an equivalent characteristic of a physi-
cal model but does not provide any communication or data exchange between physical and
digital products. In the digital shadow, data is only transferred one-way from the physical
to the digital system. In the DT, data are exchanged in both directions.
4 S. AHMAD ET AL.

Application of a DT is useful if there is a change in parameters during operation such

as wear in machinery influencing performance [27]. A DT is applied not only during
conceptualisation, prototyping, testing, and optimisation phases, but also during the oper-
ational phase so as to encompass the complete product life cycle and beyond to improve
performances throughout the lifecycle and disposal of a product [26]. At the operational
stage, the success of the DT depends on the availability of real-time data from the physical
system.

1.2. DT in rail vehicle simulation

Krishna et al. [14] proposed a method to calculate long-term rail surface damage using
a 1-D longitudinal train simulation and a 3D multibody simulation of multiple vehicles
in parallel. To reduce the modelling effort, the authors opted to model the first locomo-
tive and four equally placed wagons in the train to obtain a reasonable approximation
of wear over the whole train. A weighting of wear based on results of wear on locomo-
tives and wagons was used to scale the wear limit corresponding to the tonnage passed.
It was proposed that the rail profiles be updated by taking into consideration the wear
and RCF at every time step. The rail profile would also be updated when a grinding inter-
val was reached. The grinding operation would add grind profile depths on top of the
vehicle-induced wear depth. In addition to that, the grinding application would remove
cracks which would require resetting the RCF to zero. The method proposed by Krishna
et al. [14] uses the LTS data (acting forces and kinematic state variables on each vehicle)
as an input and then runs MBS on selective track sections using the inputs from LTS.
This method can be considered as an advanced simulation technique as LTS and MBS
were run separately and no communication between the model and physical system was
formulated.
Sun et al. [15] proposed a DT approach by using a multibody model of a train that
had 11 multi-body wagon models connected with a longitudinal coupler model. However,
communication between the numerical modelling and the physical train operational envi-
ronment was not provided, hence the method does not fulfil the DT criteria. However, as
it used data from the physical track structure, it fulfils the definition of the digital shadow
approach.
Using advanced simulation models of locomotives, track and traction, a method has
been presented in [16] to perform shakedown analysis of rails. Advanced simulation
approaches such as variable wheel-rail frictions, including locomotive traction mecha-
tronic system using co-simulation between MBS and Simulink were implemented in [16].
In the simulation approach in [16], the train operational data, field measurements, and
experimental data were added as inputs to the advanced numerical model of the loco-
motive. Post-processing was performed to present a shakedown analysis for the variety
of operating conditions on a 240 m section of track. A variety of notch conditions (1–8)
were used at two speeds (20 and 70 km/h) travelling over both tangent and curved track
to generate 48 simulation studies. It follows that a large number of simulation cases would
be required considering a wide range of measured and operational conditions for a wear
prediction tool.
The literature review on rail vehicle simulation showed that a framework to separate the
‘DT’ term from advanced simulation techniques is lacking.
 VEHICLE SYSTEM DYNAMICS 5

Figure 1. Methodology to develop a DT for prediction of rail surface damage.

2. Methodology
A methodology to develop a DT to predict rail surface damage has been presented in
Figure 1. The starting point of the development of the DT would be taking initial inputs
from a physical system. In the case of a rail surface damage study, the physical system would
generate parameters of train configuration and driving commands, vehicle parameters
(locomotives and wagons), track geometry, plus wheel and rail profiles.
The inputs of the physical twin would be added in a DT. In the case of train sim-
ulation, the digital model would consist of train and individual vehicle models. The
train modelling considers longitudinal train dynamics whereas the individual vehicle
models would consider detailed 3D modelling of each vehicle including their sus-
pension models, track irregularity parameters, and wheel-rail contact to represent the
actual vehicle dynamics in a digital model. Longitudinal train simulation provides
coupler forces (longitudinal and lateral), plus speed and notch (driving command)
information.
A detailed modelling of vehicle components including wheel and rail contact is nec-
essary for evaluating rail surface damage which can be implemented in an MBS tool. It
can be noted that LTS does not explicitly include wheel and rail contact models which
means the resistance equation in LTS does not consider the friction forces on the wheel
and rail contact. As a result the LTS provides a simplistic resistance values to vehicles com-
pared to MBS and resulted in variation in speed, and position of vehicles compared to that
obtained in MBS. In an advanced simulation method, the two different software LTS and
6 S. AHMAD ET AL.

MBS packages were connected using a TCP/IP interface to synchronise speed, the position
of vehicles, and realised traction effort on vehicles on LTS and MBS [29].
It is necessary to provide feedback to the physical system to fulfil the requirement of a
DT. It is proposed that the results of the MBS system would be stored in a data server that
would provide predictive feedback to the physical system using a predictive assessment
advice tool.
In this paper, a method has been developed to use the RCF results in the data server in a
predictive analysis tool to assist predictive management of RCF. An example to implement
grinding cycles based on RCF damage has been demonstrated.

2.1. Parameters for RCF Study

The study of rail wear is often based on a parameter called wear number expressed in [8] as
the term Tgamma (Tγ ) which is defined as the sum of the product of traction forces and
creepages (longitudinal and lateral) at the contact patches. In a later study, it was found
that the angular creepage or spin creepage on wheel and rail contact patches affect the RCF
significantly in the flange of the wheel and the gauge corner of the rail [30]. Hence, in
this paper, the Tgamma calculation uses longitudinal, lateral, and spin creepage (Equation
(1)) [31].

