Using twin disc for applications in the railway: a systematic review

Tribological testing using twin disc equipment is widely used in railway research as it allows for a simulation of the complex wheel/rail tribological system. In this study, an extensive systematic bibliographic review was carried out, seeking to understand, synthesize, organize the knowledge developed and the methodological strategies adopted in research in the last 12 years that used twin disc tribometers to simulate relevant railway themes. For this, 440 articles present in the main scientific databases had their abstracts read and evaluated. After the evaluation, 133 articles were selected for extraction, data synthesis and scientific mapping using the Bibliometrix tool. The results allowed us to identify where the main active research groups and the main formed research networks that address this subject are located. As for the importance of using the twin disc, the great versatility of the test to simulate events of interest in the railway is evidenced, identifying studies on friction management, simulation of different operating and environmental conditions, evaluation of the behavior of new materials and surface treatments of wheel and rail among other themes. A detailed description of the main methodological strategies is also provided in this review.