Efficient and simplified numerical contact model for the braking simulation of a magnetic track brake

The magnetic track brake is a mechanical contact (with friction) based braking system that is typically actuated electromagnetically and used as an emergency brake in railway transport. Within this paper, the practically relevant task of predicting the effective local and global forces of the contacting bodies and the respective deformations during the quasi-static braking process is addressed. Therefore, a simplified, yet efficient and accurate numerical contact model is developed to treat the frictional sliding contact problem. In order to verify and validate the model a couple of numerical experiments are carried out. The proposed model and algorithm are first tested against an analytic benchmark problem of a parabolic indenter indenting an elastic half-space. The developed model is then compared against a reference Abaqus finite element simulation in application-oriented braking simulations that treat the contact problem between a single braking element (pole shoe) and the rail. The results demonstrate and highlight the applicability and efficiency of the proposed model but also show the current limitations and shortcomings that hint at possible future augmentations.