T γ = T x γ x + T y γ y + Ms γ s (1)

where Tγ is the energy dissipated at the contact also presented as Tgamma (Nm/m), Tx is
the longitudinal creep force (N), Ty is the lateral creep force (N), Ms is the spin moment
(Nm), γx is the longitudinal creepage (m/m), γy is the lateral creepage (m/m), γs is the spin
creepage (1/m).
Rail surface damage can be calculated using two methods, namely Fatigue Index by
Shakedown Map [32,33] and Rolling Contact Fatigue Index by Tgamma [8]. In this study
the RCF index by the Tgamma method has been used to demonstrate the application of
the DT.
A piece-wise-linear model approach correlating RCF and wear with Tgamma, origi-
nally developed by RSSB UK in [8] and subsequently modified for hardened rail (Figure 2)
in [34] has been used in this paper. For a hardened rail (example, R370CrHT), the RCF
damage will not occur until the Tgamma value of 38 (Figure 2). RCF damage will dom-
inate when the Tgamma value is between 38 and 65. The probability of RCF damage
decreases and wear increases when Tgamma is above 65. Severe wear would be expected
when Tgamma is above 200.
Knowing the average RCF index for a wheel over a track section, it will be possible to
estimate the number of load cycles that can create a visible RCF (Equation (2)) [8].

1
RCF = (2)
Nf

where RCF is the fatigue damage index in 10−6 , Nf is the number of cycles to failure.
 VEHICLE SYSTEM DYNAMICS 7

Figure 2. The RCF damage index function [34].

Table 1. Severity of RCF damage index.

Equivalent RCF damage index for
100 MGT, (dimensionless, in 10−6 )
RCF crack depth
Level of per 100 MGT [35] Normal rail Premium
damage (mm) grade rail grade
Light < 0.5 2.5 0.74
Medium ≤1 5 1.485
Heavy ≤3 15 4.455
Severe >3 15 4.455

2.2. Post-processing of results

The results obtained from MBS need to be stored in a suitable format for future use. In
this paper, the data were stored in ∗ .mat format. Post-processing was performed to obtain
moving averages of RCF over every 40 m distance along the route.

2.3. Predictive assessment

The data stored in the data server can be used as required to assess a predictive action plan.
A field measurement method provided by Innotrack [35] identified four levels of damage
based on wear and RCF damage per 100 Million Gross Tonnes (MGT) of passing traffic
as shown in Table 1. The damage index obtained by simulation gives a level of severity of
damage that is different from the physical understanding of wear mechanisms. The damage
index in the simulation tool calculates the energy dissipated on the contact patches and
compares it with physical data to establish a relationship between the damage index and
measured wear. Physically, wear cannot be measured unless it is visible, but the damage
index provides a probability of damage levels that cannot be measured physically. Hence,
the damage index tool can be used as a predictive analysis tool.
8 S. AHMAD ET AL.

Figure 3. Frameworks of AS, DS, and DT.

In a simulation, RCF parameters are reported as indexes rather than crack size. The
approximation suggested by AEA Technology, RSSB, UK [8] states that RCF will be visible
(crack size of 2 mm [36]) when the value of the RCF damage index reaches 10 × 10−6 . For
a hardened rail, the RCF damage index for a visible crack (2 mm) would be 2.97 × 10−6
(Figure 2). Hence, it can be approximated that, to generate 1 mm of crack, the RCF index
would be 5 × 10−6 and 1.485 × 10−6 for normal grade and premium grade rails respec-
tively. Following this, the RCF index for different levels of damage for over 100 MGT of
passing traffic can be estimated by multiplying the crack depth by 5 and 1.485 for normal
grade and premium grade rails respectively. In this paper, the data for premium rail grade
has been used.

3. Differences between advanced simulation, digital shadow, and DT

The differences between the AS, DS, and DT can be explained using the frameworks of AS,
DS, and DT presented in Figure 3.
In the Advanced Simulation (AS) method, the LTS was run for the complete length of
the track section over which the train was being simulated using actual inputs from an
operational physical system. The LTS input includes track curvature, track gradient, loco-
motive traction characteristics, train configuration, and the mass and length parameters
of locomotives and wagons. The train driving commands can be taken from a physi-
cal log of a train operation or by following a train driving strategy. The outputs from
LTS include coupler forces, train speed, and location of vehicles. The output parameters
of the LTS were saved in a timeseries which would be used as an input to the MBS. A
co-simulation approach was used to implement the traction characteristics in the MBS.
The outputs from the MBS can be manually post-processed to perform an analytical
analysis.
 VEHICLE SYSTEM DYNAMICS 9

Figure 4. Traction and dynamic braking force characteristics of the locomotive.

In the DS method, the outputs from the LTS are directly added to the MBS. An analytical
analysis would subsequently be performed manually on the results from the MBS.
In the DT method, LTS and MBS communicate with each other in both directions to
update the track position and the realised tractive effort based on wheel-rail friction and
traction characteristics in the traction model.

4. Model parameters
A hypothetical case study has been used to demonstrate the application of different simu-
lation methods to apply predictive maintenance guidelines. Three software packages were
incorporated in this paper to simulate locomotive behaviour in a train namely LTS, MBS,
and traction modelling in Simulink code generation.

4.1. Longitudinal train simulation

The longitudinal train simulation was performed using an in-house LTS software [31]. The
LTS uses a single degree of freedom model to estimate train resistance (rolling, curving, and
gradient resistance) using empirical functions [37]. It can be noted that air resistance part
of the train resistance has not been added in this study to represent a simplified case for
demonstration purpose. Locomotive traction and dynamic brake forces were calculated
using a lookup table generated from the traction characteristics curve of the locomotive
(Figure 4). The LTS provides speed data based on resistance along the track and the driving
commands given to the locomotives.
The train consists of 4 locomotives and 160 wagons. The locomotives were placed
with two at the front, then 106 fully loaded wagons, then two locomotives, and 54 fully
loaded wagons. The locomotives have a mass of 136 t each, and the loaded wagons are
10 S. AHMAD ET AL.

