Conclusion
Railway Dynamics and Wheel-Rail Contact. Guiding Principles, Running Behaviour and Damage Patterns

The rail vehicle dynamics is a complicated and important discipline of engineering, that studies & optimizes the vehicle design via simulations and assess via tests and/or simulations the dynamic behaviour of the train. Thus a successful design asks for (i) good understanding of the system and of the inter-disciplinary impacts, (ii) high technical competences and wide experience on the field, (iii) appropriate and advanced simulation models, tools and methods to be used during the different design phases. This article introduced the fundamentals of the railway dynamics, starting with the wheel-rail interface and contact analysis, continuing with the basics and the trade-off of the problems related to the running in high speed and the curve negotiation. The design parameters influencing in the running dynamic behaviour and on the wheel-track damage models and examples were discussed as...