Polygonal wear mechanism of high-speed wheels based on full-size wheel-rail roller test rig

Abstract

The polygonal wear of train wheels is common. It increases the wheel-rail interaction force drastically and adversely affects the safety and comfort of the train. The mechanism of the initiation and development of polygonal wear warrants further study. This study performed a high-speed rolling test based on the full-size wheel-rail roller test rig to reproduce the entire process of the generation and development of the polygonal wear on the tested wheelset of CL60 steel in the laboratory. The mechanism of the initiation and development of polygonal wear was analyzed using the test results, the bending resonance of wheelset was considered as an important cause of the polygonal wear in this paper. The basic condition for the polygonal wear formation and its high rate of development was verified. The evolution process of polygonal wear was studied in-depth, and the relationship between axle-box acceleration and polygonal wear was revealed. Effective countermeasures against the development of polygonal wear were proposed. Variable speed operation could mitigate the development of polygonal wear in this paper. The results obtained in this study may provide reference for the further study of the effective countermeasures against the development of polygonal wear.