92 t each which makes the total train mass of 15,264 t. The maximum tractive effort of the
locomotives is 600 kN each.
The lateral and longitudinal coupler forces were recorded for all vehicles in the train
simulation. Each vehicle has front and rear couplers. The lateral force on the couplers was
calculated for all wagons using equations for coupler angles provided in the LTS [31] and
applied as an external force on the front and rear couplers of vehicles in MBS. The longitu-
dinal force on the front and rear coupler provides a longitudinal force on a vehicle which
was applied on the wagon body in the multibody model in this paper. The force component
applied to each vehicle was calculated in accordance with Equation (3).

F Long = Fcrear − Fcfront (3)

where Flong is the longitudinal force from couplers on a vehicle (N), Fcrear is the longitu-
dinal coupler force on the rear coupler of a vehicle (N), Fcfront is the longitudinal coupler
force on the front of a vehicle (N).
In Equation (3), a positive value of longitudinal force means that the rear coupler force is
higher than the front coupler force which puts the vehicle into compression. The negative
value of FLong would mean that that vehicle is in tension or that a pulling force is applied
on the vehicle.

4.2. Multibody simulation

The multibody model of the locomotive was modelled in GENSYS multibody simulation
software [38]. A validated multibody model used in [16] has been used in this paper. The
validation was based on simulation-based tests as per Australian Standard AS7509 [39]
and the locomotive model acceptance procedure [40,41]. The model parameters are listed
in Table 2.
The locomotive model consists of 1 car body, 2 bogie frames, and 6 wheelsets. The
bogie frame is of bolsterless configuration. Each bogie has three wheelsets each in a Co–Co
arrangement. A two-stage suspension system has been added to the bogie frame provid-
ing primary and secondary suspensions. Both stages of suspension comprise vertical and
lateral damping elements and the secondary suspension also has yaw dampers.
Measured data of wheel and rail profiles were used in this study. The wheel-rail con-
tact model was modelled using the ‘creep_contact_1’ element in GENSYS [42] that uses
Kalker’s detailed rolling contact library [43]. The ‘creep_contact_1’ element in GENSYS
allows up to 7 points of contact simultaneously for each wheel-rail contact patch.
Friction coefficients and friction model parameters are introduced individually for each
contact patch on all wheels. Friction coefficients were varied based on longitudinal creep-
age following the method proposed by Polach [44]. The maximum friction coefficient at
the wheel-rail contact was considered as 0.44.
The multibody model shares data with the LTS model via a TCP/IP server in both DS
and DT [31]. The traction behaviour in the MBS model was applied using a sky-hook
element as implemented in [45].
 VEHICLE SYSTEM DYNAMICS 11

Table 2. Multibody model parameters of the locomotive.

Parameter Unit Value
Dimensions Length over couplers m 21
Nominal coupler height above rail level m 0.89
Bogie pivot longitudinal distance from wagon m 6.85
body CoG
Bogie semi-wheelbase m 1.9
New wheel diameter m 1.066
Total mass kg 136200
Car-body CoG height above rail level m 1.93
Mass kg 92614
Moment of inertia, roll kg.m2 143503
Moment of inertia, pitch kg.m2 3535905
Moment of inertia, yaw kg.m2 3545078
Floor level m 1.5
Bogie frames CoG height above rail level m 0.733
Mass kg 11912
Moment of inertia, roll kg.m2 5431
Moment of inertia, pitch kg.m2 29507
Moment of inertia, yaw kg.m2 34045
Wheel sets CoG height above rail level = New wheel M 0.533
radius
Mass kg 3,293
Moment of inertia, roll kg.m2 1526
Moment of inertia, pitch kg.m2 385
Moment of inertial, yaw Kg.m2 1534
Wheel- rail Wheel profile New ANZR1
Rail profile New AS60
Wheel-rail contact Modified Fastsim
Coefficient of friction at wheel-rail contact Variable
Secondary Rubber springs 4 elements on each
suspension bogie
Longitudinal and lateral shear stiffness kN/m 188.4
Vertical stiffness MN/m 7.9
Traction rods 2 elements on each
bogie
Stiffness MN/m 5
Damping coefficient kN.s/m 20
Yaw viscous dampers 2 elements on each
bogie
Damping coefficient kN.s 120
Lateral bumpstop between wagon body and One element on each
bogie frame [a] bogie frame
Break points mm 30, 40, 90
Stiffness at the break points kN/m 0, 15, 2000
Vertical bumpstop between wagon body and Two elements on each
bogie frame [a] bogie frame
Breakpoints mm 25, 30, 80
Stiffness at the breakpoints kN/m 0, 15, 2000
Lateral viscous damper (asymmetrical) Two elements on each
bogie frame
Damping coefficient kN.s/m 40
Longitudinal viscous damper (asymmetrical) Two elements on each
bogie frame
Damping coefficient kN.s/m 40
Primary suspension Primary Coil springs [b] 6 elements on each
bogie
Longitudinal shear stiffness MN/m 3, 45, 45
Lateral shear stiffness MN/m 2.5, 1.25, 1.25
Vertical stiffness MN/m 0.76, 0.76, 0.76
(continued)
12 S. AHMAD ET AL.

