Current design process can be simplified and accelerated, if computer simulation based on finite element method (FEM) is used. FEM numerical calculations of different wheels of railway wheelsets are investigated in the Department of Railway Engineering. The justification for undertaking this issue is that there is no methodology in the design of railway wheelsets both in Poland and abroad. In order to assess the calculation model, experimental tests of static loads (due to carriage weight) and thermal loads (due to braking) have been run. The results of these tests have been compared with the results of numerical analysis. The proposed calculation model has been compared with the results of test stand investigation. Comparison of the results has confirmed the correctness of the proposed discrete model and calculation algorithm. In the framework of the common scientific-didactic projects of Railway Engineering Department and Central Rail Research Institute in Moscow and producer of railway wheelsets-BONATRANS a.s. in Bohumin (Czech Republic), the method was worked out, and the experimental researches were conducted on specialists certified stands for railway wheelset researches (Sitarz, M., Bizoń, K., and Chruzik, K. Numerical calculations reckonings of railway wheel sets. W: Scientific Proceedings of Riga Technical University, 2002, str 84-89, Sladkowski, A., Bizoń, K., and Chruzik, K. Porównanie wyników analizy MES z wynikami pomiarów tensometrycznych deformacji kól kolejowych zestawów kolowych, Zeszyty Naukowe Katedry Mechaniki Stosowanej nr 18/2002, Gliwice, 2002, str 397-402, Zima, R., Bizoń, K., Chruzik, K. Badania teoretyczne i eksperymentalne kól kolejowych zestawów kolowych, W: XLII Sympozjon ‘Modelowanie w mechanice’, Wisla, 2003).
Propagation of Sub-surface Cracks in Railway Wheels for Wear-induced Conformal Contacts