Prediction of rail damage using a combination of Shakedown Map and wheel-rail contact energy

Abstract

Rolling contact fatigue and wear are two key damage mechanisms that govern rail life. Although there are several different mechanisms affecting both their initiation and propagation, the trade-off between them is important and their accurate predictions can provide significant benefits when planning rail maintenance activities. Through integration with vehicle dynamics simulations, damage models based on the wheel-rail contact energy (Tγ) and Shakedown theory have often been used to predict damage. In this paper, the findings from previous studies are reviewed to identify their limitations. To assess the accuracy of the predictions, their input parameters were compared for sites with and without reported RCF defects from two lines on the London Underground network. The results indicated certain variations and hence, a new wear and RCF damage prediction method was developed using a combined Shakedown Map and Tγ approach. While the wear model predictions were validated by comparison with measured rail wear, the availability of field crack depth measurements enabled the validation of the new RCF crack depth prediction model. Reasonable predictions of crack depth and wear over consecutive intervals have been achieved on various sites which increases the confidence of the models to support future optimisation of maintenance planning.

A review of advances in tribology in 2020–2021

“…In Refs. [428,429], the transitions of wear mode and predominant wear equations were discussed for the cases of case-hardened 20MnCr5 under cyclic line rolling contact and the rail damage respectively. Li et al [430] predicted erosion wear and lifespan of machine gun barrel under typical shooting conditions by using a slow erosion stage wear model and a thermochemical erosion stage wear model.…”

A Fuzzy Adaptive PID Control Method for Novel Designed Rail Grinding Equipment

“…In 2019, China's HSR network has had a running distance of 29,000 km, exceeding 60% of the whole world in total [1], [2]. Due to the large passenger flow and the high operating speed of train, the damage to the internal and surface of the rails has become more and more serious [3], [4], [5], which will cause irreversible harm to the rail if not treated in time [6]. Studies have shown that rail grinding can improve rail quality and extend rail life [7], [8], [9].…”

Wheel wear performance assessment and model validation using Harold full scale test rig

“…In this project, the repair welding technique was applied to an LT5 profile wheel which was previously operated in London Underground (LUL). Since the increased timetables and further reductions in maintenance and renewal expenditures provides new challenges to their rail-wheel interface management, they have made several attempts to maximise their asset life such as introducing novel technologies to monitor defects and conducting vehicle dynamics simulation modelling to predict the damage [1][2][3][4][5] . In respect to wheel management, an extensive measurement campaign across each individual fleet was conducted to establish a preventative turning interval within each Train Maintenance Regime (TMR).…”

“…Since the increased timetables and further reductions in maintenance and renewal expenditures provides new challenges to their rail-wheel interface management, they have made several attempts to maximise their asset life such as introducing novel technologies to monitor defects and conducting vehicle dynamics simulation modelling to predict the damage. [1][2][3][4][5] In respect to wheel management, an extensive measurement campaign across each individual fleet was conducted to establish a preventative turning interval within each Train Maintenance Regime (TMR). However, while this can help to accurately plan train maintenance scheduling, more work is still required to ensure sufficient trains are available in service to cope with increased timetables at lesser life cycle costs.…”