Table 2. Continued.
Parameter Unit Value
Primary damper [b]
Longitudinal damping coefficient kNs/m 35, 3.5, 3.5
Lateral damping coefficient kNs/m 20, 20, 20
Vertical damping coefficient kNs/m 20, 20, 20
Primary Longitudinal bumpstop 3 elements on each
bogie
Distance to hardstop mm 50
Stiffness at hardstop MN/m 40
Primary Lateral bumpstop [b] 3 elements on each
bogie
Stage 1 distances mm 20, 8.75, 8.75
Stage 2 distances mm 21, 20, 20
Stage 3 distances mm 50, 21, 20
Stage 1 stiffness MN/m 0, 0, 0
Stage 2 stiffness MN/m 1, 0.028, 0.028
Stage 3 stiffness MN/m 2, 1, 1
Vertical bumpstop [b] 6 elements on each
bogie
Breakpoints mm 25, 50
Stiffness at breakpoints MN/m 0, 1
Note: [a] Multi-stage elements, [b] Three values on each parameter set represent the three wheelsets of a bogie, the
parameter values are expressed for the first, second, and third wheelset of a bogie.

4.3. Traction model

The traction model was implemented in a code-generated environment and a co-
simulation approach has been implemented to connect the MBS model and the traction
model [46,47]. The modelling approach combining MBS with a code generated platform
in Simulink using TCP/IP communication is considered an advanced simulation as it
considers a detailed electro-mechanical model of the locomotive [46].
The tractive and braking forces were applied as torques to the wheelsets while the resis-
tance forces were applied to the vehicle body. In this paper, the multibody simulation of
only the front vehicle (the leading locomotive) was performed for simplicity. As the front
vehicle is considered only, the force component applied is much higher than for trailing
vehicles which would give higher forces applied by the front vehicle and produce more
wear damage than the trailing vehicles. It can also be noted that, as only one simulation
case was performed, it is assumed that the contact points remain at the same point for the
duration of train passes which would not be the case in actual operation. This simple case
is used as it takes less computational effort and is adequate to identify differences between
the simulation methods in this paper.

5. Results
To test the various approaches proposed in this paper, a simulation was run between track
position kilometrages of 5 and 6.7 km on a track section which has a right-hand curved
track section of 1200 m radius between 5.69 and 6.65 km (Figure 5(a)).

5.1. Simulation time

It was found that the advanced simulation method was faster (49727s or 13.8 h) than the
DS (52192s or 14.5 h) and the DT (59402s or 16.5 h) methods based on a simulation run
 VEHICLE SYSTEM DYNAMICS 13

Figure 5. Track data and lateral coupler force data obtained from train simulation.
14 S. AHMAD ET AL.

over the 1.7 km track section distance. The only difference among the models was the com-
munication between MBS and LTS. Hence, it can be identified that on the DS and DT the
increased time was spent on communication between the LTS and MBS tools. In the DS,
the communication was only in one direction, but in the DT the communication was in
two directions which made the simulation time of the DT longer than that of the DS.

5.2. Results of LTS

The track inputs were obtained from an actual heavy haul track with typical curves and
gradients (Figure 5). The driving commands were given by manually setting notches at
different time intervals to run the train over the chosen track. To demonstrate the method,
notch was gradually increased to 8 between 5 and 5.03 km and remained at 8 on the test
section. The inputs used for LTS were kept the same for all three methods tested in this
paper.
To demonstrate the method, one straight (5400–5600 m) and one curved section
(6200–6400 m) were considered. In AS, the train simulation was performed over the entire
track but, in DS and DT, train simulation stopped when MBS stopped at 6.8 km. AS MBS
was modelled for the front locomotive only, it is understood that the first locomotive of
the train reaches to 6.8 km mark but the trailing vehicles were behind the 6.8 km mark as
can be seen from location of all vehicles at the start and end of trip from LTS (Figure 5(d)).
Vehicle number 44 just reached to curved track (5690 m) and vehicle number 73 entered
the starting position of simulation (5000 m) at the end of simulation run. For a full train
analysis, all wagons need to pass the test section which was not performed in this paper
due to the high computation time requirements.
The leading locomotive (vehicle number 1, Figure 6(a)) experiences much higher
propulsion forces (3600–4900 N) compared to trailing wagons (1000–1500 N). Propulsion
resistance (running resistance) progressively increases over the time period of simulation
(Figure 6(b)). The maximum and minimum curving resistance corresponding to vehi-
cle positions are shown in Figure 6(c). Vehicle number 1 showed the maximum curving
resistance of 690N (red circle in Figure 6(c)). Curving resistance is zero on the straight
track section which means that some of the wagons which have not negotiated the curve
section would still be on the straight section and would not provide any curving resis-
tance. Up to the 44th vehicle of the train has just entered the curved section (at position
5690 m, Figure 5(d)), which would produce some curve resistance force on the respective
wagons (Figure 6(c)). Leading Locomotives and wagons provided much more curve resis-
tance (700N) than the trailing wagons (150N), Figure 6(d). Like the curve resistance, the
grade resistance was calculated only up to 44th vehicle as the full train did not pass the test
section during the example run (Figure 6(e)). The leading locomotive and wagon provided
higher grade resistance (−2600 to 5600N) compared to trailing wagons (−1700 to 3800N),
Figure 6(f).
The train simulation in the example AS case showed that the FLong force is significantly
larger on locomotives compared to that on wagons (Figure 6(g)). The longitudinal coupler
force on the locomotives were between 200 and 435 kN (vehicle positions 1,2, 108 and 109,
Figure 6(g)). In wagons, FLong varies between −13 and 36 kN at vehicle positions 81–85
which are in the middle of the train (Figure 6(g)). The variation of longitudinal coupler
forces along the trip is high in locomotive compared to wagons (Figure 6(h)).
 VEHICLE SYSTEM DYNAMICS 15

Figure 6. Resistance forces and longitudinal coupler forces on Train obtained from LTS.
Note: W1 refers to leading group of wagons, i.e. vehicle number 3-108.
16 S. AHMAD ET AL.

