Tribology of the wheel–rail contact – aspects of wear, particle emission and adhesion

Abstract

The wheel-rail contact is a safety critical interface. Wear, particle emission and adhesion are all wheelrail contact phenomena and are discussed here. All three phenomena are material and system parameters and are linked together. Different countermeasures to one phenomenon such as adhesion enhancement with a friction modifier can increase the wear in the contacting bodies. The wear of railway wheel and rail are linked to the number of airborne particles generated, but the exact number and size distribution of the aerosols is unknown. The main objective of this study is to review recent work in this field and to discuss future trends.

Simulation study of wheels wear in low-floor tram with independently rotating wheels

“…From the speed classification point of view, the literature separates wear into mild (removing small fragments of material, often oxide surfaces), heavy, and catastrophic. This classifying separation is shown in (2) as a standard function of sliding (s v ) and a wear factor (w f ) [15]. …”

“…Figure 5 depicts the damage formation mechanism caused by adhesion at the crystallites boundaries of the metal. The motion of rail vehicles in regular usage can be examined as sources of influence of large dynamic loads of a cyclical nature, which translates to destruction in the form of abrasive and fatigue wear and changes in shape and dimensions of the outer layer [15,22,31].…”

“…Gliwice, Poland) demonstrate the greatest wear of steel friction pairs after hot rolling (inter-plate distance around 0.28µm) as well as a greater resistance to abrasive wear after isothermal annealing (inter-plate distance of approximately 0.12-0.17 µm) [16,17]. [15] abrasive wear combination…”

“…Restraining force (frictional force) is directly proportional to the pressure force and depends on the parameters of the rubbing surfaces: material type, surface roughness, the temperature of the surroundings, environment properties (occurrence of external factors that reduce or increase the friction), and the state of movement (sliding or rolling friction) [7,14,15].…”

Effect of yield strength on wear rates of railway wheels

“…Olofsson et al (2013) found that cyclic loading that leads to wheel surface deformation results in crack nucleation and subsequently removal of material. The excessively worn wheels revealed plastic deformation on the tread that resulted in the initiation of cracks.…”