The structure, properties and a resistance to abrasive wear of railway sections of steel with a different pearlite morphology

Abstract

The article presents the characteristics of pearlite rail steels used in the construction of railways. The article discusses the influence of isothermal annealing process parameters on the pearlite morphology and properties of the R260 steel. The pearlite structure with a diverse pearlite morphology was obtained in the physical modeling of the isothermal annealing on the 3800 Gleeble Simulator. After the heat treatment, the existence of the pearlite microstructure with pearlite colonies was identified. They were smaller in relation to colonies after the hot rolling process. It was shown that the reduction of isothermal holding temperature influences the decrease of the interlamellar distance in the pearlite steel. On the basis of the received results, the dependences between the resistance to the abrasive wear and the pearlite morphology for operational conditions occurring in the switches were estimated. The resistance to the abrasive wear tests were conducted for steel with a different morphology of pearlite on the Amsler stand in conditions of rolling- sliding frictions. The resistance to the abrasive wear of R260 steel with a different pearlite morphology increases, when the interlamellar distance in cementite decreases and decreases as the load and slip increase.