In the AS method, the speed profile obtained from LTS was applied as input to the MBS.
But, in the DS and DT methods, speed data was obtained by one-way communication from
LTS to MBS in the DS and two-way communication in the DT (Figure 7). The speed profiles
of AS and DS methods match as the LTS conditions were the same in both. The speed by
the DT method was found to be lesser than that obtained in both AS and DS (Figure 7).
In the DT method, the LTS modifies the speed, vehicle positions, and the realised tractive
effort calculated in the MBS.
In the AS method, no communication was made with the LTS, and the traction force ele-
ment in the corresponding LTS method was not stored and was set as zero (Figure 7(c,d)).
In the DS method, traction forces obtained in the LTS are higher than those obtained in
the MBS (Figure 7(e,f)). In the LTS, the losses in non-linear elements of the vehicle includ-
ing wheel-rail friction are not considered which has resulted in higher traction forces in
the LTS. In the DT method, the realised traction effort calculated in MBS has been trans-
ferred to the LTS which updated the latter’s traction forces. Thus, in the DT method,
the LTS provides a realistic traction force compared to that obtained in the DS method
(Figure 7(g,h)).

5.3. Results of MBS

Two main parameters that are required for the predictive tool in this paper are Tgamma and
RCF. Tgamma values were obtained at the 7 simultaneous contact points available on each
wheel-rail contact in MBS which were summed to obtain Tgamma on that point. In a post-
processing script, RCF values were calculated corresponding to Tgamma for premier rail
grade using the piece-wise-linear model in Figure 2. The RCF values were further averaged
over a 40 m distance.

5.3.1. Tgamma
The Tgamma values of all wheels on both straight and curved sections were found to vary
among the wheel positions (Figure 8). On the straight track section, wheel number 112 l
(second wheelset of the first bogie on the left side) produced the largest Tgamma on the
left rail (Figure 8(a)) while wheel number 113r (third wheelset of the first bogie on the
right side) produced the largest Tgamma on the right rail (Figure 8(b)). The wheels that
produced the largest Tgamma on the curved section are 111 l on the high rail and 123r on
the low rail respectively (Figure 8(c,d)).
Tgamma values increase with the increase of traction force as can be seen from the result
of the straight track section (Figures 7 and 8). On the curved track section, the traction
force component was much lower compared to that on the straight track section which
resulted in reduced Tgamma on the curved section (Figures 7 and 8).
The average values of Tgamma of the six wheels on each rail showed a small variation
among the AS, DS and DT methods (Figure 9(a,b)). A linear relationship between Tgamma
and traction force was achieved on the left rail on the straight track (Figure 9(c)). However,
the Tgamma values on the right rails were dispersed over a wider range (Figure 9(d)).
The Tgamma values obtained by the DS method have been found to be less compared to
those found by AS and DT methods at the same traction force levels (Figure 9(c,d)). This
is because the traction force component in the DS method was obtained by LTS which
is higher than the realised traction force in MBS (Figure 9(c,d)). In MBS, the Tgamma
 VEHICLE SYSTEM DYNAMICS 17

Figure 7. Traction force characteristics and train speeds in MBS and LTS.
18 S. AHMAD ET AL.

Figure 8. Tgamma of all wheels on straight and curved sections.

value was estimated for the realised traction force component. As the DS method does
not have feedback from MBS to LTS, the traction force component does not get cor-
rected during simulation. In contrast, the DT method updates the traction force based
on the MBS model which allows a better prediction of the Tgamma based traction force
in DT.
On the curved section, the traction force did not vary much, which did not provide an
adequate data sample to establish a relationship between traction force and Tgamma values
(Figure 9(e–h)).

5.3.2. RCF
Following the method used in Tgamma analysis, RCF data averaged over 40 m distance
were further averaged on the left and right wheels. On the straight track section, all RCF
values were negative (Figure 10(a)) which means that wear damage is more probable rather
than RCF damage considering Tgamma values were above 68 on the track section (Fig-
ures 8 and 9). The traction force was much higher on the straight track than on the curved
section (Figure 7) which led to a more wear-prone condition rather than RCF damage on
the straight track.
 VEHICLE SYSTEM DYNAMICS 19

Figure 9. Effect of Traction force on Tgamma – straight and curved track sections.
20 S. AHMAD ET AL.

Figure 10. RCF values (average of 6 wheels on left and right rails) using advanced simulation approach.

On the curved track, the left rail (i.e. high rail on the right-handed curve) showed
positive RCF values (less wear) but the right rail showed negative RCF (more wear)
(Figure 10(b)). Due to a slow speed on the curved track (49–51 km/h on a 1200 m radius
track with a cant of 65 mm) the vehicle was operating in excess cant conditions (cant excess
of 39–41 mm on a standard gauge track following the relationship on a standard gauge
track, E = 11.82∗ V2 /R, where E = C + Cd, is the equilibrium cant in mm, C is the applied
cant in mm, Cd is the cant deficiency in mm, V is the speed in km/h and R is the track radius
in m, negative value of Cd would mean a cant excess condition [48]) on the curve which
added more vertical force on the low rail and hence more wear on the low rail. This result
agrees with the observation found in an FRA document [49].
The left rail on the curved section has been further used to quantify the loading cycles
(Equation (2)) and million gross tonnes required to cause the RCF failure (Figure 11).
Of the three methods implemented in this paper, the DS method gives higher RCF val-
ues (therefore less load cycles and MGT to failure) compared to the AS and DT methods
(Figure 11).

