Assessment of railway curve lubricant performance using a twin-disc tester

Lewis, S. R.; Lewis, Roger; Evans, Gareth; Buckley-Johnstone, L.E.

doi:10.1016/j.wear.2013.11.033

Cited by 46 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Meanwhile, water in the wheel/rail interface may lead to localized corrosion and hydrogen uptake in the rail, further increasing the likelihood of cracking [16]. The performance of different grease types as curve lubricants has been assessed, and there is an inverse relationship between the retentivity and wear rates [17]. Grease significantly changes the contact conditions for wear transitions of wheel/rail materials [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Different Application of Lubricants on Wear and Pre-existing Rolling Contact Fatigue Cracks of Rail Materials

et al. 2017

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Rolling contact fatigue (RCF) of rail can be a significant problem affecting safety and maintenance. Rail materials have been optimized to reduce it, but not enough is known about how friction management products applied to the rail affect crack growth. This study presents experimental results carried out to explore the influence of different lubricants and application orders on wear and preexisting RCF cracks in rail materials. The results indicate that the types or properties of lubricants have a vital role in the wear rate and fatigue crack growth characteristics of rail materials after conditioning with 5000 dry cycles to initiate cracks. Using a different application order of two lubricants has a significant influence on the crack growth angles in the rail rollers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Different Application of Lubricants on Wear and Pre-existing Rolling Contact Fatigue Cracks of Rail Materials

et al. 2017

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“…Therefore, many researchers all over the world have explored 3 effective method for reducing the wear of wheel and rail materials. Some investigations have been carried out on wear effects of greases used in curves for lubrication [6,[11][12][13][14][15]. Using a lubricant significantly changes the wear rate of wheel/rail materials and the contact conditions for wear transitions [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using a lubricant significantly changes the wear rate of wheel/rail materials and the contact conditions for wear transitions [6]. Lewis et al carried out some tests for to assess the performance of ten different grease types used as curve lubricants [11]. It was found that there is an inverse relationship between retentivity (how long a fixed amount of grease provides lubrication) and wear rate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wear and damage transitions of wheel and rail materials under various contact conditions

Wang

Lewis

Yang

et al. 2016

Wear

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“…However, laboratory experiments provide more control over key variables as it is easier to isolate a particular parameter of interest. Twin disc testing with greases simulating flange/gauge face contact has shown that an increase in retentivity causes a decrease in wear rate [7]. Retentivity is defined as how long a fixed amount of grease provides lubrication.…”

Section: Grease Lubrication Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimisation of grease application to railway tracks

Temple

Harmon

Lewis

et al. 2017

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F:

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Trackside lubricators are designed to deliver grease to passing wheel flanges to reduce wheel and rail wear on curves. Ensuring that they are set up to deliver sufficient grease for the range of vehicles passing a site can be a challenge. For example, vehicle dynamics modelling and site investigations have shown that the wheels of passenger vehicles do not run as close to the rail face as those of freight vehicles, meaning that they are less likely to contact the grease and lubricate subsequent curves. To investigate the effects of different trackside devices, and the influence of parameters governing grease pickup , including lateral wheel displacement and pump durations, a bespoke test rig was built at the University of Sheffield. The rig used a scaled wheel, a short section of rail and a modern trackside lubricator setup. Experiments involving different lateral wheel displacements and pumping durations were carried out, as well as visualisation of grease bulb sizes. This showed how a grease bulb grows. It also indicated that a worn profile is likely to require greater wheel displacement to cause contact with grease bulbs than a new wheel profile. The experimental results showed that increasing pick up of grease can be expected where using an additional component called a GreaseGuide™ fitted to a regular grease dispensing unit (GDU) on the rail. The efficiency of grease pick up was investigated and test results exploring increasing pump durations indicated a relationship between pickup and bulb size. To validate the use of the scaled rig, similar tests were carried out using a full-scale test rig. The full-scale results were compared to the experimental results from the scaled-wheel rig. This showed that whilst there were differences between the two test-rigs in absolute values and anomalous results, overall trends were the same on both test scales. The effect of temperature on bulb size and pumpability of grease was also investigated. This work can be extended further by using the same method to investigate other parameters affecting the lubrication of curves. This can lead to optimised lubricator setup to ensure the track is fully lubricated all of the time.

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Assessment of railway curve lubricant performance using a twin-disc tester

Cited by 46 publications

References 2 publications

Influence of Different Application of Lubricants on Wear and Pre-existing Rolling Contact Fatigue Cracks of Rail Materials

Influence of Different Application of Lubricants on Wear and Pre-existing Rolling Contact Fatigue Cracks of Rail Materials

Wear and damage transitions of wheel and rail materials under various contact conditions

Optimisation of grease application to railway tracks

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