An experimental study of rail corrugation

This paper presents experimental study of rail corrugation using a JD-1 wheel/rail simulate facility, which mainly consists of a big wheel serving as the rail, and a small wheel serving as the locomotive or rolling stock wheel. The power delivered to each testing wheel can be accurately controlled. The traction or braking force can be obtained by the power applied to the small wheel during continuous test operation. In order to understand the mechanism of the wear, the wear corrugations on the scars of small wheel were examined by optical and scanning electron microscopy. Preliminary results can be drawn as follows: the corrugation depends on the tangential force and vertical oscillation between the rail and wheel of test machine. The tangential force enhanced the wear of contact surface, and the fluctuating force between two contact surfaces could induce asymmetry wear, which could produce original corrugation on the rolling wheel. When the original corrugation initiated. the uneven surface would lead to a rapid growth of the corrugation. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.