6. Predictive maintenance tool

Using the results of the DT method (Figure 11), on the left rail on the curved section
(6200 m) the RCF would be 0.374 × 10−6 which corresponds to 6.08MGT of load.
At the 100MGT mark for the same load, the RCF damage accumulation would be
0.374∗ 100/6.08 = 6.15 × 10−6 which can be classified as ‘severe’ based on Table 1.
It can be noted that the RCF in this paper was calculated for a leading locomotive
only which can be much higher than that caused by wagons as wagons do not provide
a contribution from tractive forces. A study of an advanced modelling approach showed
that a locomotive can create 2–5 times more wear compared to a wagon [14]. It was rea-
soned that locomotives exert tractive and dynamic braking components [14]. The much
stiffer 3-axled running gear of locomotives has also compounded the damage caused on
the gauge side of the high rail [14].
Hence it is important to define wear caused by wagons as well. For example, the wear
generated on each wagon is assumed to be about 90% of the wear generated by a locomo-
tive using results in [14]. Hence, the RCF generated by the train would be approximately
 VEHICLE SYSTEM DYNAMICS 21

Figure 11. RCF failure prediction on left rail on the curved section.

90% of that obtained for the locomotive only as the number of wagon axles are significantly
higher than the number of locomotive axles in this train configuration (4 locomotives and
160 wagons). Hence, the corrected MGT requirement to generate RCF of 0.374 × 10−6 for
the train configuration at 6200 m would be 6.08/0.9 = 6.75 MGT. The equivalent RCF cor-
responding to 100MGT would be 0.374∗ 100/6.75 = 5.5 × 10−6 which is still considered
severe based on the classification in Table 1.
22 S. AHMAD ET AL.

Figure 12. Predictive RCF states of severity considering an equivalent RCF value corresponding to 100
MGT using the DT method [left rail on a curve in the example case].

In another way, the traffic requirement to reach the equivalent RCF damage index for
100MGT can be calculated to provide a plot of MGT corresponding to RCF levels (MGT
for RCFs∗ equivalent RCF for 100MGT/ RCF at track location). Following this method,
the RCF data of the DT method has been made equivalent to the 100MGT RCF severity
function to assess RCF severity along the curved section of the track (Figure 12). The rail
reaches heavy RCF at about 9.1 MGT at 6383 m but it may take 24 MGT to reach heavy
RCF at about 6200 m.

7. Discussion
A big challenge for the usage of multibody numerical simulations in the DT method is
its high computation effort. Calculation of rail surface damage requires a high-fidelity
contact model, input from train operation, co-simulation between LTS and MBS, and
co-simulation between MBS and a traction model which requires a high computation
effort and communication between different software interfaces. To reduce computation
effort, some components in the multibody model can be removed or simplified to achieve
a required output parameter set within a shorter calculation time, examples of which are
available in [50]. Several simplified models can be developed and verified based on the
need to reduce simulation time. Models can be run in parallel using High-Performance
Computing (HPC) clusters to reduce the overall time required for the simulation task.
The suitability of a DT in the field of rail vehicle dynamics systems would rely on many
simulation cases corresponding to measured operating and physical parameters. The data
server would need to be enhanced using measured and corresponding simulated data over
the time of operation to improve the prediction model. Rail wear rate decreases with an
increase in rail hardness [51], while modified wheel and rail profiles and lubrication meth-
ods can reduce wear [52]. Rail maintenance such as grinding removes RCF initiation cracks
 VEHICLE SYSTEM DYNAMICS 23

from the rail. Hence, following a grinding operation the models need to be updated by set-
ting RCF as zero and corresponding data in the data server needs to be updated to fulfil
the requirement of DT.
The predictive analysis tool presented in this paper can be considered as a guide to pro-
duce multiple plots for various conditions. The results in Figure 12 showed that a light and a
medium level of RCF could be generated at about 4 and 8 MGT respectively which matches
with the economic grinding interval suggested in [53]. Grassie [53] suggested implement-
ing a preventive grinding cycle at 5–8 MGT on curves lower than 600 m radius which can
be increased to 12–25MGT when premium rails, clean rail, and intermediate gauge relief
on the curve are added.
It can also be seen that RCF damage was decreasing along the curve between 6200 and
6400 m (Figure 12). The reduced RCF would also mean an increase in wear as average
Tgamma values were above 150Nm/m on the curved section (Figure 9(e)). The decision
to change physical conditions or modify the twin (in DT terms) would need engineering
assumptions and justification of the consequences regarding the effects on Tgamma, RCF
and wear conditions. As an example, increased wear would remove the material from the
top of the rail. Depending on the wear rate, the material removal by the wear process can
prevent RCF by removing the cracks, and grinding may not be necessary. Such a wear rate
is known as the magic wear rate [49]. Magic wear rate can also be maintained by removing
small amounts of rail material at frequent intervals [54]. On a curved track, the dynamics
of traction may also reduce cracks on the low rail by imposing braking force on the low
rail that may drive the faces of the cracks together as argued in a hypothesis mentioned
in [8].
It can be noted that the results in this paper were obtained for the leading locomotive
only operating at a high traction mode. In operation, it is necessary to include the results
of all traction conditions that would be likely to occur on the track route and under vari-
ous vehicle operational conditions. Further to that, analysis of a complete train operation
including all wagons would improve the prediction of rail surface damage.
The data server can be used to provide inputs to the physical system to achieve other
objectives as required such as an increase of speed to reduce wear on the low rail of a curve.
In such a situation, rail wear can be managed without interrupting traffic using updated
driving strategies, speed board changes, etc. The example case shown in this paper would
require manual changes such as rail grinding once a predicted tonnage has been passed.

8. Conclusion
A DT for prediction of rail surface damage has been proposed. The results showed that it
is possible to apply DT in a rail surface damage study.
A comparative analysis showed that DT provides a better estimate of the traction force
component compared to the DS approach which would allow a better computation of rail
surface damage parameters.
In the case of a rail surface damage study, one of the big challenges in implementing DT
is the computation effort.
A predictive maintenance tool based on RCF data assessment has been proposed that
can be used to evaluate the severity of RCF damage at locations along the track.
24 S. AHMAD ET AL.

