Simulation Test on Tread Shelling of Railroad Wheel

Abstract

Abstract Damages generated on railroad wheel tread are wear of tread and flange, heat and thermal cracks, spalling, and shelling. These damages are strongly affected by contact fatigue caused by contact rolling between wheel and rail. However, some of them are thermally influenced by skidding or tread braking. Such a thermal effect produces a variety of tread damages, and is a characteristic of damages due to contact fatigue in wheels. To prevent such damages, it should be required to clarify the mechanism of damage occurrence or to test and reproduce the tread damages in laboratory. For investigation of new wheel or rail material to avoid such damages, laboratory tests creating the tread damages as appeared in service will be also desired. In this report, simulation tests using the wheel testing machine and the contact fatigue tester in Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. are introduced to show how the tests make the damages on wheel tread and test specimen. In the simulation tests, reproduction of tread shelling has been focused on. This study also paid attention to the role of shear stress on contact fatigue, and the maximum depth of contact shear stress is compared for the tests performed.