Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2024-4
A twin-disc study of the role of the surface quality achieved by grinding on the wear resistance and rolling contact fatigue behavior of wheel/rail pairs
The tribological behavior of wheel and rail material twin-disc samples prepared under laboratory-controlled grinding operations was studied. A laboratory grinding device was designed and validated to produce similar results to those found in the field in terms of surface quality and presence of white etching layer (WEL). The test samples were evaluated in a twin-disc machine under dry and lubricated conditions. The results showed that the surface finishing parameters and the microstructure change greatly depending on the surface preparation procedure, and that such changes affect the tribological response of the samples. The wear rates of the tribological tests for the different rail surface qualities showed a reduction of 47.4% for the lubricated tests and 7.3% for the dry tests when the surfaces of the rail specimens were finished by grinding. This is only applied when the WEL thickness was less than 4 μm.
SchoechW. “Development of Rail Grinding Strategies in Europe”. In: Conference On Railway Engineering, Melbourne, Australia, 30 April – 3 May, 2006: pp 1–6.
2.
SchoechW. New rail maintenance trends in Europe – anti-headcheck-profiles and preventive cyclicalAusRAIL PLUS 2009. Adelaide, Australia: Speno International SA, 2009November 17–19.
3.
SatohYIwafuchiK. Effect of rail grinding on rolling contact fatigue in railway rail used in conventional line in Japan. Wear2008; 265: 1342–1348.
4.
SchoechWHeyderRDollevoetIR. Specific railhead profiles to control rolling contact fatigue – design and maintenance, the European approach, 2009. CM2009, Firenze, Italy: Speno International SA, 8th International Conference on Contact Mechanics and Wear of Rail/Wheel SystemsSeptember 15–18.
5.
SN EN 13231-3:2006. Railway applications - track - Acceptance of works - Part 3: acceptance of reprofiling rails in track. London, United Kingdom: British Standards Institution, 2012.
6.
AnderssonS.Friction and wear simulation of the wheel-rail interface. In: Wheel-Rail Interface Handbook. Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing Limited, Abington Hall, pp. 93–124.
7.
SchoechW. Rolling contact fatigue mitigation by grinding. Geneva, Switzerland: Speno International SA.
8.
SchoechW. Joint research and testing of innovative grinding, 2011. AusRAIL PLUS 2011, Brisbane, Australia: Speno International SANovember 22–24.
9.
SteenbergenM. Rolling contact fatigue in relation to rail grinding. Wear2016; 356-357: 110–121.
LundmarkJHoglundEPrakashB. Running-in behaviour of rail and wheel contacting surfaces. International Conference on Tribology2006. Parma, ItalySeptember 20-22: pp.1–12.
12.
SatoY. Design of rail head profiles with full use of grinding. Wear1991; 144: 363–372.
13.
KanematsuYSatohY. Influence of type of grinding stone on rail grinding efficiency. QR of RTRI2011; 52: 97–102.
14.
ZapataDSantaJFSánchezJC, et al.Effect of rail grinding conditions on sub- surface microstructure and surface roughness of fatigued rails, 2010. ITS - IFToMM 2010, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 1st International Brazilian Conference on Tribology, TriboBR-2010 and 2nd International Tribology Symposium of IFToMMNovember 24–26.
MatsumotoYHashimotoFLahotiG. Surface integrity generated by precision hard turning. CIRP Annals1999; 48: 59–62.
17.
MagelEEKalousekJ. The application of contact mechanics to rail profile design and rail grinding. Wear2002; 253: 308–316.
18.
MesaritisMShamsaMCuervoP, et al.A laboratory demonstration of rail grinding and analysis of running roughness and wear. Wear2020. 456-457, 203379, Epub ahead of print 15 September 2020. DOI: 10.1016/j.wear.2020.203379.
19.
MesaritisMCuervoPSantaJF, et al.Assessment of rail grinding maintenance for premium rail grades in. In: 12th International Conference on Contact Mechanics and Wear of Rail/Wheel Systems (CM2022). Melbourne, Australia, 4-7 September2022, pp. 4–7Code 186827.
SciammarellaCAChenRJSGalloP, et al.Experimental evaluation of rolling contact fatigue in railroad wheels. International Journal of Fatigue2016; 91: 158–170.
22.
GuoYBWarrenAWHashimotoF. The basic relationships between residual stress, white layer, and fatigue life of hard turned and ground surfaces in rolling contact. CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology2010; 2: 129–134.
23.
