Skip to main content
Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Download PDF
  • Published:

Experimental study on wear and spalling behaviors of railway wheel

Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering volume 26, pages 1243–1249 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

The current researches of the wear and spalling behaviors of wheel/rail materials focus on the field investigation rather than the mechanism. However, it is necessary and significant for clarifying the mechanism and relationship between the wear and spalling damage of railway wheel to test and reproduce the wheel damages in laboratory. The objective of this paper is to investigate the wear and spalling damage behaviors of railway wheel using a JD-1 wheel/rail simulation facility, which consists of a small wheel serving as rolling stock wheel, and a larger wheel serving as rail. The damage process of wheel roller is explored in terms of the creep ratio, axle load, and carbon content by means of various microscopic examinations. The experimental results show that the wear volume growth of wheel roller is proved to be proportional to the increase of the creep ratio and normal load between simulating wheel and rail. The increase of carbon content of wheel material causes a linear reduction in the wear volume. The microscopic examinations indicate that the rolling wear mechanism transfers from abrasive wear to adhesive and fatigue wear with an increase of tangential friction force, which results in the initiation of fatigue crack, and then aggravates spalling damage on the wheel roller surface. The surface hardness of material depends strongly upon its carbon content. The decrease of the carbon content of wheel material may alleviate spalling damage, but can cause a significant growth in the wear volume of wheel roller. Therefore, there is a competitive relationship between the wear and spalling damage of wheel material. This research proposes an important measure for alleviating or preventing the wear and spalling damage of railway wheel material.

References

  1. EKBERG A, KABO E. Fatigue of railway wheels and rails under rolling contact and thermal loading-an overview[J]. Wear, 2005, 258(7–8): 1 288–1 300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. SUN J, SAWLEY K J, STONE D H. Progress in the reduction of wheel spalling[C]//Proceeding of the 12th International Wheelset Congress, Qingdao, China, September 21–25, 1998: 18–29.

  3. TAKIKAWA M, IRIYA Y. Laboratory simulations with twin-disc machine on head check[J]. Wear, 2008, 265(9–10): 1 300–1 308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. JIN Xuesong, WEN Zefeng, WANG Kaiyun, et al. Effect of a scratch on curved rail on initiation and evolution of rail corrugation[J]. Tribology International, 2004, 37(5): 385–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. STONE D H, MOYER G J. Wheel shelling and spalling-an interpretive review[J]. Rail Transportation, 1989, 5(1): 9–30.

    Google Scholar 

  6. MAKINO T, YAMANOTO M, FUJIMURA T. Effect of material on spalling properties of railroad wheels[J]. Wear, 2002, 253(1–2): 284–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. KALOUSEK J. Wheel/rail damage and its relationship to track curvature[J]. Wear, 2005, 258(7–8): 1 330–1 335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. AHLSTROM J, KARLSSON B. Microstructural evaluation and interpretation of the mechanically and thermally affected zone under railway wheel flats[J]. Wear, 1999, 232(1): 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. SAKAMOTO H, HIRAKAWA K, TOYAMA K, et al. Simulation test on tread shelling of railroad wheel[J]. Rail Transportation, 1996, 12(2): 73–78.

    Google Scholar 

  10. JIN Xuesong, LIU Qiyue. Tribology of wheel and rail system[M]. Beijing: China Railway Press, 2004. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  11. WALLENTIN M, BJARNEHED H L, LINDENS R. Cracks around railway wheel flats exposed to rolling contact loads and residual stresses[J]. Wear, 2005, 258(7–8): 1 319–1 329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. LIU Qiyue, JIN Xuesong, ZHOU Zhongrong. An investigation of friction characteristic of steels under rolling-sliding condition[J]. Wear, 2005, 259(1–6): 439–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. DETERS L, PROKSCH M. Friction and wear testing of rail and wheel material[J]. Wear, 2005, 258(7–12): 981–991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. UEDA M, UHCINO K, KOBAYASHI A. Effects of carbon content on wear property in pearlitic steels[J]. Wear, 2002, 253(1–2): 107–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. DONZELLA G, MAZZU A, PTTROGALLI C. Competition between wear and rolling contact fatiuge at the wheel-rail interface: some experimental evidence on rail steel[J]. Proc. ImechE Part F: Rail and Rapid Transit, 2009, 223(1): 31–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. EKBERG A, SOTKOVSZKI P. Anisotropy and rolling contact fatigue of railway wheels[J]. International Journal of Fatigue, 2001, 23(1): 29–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. HARUO S, KAZUO T, KENJI H. Fracture toughness of medium-high carbon steel for railroad wheel[J]. Materials Science and Engineering, 2000, 285(1–2): 288–292.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tribology Research Institute, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, China

    Wenjian Wang, Jun Guo & Qiyue Liu

Authors
  1. Wenjian Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jun Guo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Qiyue Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qiyue Liu.

Additional information

This project is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No. 51174282), Innovative Research Teams in Universities of China(Grant No. IRT1178), and Autonomous Research Project of State Key Laboratory of China(Grant No. TPL1301)

WANG Wenjian, born in 1980, is currently an associate researcher at Tribology Research Institute, Southwest Jiaotong University, China. He received his PhD degree from Southwest Jiaotong University, China, in 2008. His research interests include the tribology of wheel/rail system and rail grinding technique.

GUO Jun, born in 1972, is currently a researcher at Tribology Research Institute, Southwest Jiaotong University, China. He received his PhD degree from Southwest Jiaotong University, China, in 2007. His research interests include the tribology of wheel/rail.

LIU Qiyue, born in 1964, is currently a professor at Tribology Research Institute, Southwest Jiaotong University, China. He received his PhD degree from Southwest Jiaotong University, China, in 1999. His research interests include the wear and damage of wheel/rail materials.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wang, W., Guo, J. & Liu, Q. Experimental study on wear and spalling behaviors of railway wheel. Chin. J. Mech. Eng. 26, 1243–1249 (2013). https://doi.org/10.3901/CJME.2013.06.1243

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3901/CJME.2013.06.1243

Key words