The present Thesis focuses on the development of a methodology for
modelling the dynamics of a solid of revolution rotating about its
main axis. The proposed technique is especially adequate to be
applied in the dynamic simulation of this type of bodies when they
interact with non-rotating structures. In this document, different
increasingly complex models are presented which conclude with the
application to a flexible rotating railway wheelset.

The first case analysed corresponds to the study of the dynamics
of a spinning pinned-pinned Rayleigh beam. The free and forced
responses have analytical solutions, and they are characterized
through an only adimensional parameter. The free response
trajectory of points of the beam is identified as the
superposition of hypotrochoid curves.

In the core of the document, a methodology for solids of
revolution is presented which is based on arbitrary
lagrangian--eulerian modal synthesis. It is demonstrated for
solids of revolution that it is possible to define a
transformation of the classic lagrangian modal coordinates into
the eulerian ones, which leads to an efficient computational
formulation. This method only can be applied analytically to
beams, therefore a numerical procedure based on finite elements is
developed for general geometries of revolution.

The validation of the proposed method is performed through the
development of the equations for a spinning pinned-pinned
cylinder. This case is benchmarked by means of three different
approaches: the corresponding one to modal synthesis obtained
analytically, the numerical analogue of the former, and a spinning
pinned-pinned Rayleigh beam. The equations of motion of the
free-ends spinning cylinder are also obtained, with the purpose of
showing a more complex response.

In the final part of the document, the equation of motion of a
rotating railway wheelset and its dynamic response are studied and
compared with the non-rotating behaviour of this solid. Finally,
the wheelset model is implemented in a global railway
vehicle--track model. Results of the complete system are obtained
for two cases: the impact due to a wheel flat, and a vehicle
running on a corrugated track. The contact forces derived from the
proposed model are compared with those obtained by using rigid
wheelsets and non-rotating wheel.