HashimotoFGuoYBWarrenAW. Surface integrity difference between hard turned and ground surfaces and its impact on fatigue life. CIRP Annals2006; 55: 81–84.
24.
GuKKLinQWangWJ, et al.Analysis on the effects of rotational speed of grinding stone on removal behavior of rail material. Wear2015; 342-343: 52–59.
25.
ZhouKDingHHWangWJ, et al.Influence of grinding pressure on removal behaviours of rail material. Tribology International2019; 134: 417–426.
26.
KuschelSKolkwitzBSölterJ, et al.Experimental and numerical analysis of residual stress change caused by thermal loads during grinding. Procedia CIRP2016; 45: 51–54.
27.
LinBZhouKGuoJ, et al.Influence of grinding parameters on surface temperature and burn behaviors of grinding rail. Tribology International2018; 122: 151–162.
28.
TombergerCDietmaierPSextroW, et al.Friction in wheel–rail contact: a model comprising interfacial fluids, surface roughness and temperature. Wear2011; 271: 2–12.
29.
HanJXiaoXWuY, et al.Effect of rail corrugation on metro interior noise and its control. Applied Acoustics2018; 130: 63–70.
30.
UhlmannELypovkaPHochschildL, et al.Influence of rail grinding process parameters on rail surface roughness and surface layer hardness. Wear2016; 366–367: 287–293.
31.
LundmarkJKassfeldtEHardellJ, et al.The influence of initial surface topography on tribological performance of the wheel/rail interface during rolling/sliding conditions. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit2009; 223: 181–187.
32.
VelásquezC. P Análisis experimental del efecto del proceso de reperfilado sobre el desgaste y fatiga por contacto de rodadura de riel en el sistema rueda-riel en el Metro de Medellín. Medellín, Colombia: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2014, https://repositorio.unal.edu.co/handle/unal/49843.
33.
European Standard, «EN. Railway applications - Wheelsets and bogies - Wheels - Product requirements: Swedish Institute for Standards. Stockholm, Sweden13262:2004+A2:2011.
34.
UNI EN ISO 4287:2009-Specifiche geometriche dei prodotti (GPS) Stato della superficie: metodo del profilo Termini, definizioni e parametri dello stato della superficie. Milano, Italy: UNI Ente Nazionale Italiano di Unificazione, 2009.
35.
SantaJFCuervoPChristoforouP, et al.Twin disc assessment of wear regime transitions and rolling contact fatigue in R400HT – E8 pairs. Wear2019; 432–433: 102916.
36.
SuCRShiLBWangWJ, et al.Investigation on the rolling wear and damage properties of laser dispersed quenched rail materials treated with different ratios. Tribology International. 2019, 135, 488, 499, Epub ahead of print 2019. DOI: 10.1016/j.triboint.2019.03.022.
37.
RasmussenCJFæsterSDharS, et al.Surface crack formation on rails at grinding induced martensite white etching layers. Wear2017; 384–385: 8–14.
38.
LewisROlofssonU. Basic tribology of the wheel–rail contact. In: Wheel-rail interface handbook. Sawston, Cambridge: CRC Press, Woodhead Publishing, 2009, p. 819.
39.
FletcherDIFranklinFJKapoorA. Rail surface fatigue and wear. Sawston, Cambridge, 2009. Epub ahead of print 2009. DOI: 10.1533/9781845696788.1.280.
40.
CuervoPASantaJFToroA. Correlations between wear mechanisms and rail grinding operations in a commercial railroad. Tribology International2015; 82: 265–273.
41.
SantaJF. Development of a lubrication system for wear and friction control in wheel/rail interfaces. PhD Thesis. Medellín, Colombia: National University of Colombia, 2012.
42.
Bedoya-ZapataADLeón-HenaoHMesaritisM, et al.White etching layer (WEL) formation in different rail grades after grinding operations in the field. Wear2022. 502-503, 204371, Epub ahead of print 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.wear.2022.204371.
43.
SantaJFChristoforouPCuervoPA, et al.Evaluation of rolling contact fatigue of rail materials in twin disc tests. In: Proceedings of the 11th international conference on contact mechanics and wear of rail/wheel systems, September 24-27, Delft, The Netherlands. 2018, pp. 838–843.
44.
CuervoP.ChristoforouP.LewisR.BeaglesA.SantaJ. F.ToroA.Twin disc assessment of wear regime transitions in R400HT – E8 pairs. 11th international conference on contact mechanics and wear of rail/wheel systems (CM2018)Delft, The Netherlands, September 24-27, 2018, pp. 181–188.
