Rolling Friction and Wear, and Damage Behavior of Wheel/Rail at High Rotation Speed and Different Normal Loads

The rolling friction and wear, and damage behavior of wheel/rail specimens at high rotation speed and different normal loads （2 000, 5 000, 8 000 N） were investigated by a rolling contact fatigue testing machine. The results show that the friction coefficient during stable rolling contact stage and the wear as well as the thickness of plastic deformation layer of wheel/rail specimens all raised with the increase of normal load. Under the same friction conditions, it was shown that wear of wheel specimen was a little bit larger than that of rail specimen. The surface morphology of wheel/rail speciens presented the typical appearance of rolling contact fatigue. What′s more, the fatigue damage of wheel specimen was more seriously and the initiation of cracks could be observed more frequently in wheel specimen.