A stochastic model of the rail contact fatigue
Résumé
The dynamical response of a train rolling on a real track depends on several parameters. Most of them cannot be accurately identified and have to be considered as uncertain implying that the wheel-rail contact parameters cannot be completely characterized using deterministic models. The aim of this paper is the construction of a probabilistic model of the rail fatigue life considering the track geometry and the rail wear as random fields statistically representative of the considered railway network. This random model is used to quantify the influence of the geometry irregularities and the wear on the rail fatigue.