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The standard approach to railway vehicle dynamic analysis includes running the vehicle multibody models in rigid railway tracks. The wheel–rail contact, independently of the rolling contact model used, is either handled online or via lookup tables. This traditional approach disregards the coupling effects between the railway vehicle dynamics and the railway track flexibility. In this work the assumption of rigidity of the railway track is relaxed and a finite element model of the complete track, i.e. rails, pads, sleepers, ballast and infrastructure, is used to represent the track geometry and flexibility. A rail–wheel contact model that evaluates the contact conditions and forces is used online. The dynamics of the railway vehicle is described using a multibody methodology while the track structure is described using a finite element approach. Due to the fact that not only the multibody and the finite element dynamic analysis use different integration algorithms but also because the vehicle and track models are simulated in different, codes a co-simulation procedure is proposed and demonstrated to address the coupled dynamics of the system. This approach allows us to analyze the vehicle dynamics in a flexible track with a general geometry modeled with finite elements, i.e. including curvature, cant, vertical slopes and irregularities, which is another novel contribution. The methodology proposed in this work is demonstrated in an application, in which the railway vehicle–track interaction shows the influence of the vehicle dynamics on the track dynamics and vice versa.

The use of reliable computational tools and of validated vehicle and track models allow studying the railway vehicle performance in realistic operation conditions. The use of such advanced tools permits performing the so-called virtual homologation, which means that most of the criteria defined in the standards and regulations for vehicle acceptance can be verified numerically. This approach reduces the need of the expensive and long on-track tests, and also permits performing design optimization of several vehicle components, namely, the suspension elements, to improve its operational performance in terms of running safety, ride quality and track loading. The realism of the numerical simulations depends strongly on the model assumptions. In this work, all the mechanical elements that compose the rail vehicle are modeled properly using advanced methodologies. Then, a realistic and fully three-dimensional track, containing the measured track irregularities, is used. Finally, for a realistic running representation of the vehicle in the track, a prescribed motion of the motor wheel sets is adopted to adjust the vehicle speed as function of the track characteristics, namely, its curvature, cant angle and grade. The aim of this research is to develop a methodology to optimize the design of a rail vehicle in a mountainous track based on virtual homologation procedure. For this purpose, an optimization method is used to run the numerical simulations in batch mode and the dynamic performance of the rail vehicle is quantified based on the safety and ride quality indices defined in the standards. In addition, the optimization procedure uses a penalty term that penalizes cases where the vehicle presents an unacceptable dynamic behavior. The design variables considered are the suspension characteristics. This work provides an optimal design tool for the rail vehicle performance that leads to optimal dynamic performance in terms of running safety and ride quality.