Acknowledgements
The editing contribution of Mr. Tim McSweeney (Adjunct Research Fellow, Centre for Railway
Engineering) is gratefully acknowledged.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding
This work was supported by the Australasian Centre for Rail Innovation under its HH03B project:
Quantifying the impact on track maintenance of high traction locomotives.

ORCID
Sanjar Ahmad http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8759-9041

References
[1] Magel E, Sroba P, Sawley K, et al. Control of rolling contact fatigue of rails. Presented at the
AREMA Conference; Sept 2004; Nashville, Tennessee.
[2] Lewis R, Olofsson U. Mapping rail wear regimes and transitions. Wear. 2004;257(7):721–729.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016j.wear.2004.03.019
[3] Santa JF, Toro A, Lewis R. Correlations between rail wear rates and operating conditions
in a commercial railroad. Tribol Int. 2016;95:5–12. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016j.triboint.2015.
11.003
[4] Santamaria J, Vadillo E, Oyarzabal O. Wheel–rail wear index prediction considering multiple
contact patches. Wear. 2009;267(5-8):1100–1104. doi:10.1016/j.wear.2008.12.040
[5] Pearce TG, Sherratt ND. Prediction of wheel profile wear. Wear. 1991;144(1):343–351.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1648(91)90025-P
[6] Tassini N, Quost X, Lewis R, et al. A numerical model of twin disc test arrangement
for the evaluation of railway wheel wear prediction methods. Wear. 2010;268(5):660–667.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2009.11.003
[7] Zobory I. Prediction of wheel/rail profile wear. Veh Syst Dyn. 1997;28(2-3):221–259.
doi:10.1080/00423119708969355
[8] Burstow M. Whole life rail model application and development: development of a rolling con-
tact fatigue damage parameter. Rail Safety and Standard’s Board (RSSB), AEATR-ES-2003-832
Issue 1, 2003.
[9] Spiryagin M, Polach O, Cole C. Creep force modelling for rail traction vehicles based on the
Fastsim algorithm. Veh Syst Dyn. 2013;51(11):1765–1783. doi:10.1080/00423114.2013.826370
[10] Vollebregt EAH. Numerical modeling of measured railway creep versus creep-force curves
with CONTACT. Wear. 2014;314(1):87–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2013.11.030
[11] Kalker JJ. A fast algorithm for the simplified theory of rolling contact. Veh Syst Dyn.
1982;11(1):1–13. doi:10.1080/00423118208968684
[12] Schleich B, Anwer N, Mathieu L, et al. Shaping the digital twin for design and production
engineering. CIRP Ann. 2017;66(1):141–144. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016j.cirp.2017.04.040
[13] Grieves M, Vickers J. Digital twin: mitigating unpredictable, undesirable emergent behavior in
complex systems. 2017. p. 85–113.
[14] Krishna VV, Wu Q, Hossein-Nia S, et al. Long freight trains & long-term rail surface damage –
a systems perspective. Veh Syst Dyn. 2023;61:1500–1523. doi:10.1080/00423114.2022.2085584
[15] Sun YQ, Nielsen D, Wu Q, et al. Design and safety analysis of a 11-Waggon consist for
transporting rails. Aust J Mech Eng. 2022:1–15. doi:10.1080/14484846.2021.2022576
 VEHICLE SYSTEM DYNAMICS 25

[16] Bernal E, Spiryagin M, Vollebregt E, et al. Prediction of rail surface damage in locomotive trac-
tion operations using laboratory-field measured and calibrated data. Eng Fail Anal. 2022;135;
Art no. 106165. doi:10.1016/j.engfailanal.2022.106165
[17] Zhang H, Qi Q, Tao F. A multi-scale modeling method for digital twin shop-floor. J Manuf Syst.
2022;62:417–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2021.12.011
[18] Glaessgen E, Stargel D. The digital twin paradigm for future NASA and U.S. air force vehicles.
2012.
[19] Wu J, Wang X, Dang Y, et al. Digital twins and artificial intelligence in transportation
infrastructure: classification, application, and future research directions. Comput Electr Eng.
2022;101:107983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compeleceng.2022.107983
[20] Tao F, Liu W, Zhang M, et al. Five-dimension digital twin model and its ten applications.
Jisuanji Jicheng Zhizao Xitong/Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems, CIMS. 01/01
2019;25:1–18. doi:10.13196/j.cims.2019.01.001
[21] Bhatti G, Mohan H, Singh RR. Towards the future of smart electric vehicles: digital twin tech-
nology. Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev. 2021;141:110801. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016j.rser.
2021.110801
[22] Tao F, Sui F, Liu A, et al. Digital twin-driven product design framework. Int J Prod Res.
2019;57(12):3935–3953. doi:10.1080/00207543.2018.1443229
[23] Cherepov O, Antropov A, Karmatskiy V, et al. Methodology for estimating the resource
of the friction vibration damper of a freight car trolley. J Phys Conf Ser. 2021;2094(2021).
doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2094/5/052064
[24] Miller S. Predictive maintenance using a digital twin. MathWorks; [cited 2022 Jul 22]. Available
from: https://au.mathworks.com/company/newsletters/articles/predictive-maintenance-using-
a-digital-twin.html
[25] Bentley Systems. How digital twins Can transform track maintenance. Railway Age, October
29, 2020. Available from: https://www.railwayage.com/analytics/how-digital-twins-support-
big-data-driven-decisions-to-transform-track-maintenance/
[26] Rasheed A, San O, Kvamsdal T. Digital twin: values, challenges and enablers from a modeling
perspective. IEEE Access. 2020;8:21980–22012. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2970143
[27] Wright L, Davidson S. How to tell the difference between a model and a digital twin. Adv Model
Simul Eng Sci. 2020;7(13). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186s40323-020-00147-4
[28] Schwarz C, Wang Z. The role of digital twins in connected and automated vehicles. IEEE Intell
Transp Syst Mag. 2022;14:41–51. doi:10.1109/MITS.2021.3129524
[29] Spiryagin M, Bruni S, Bosomworth C, et al. Rail vehicle mechatronics. Boca Raton, CRC Press;
2021.
[30] Dirks B, Enblom R. Prediction model for wheel profile wear and rolling contact fatigue. Wear.
2011;271(1):210–217. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016j.wear.2010.10.028
[31] Wu Q, Spiryagin M, Sun Y, et al. Parallel co-simulation of locomotive wheel wear and rolling
contact fatigue in a heavy haul train operational environment. Proc Inst Mech Eng. F: J Rail
Rapid Transit. 2021;235(2):166–178. doi:10.1177/0954409720908497
[32] Bohmer A, Ertz M, Knothe K. Shakedown limit of rail surfaces including material
hardening and thermal stresses. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct. 2003;26(10):985–998.
doi:10.1046/j.1460-2695.2003.00690.x
[33] Ekberg A, Kabo E, Andersson H. An engineering model for prediction of rolling con-
tact fatigue of railway wheels. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct. 2002;25(10):899–909.
doi:10.1046/j.1460-2695.2002.00535.x
[34] Hiensch M, Steenbergen M. Rolling contact fatigue on premium rail grades: damage function
development from field data. Wear. 2018;394-395:187–194. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016j.wear.
2017.10.018
[35] INNOTRACK. Definitive guidelines on the use of different rail grades, in “Thematic Priority
6: Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems,” Project No. TIP5-CT-2006-
031415.
26 S. AHMAD ET AL.

