Subsurface initiated rolling contact fatigue of railway wheels as generated by rail corrugation

The Influence of Wheel/Rail Contact Conditions on the Microstructure and Hardness of Railway Wheels

The susceptibility of railway wheels to wear and rolling contact fatigue damage is influenced by the properties of the wheel material. These are influenced by the steel composition, wheel manufacturing process, and thermal and mechanical loading during operation. The in-service properties therefore vary with depth below the surface and with position across the wheel tread. This paper discusses ...

Rail corrugation detection by Gabor filtering

Inspection of the rail state in order to detect defects is one of the basic tasks in railway maintenance. Rail defects exhibit different properties and are divided in various categories relating to the type and position of flaws on the rail. In this paper, we propose a technique, based on texture analysis of rail surface, to detect and classify a particular class of defects: corrugation.

Rolling contact fatigue in martensitic 100Cr6: subsurface hardening and crack formation

Rolling contact fatigue tests on 100Cr6 steel were carried out with a ballon-rod tester. Microstructural damage was manifested by gradual hardness changes under the subsurface, and microcracks formed adjacent to inclusions; both being evidence of plastic deformation. The hardness increase appears to be due to the development of residual stress, while the microcracks form as a result of the conc...

Rolling Contact Fatigue in Ultra High Vacuum

Contact Force Estimation in the Railway Vehicle Wheel-Rail Interface

Increased patronage of railways in the UK in the past 20 years has put demands on rolling stock to operate at peak availability with reduced time available for maintenance. One possible tool to enable this is the use of real time fault detection and diagnosis on board railway vehicles to detect faulty components and provide information about the current running condition of the system. This pap...