On the relationships among wheel–rail surface topography, interface noise and tribological transitions

• Noise from the wheel-rail interface is a troublesome side effect when railway vehicles negotiate rail curves and straight tracks. A laboratory study using two pin-on-disc tribometers to simulate the pure sliding process in a wheel-rail contact investigated the relationships between surface topographies, tribological aspects and emitted noise. The influence of five different initial surface topographies manufactured by polishing and grinding (transverse and circular) was studied. Polished samples yielded the highest friction coefficient and wear rate because of strong adhesion. Samples with manufacturing traces vertical to the sliding direction produced the lowest friction coefficient and wear rate, and were dominated by ploughing and abrasion. Samples with manufacturing marks parallel to the sliding direction exhibited a medium level in both fiction coefficient and wear rate; the wear mechanism was combined ploughing-adhesion. Noise emission followed the same pattern as the friction coefficients: the highest sound pressure levels occurred for the polished samples and the lowest for the samples with transverse manufacturing marks. Wear transitions from mild to severe wear were always accompanied by an increase in sound pressure of about 10 dB. The transitions also changed the sound pressure amplitude distribution from a narrow banded to a broader banded. 

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Tribologi (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Tribology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Rail–wheel tribology

Surface topography

Acoustic emission

Sliding wear

Stick–slip

Steel

Järnvägsgruppen - Tribologi

The KTH Railway Group - Tribology

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)