Abstract
Rolling contact fatigue on any railway system has a significant impact on the safety and efficiency of the operation. This is especially true for heavy haul railways where higher axle loads and demands for higher throughput have, over the years, challenged the limits within the wheel/rail interface. The objective of this paper is to present a methodology to manage this stress state using a detailed wheel/rail contact stress analysis. Based on the results of recent wheel profile and rail profile surveys, a kinematic wheel/rail contact analysis is performed to identify and eliminate profiles that cause high stresses. The results show that the current hollow wear criterion is effective, but that an alternative or additional criterion based on the gauge side false flange gradient or the calculated peak contact stress values can further reduce the stress state. Within the wheel and rail profile combinations investigated, the contact stresses were largely independent of the transverse profile of the high rail.
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