This work describes an experimental study to assess the effect of surface damage on railway track life. Tests were carried out using a twin disk machine with the specimen cut from rail and wheel sections. The disk surfaces were artificially indented and run under conditions of water lubrication, dry, oil lubrication, and solid particulate contamination. Analysis of the failures was by surface microscopy and sections taken in the rolling direction. Under conditions of oil lubrication the surface defects act as initiators of fatigue cracks. The dent is reduced in size during the first few revolutions and then reaches a constant size. A crack forms at the trailing edge of the original indentation and propagates to form a spall. With water lubrication plastic flow causes the dent to decreases in size throughout the test. Contact fatigue occurs all over the surface with no particular preference to the region of the indentation. Unlubricated, dry disks did not suffer from fatigue cracking but did wear rapidly. Indentations are worn out of the surface and do not promote failure. When the disk pair were contaminated with granite ballast dust the surface were roughened rapidly. Surface denting was minor and did not lead to conventional fatigue cracking. The ballast however did cause severe surface flow that was found to reduce the time to crack initiation in subsequent clean water lubricated cycles.
Contact fatigue in damaged railway track
Kontaktermüdung in einer beschädigten Eisenbahnschiene
2001
7 Seiten, 9 Bilder, 11 Quellen
Conference paper
English
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