[36] Six K, Mihalj T, Marte C, et al. Rolling contact fatigue behaviour of rails: wedge model predic-
tions in T-Gamma world. Proc Inst Mech Eng F: J Rail Rapid Transit. 2020;234(10):1335–1345.
doi:10.1177/0954409719896941
[37] Cole C, Spiryagin M, Wu Q, et al. Modelling, simulation and applications of longitudinal train
dynamics. Veh Syst Dyn. 2017;55(10):1498–1571. doi:10.1080/00423114.2017.1330484
[38] AB DEsolver. Gensys.1908. http://gensys.se/news/rel.1908/index.html#.
[39] Rail Industry Safety & Standards Board (RISSB). Rolling stock – dynamic behaviour, AS 7509:
2017, ed, 2017.
[40] Spiryagin M, George A, Sun YQ, et al. Investigation of locomotive multibody modelling issues
and results assessment based on the locomotive model acceptance procedure. Proc Inst Mech
Eng F: J Rail Rapid Transit. 2013;227(5):453–468. doi:10.1177/0954409713494945
[41] Spiryagin M, Wolfs P, Cole C, et al. Design and simulation of heavy Haul locomotives and
trains. 2016.
[42] Gensys Manual. c_type = ‘creep_contact_1’; [cited 2020 May 27]. Available from: http://gensys.
se/doc_html/calc_coupl.html#jcreep_contact_1
[43] VORTECH. Detailed investigation of 3D frictional contact problems; [cited 2020 May 27].
Available from: https://kalkersoftware.org/
[44] Polach O. Creep forces in simulations of traction vehicles running on adhesion limit. Wear.
2005;258(7–8):992–1000. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2004.03.046
[45] Spiryagin M, Wolfs P, Wu Q, et al. Rapid charging energy storage system for a hybrid freight
locomotive. Proceedings of the 2020 ASME Joint Rail Conference; 2020 Apr 19–22; St. Louis,
MO, USA.
[46] Spiryagin M, Wolfs P, Szanto F, et al. Simplified and advanced modelling of trac-
tion control systems of heavy-haul locomotives. Veh Syst Dyn. 2015;53(5):672–691.
doi:10.1080/00423114.2015.1008016
[47] Spiryagin M, Simson S, Cole C, et al. Co-simulation of a mechatronic system using Gensys and
Simulink. Veh Syst Dyn. 2012;50(3):495–507. doi:10.1080/00423114.2011.598940
[48] ARTC. Track Geometry, Section 5. In Code of Practice, Track & Civil, 2021.
[49] Rakoczy AM, Wilson N, Li D. Cant excess for freight train operations on shared track,
DOT/FRA/ORD-20/05, 2020.
[50] Spiryagin M, Ahmad SSN, Cole C, et al. Wagon multibody model and its real-time application.
In: Flores P, Viadero F, editors. New trends in mechanism and machine science, Vol. 24. Mech-
anisms and Machine Science: Springer International Publishing Switzerland; 2015, ch. 56. p.
523–532.
[51] Bevan A, Jaiswal J, Smith A, et al. Judicious selection of available rail steels to reduce
life-cycle costs. Proc Inst Mech Eng F: J Rail Rapid Transit. 2020;234(3):257–275.
doi:10.1177/0954409718802639
[52] Marich S, Mutton PJ. Materials developments in the Australian Railway Industry – past, present
and future. Presented at the The Fourth International Heavy Haul Conference; 1989 Sept
11–15.
[53] Grassie S. Rolling contact fatigue of rails: characteristics, causes and treatments. Presented at
the 6th International Heavy Haul Railway Conference, (IHHA 1997); 1997 April 6–10; Cape
Town, South Africa.
[54] Australian Rail Track Corporation Ltd (ARTC). Rail defects handbook – some rail defects,
their characteristics, Causes and control, in engineering practices manual civil engineering,
RC 2400, 2006.