Elastoplastic analysis of repeated moving contact application to railways damage phenomena

A quantitative theory for the prediction of contact damage is presented. It relies on: 1. thermo-elastoplastic computational methods ('stationary methods') (Dang Van and Maitournam, J. Mech. Phys. Solids, 41 (1993) 1691-1710) used to evaluate the stress, strain and temperature fields in structures subjected to repeated moving loads. These methods, based on the steady state assumption, comprise two numerical procedures for the calculations of stress and strain either for an arbitrary number of loading passes or directly for the stabilized state; 2. a multiaxial fatigue criterion (Dang Van, ASTM STP, 1191 (1993) 120-130; Dang Van, in: Beevers and Blom (eds.), Theoretical Concepts and Numerical Analysis of Fatigue, ESIS, 1992; Ballard et al., Fatigue Fract. Eng. Mater. Struct., 18 (1995) 397-411) based on a macro-micro analysis, and evaluating micro-stresses in disoriented elements from the macroscopic loading path. Ratchetting rate, temperature rise and fatigue failure are investigated in the case of line contacts.