Home > FRICTION > Vol. 4 (2016) > Iss. 3
Keywords
wheel/rail contact, groove, friction, wear, break-in
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of the surface topography on the tribological behavior of the wheel/rail contact. Four different groove orientations forming the surface topographies—smooth surface, 0°, 45° and 90°—were manufactured by grinding and compared. All friction tests with different surface topographies were conducted using an alternative tribometer simulating the pure sliding process in the wheel-rail contact. The Hertzian pressure was maintained at 1,000 MPa with two levels of sliding velocity (20 mm/s and 80 mm/s). This study resulted in five main findings.First, the initial surface topographies seemed to have a significant effect on the friction coefficient independently of the speed. Second, the increase of the sliding velocity would decrease the friction coefficient. Third, especially when accompanied with a high sliding velocity, an initial rough surface would have a significant effect on the wear of the wheel. Fourth, the highest wear values were observed at groove orientations of 45° when accompanied with a high sliding velocity. Finally, the break-in duration seemed to depend on the initial surface topographies of the rail and the sliding velocity.
Publisher
Tsinghua University Press
Recommended Citation
A. KHALLADI, K. ELLEUCH. Effect of surface topography with different groove angles on tribological behavior of the wheel/rail contact using alternative machine. Friction 2016, 4(3): 238-248.