An integrated approach for the evaluation of the damages deriving from the cyclical contact of railway wheels = Un approccio integrato per la valutazione del danneggiamento per contatto ciclico di ruote ferroviarie

The development of a modern approach to railway wheel calculation is a great interest topic for the definition of railway system designing criteria which are based on the analysis rather than on the respect of empirical criteria. That requires a deepening of the real conditions of the wheel/rail contact, of the damage typologies and of their dependence on the real operation conditions. The present work describes the plan of a coordinated research project that involves three research centres; its aim is to evaluate the structural integrity of railway wheels as a function of the wheel/rail interface condition. The first results are then critically discussed.