The interaction of track and rolling stock

The interaction of the track and the rolling stock is the subject of a special scientific discipline that studies the mechanical processes that occur in the rolling stock and in the railway track when they act on each other, while the rolling stock and the railway track are considered elements of a single mechanical system (" wheel - rail ") . The study of this interaction is a fundamental physical process in the movement of cars , locomotives and trains on railways, as it largely determines such important indicators as track gauge , axle load, static load of cars, mass and speed of trains, as well as the safety of trains . They study the dynamic forces acting between the rails and the wheels of the crews, the stability of the crews and their vibrations, the movements of the crews in curves , the stability of the crews on the track and the stability of the path when the crew moves, deformations and mechanical stresses that arise in the interacting structures.