United States Department of Transportation
i
Investigation of the effects of sliding on wheel tread damage
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2005-11-05
[PDF-265.36 KB]
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NTL Classification:NTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-RAIL TRANSPORTATION;NTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-Rail Safety;NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Rail Safety;
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Abstract:Wheel tread spalling is the main source of damage to wheel treads and
a primary cause for wheel removals from service. Severe frictional
heating of the wheel-rail contact patch during sliding causes the
formation of martensite, a hard, brittle microstructure. The martensite
patches break away from the more resilient bulk of the wheel tread
when subjected to contact loads, resulting in spall formation.
Prolonged sliding allows a greater volume of wheel tread material to
reach extremely high temperatures, which will lead to material
ablation and the formation of a slid flat. Such flats are the cause of
wheel impact loads, which are extremely damaging to truck
components and rail. This paper outlines an approach developed to
estimate the effects of sliding on wheel flat formation and the potential
severity of spalling. The methodology is described and preliminary
results are presented using an intentionally simplified idealization of
the wheel-rail contact geometry. Material characterization
(temperature-dependent properties and failure criteria) and
management of model size are of equal importance to geometric
fidelity and are the focus in the early stages of the development of the
qualitative model present here.
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