Abstract: The existing theoretical models and numerical methods of railway wheel wear are reviewed. A model, in which the wheel material wear model, the non-Hertzian rolling contact theory of wheel and rail system and coupling dynamics of rail vehicle and track in the vertical and lateral directions are combined, is developed to predict the wheel profile wear. A passenger car and the structure under the rails are replaced by the systems consisting of dampers, springs and equivalent mass bodies, and the Euler beam is utilized to model the rails accounting for bending and torsional deformations, Kalker’s non-Hertzian rolling contact theory of three-dimensional elastic bodies is modified to calculate the creep forces, sliding distance etc in the contact patch. The wear depth of the wheel profile is calculated by using the well-known Archard wear law. The presented model and its numerical method are used to analyze the wear of the wheel on the curves with various radii. The results show that this model is feasible to predict the evolution of railway wheel wear. Some wear results of wheel passing through 350 m curve are presented. A conclusion can be drawn from the numerical results that the wear of the leading wheelset is severer than the trailing wheelset in each bogie. The wear of wheels on the outer rail is more serious than wheels on the inner rail.

Key words: Material wear, Vehicle and track dynamics, Wheel profile, Wheel profile wear, Wheel rail contact