Friction and Wear Behavior of Wheel/Rail Materials under Different Working Conditions

The rolling friction and wear behavior of wheel/rail materials was studied using a MMS-2A testing apparatus under dry, water and sanding conditions. Furthermore, the damage of wheel/rail samples was analyzed. The results show that the water would decrease rolling friction coefficient and wear volume of wheel/rail materials. Sanding could increase rolling friction coefficient and wear quantity of wheel/rail materials under water condition, and worsen the damage of the wheel/rail surface. The dry friction after sanding could make rolling friction coefficient come to the normal level in dry condition. With the conditions changes from water to dry and water sanding, the surface damage of wheel material transformed from concave-convex roughness with slight delamination to serious spalling damage, and the delamination damage was dominant for the rail material. However, the spalling damage of rail material was slighter than that of wheel specimen.