Modelling and simulation of adhesion of the rail vehicle

In the paper we consider the issue related to the phenomenon of wheel-to-rail adhesion. This issue concerns self-excited vibrations in the area of wheel-rail contact, caused by unstable friction. Such friction is characterized by decreasing values of the friction coefficient with increasing slipping velocity. The paper includes mathematical formulation of the problem and presents the method for solving it. In addition, a simulation of elementary vehicle driving was performed. During the simulation, self-excited vibrations arose during wheel slip caused by high driving torque. The paper presents graphs illustrating the tangential force and the slipping velocity during these vibrations.