Tribological Properties of Laser Dispersed Treated Wheel Steel-Rail Steel Tribopairs

Laser dispersed treatment (LDT) was performed on wheel steel. The treated and untreated wheel steels were mated with rail steel and the friction coefficient and wear rate of these frictional pairs were measured on a rolling sliding test machine. The effect of LDT on the rolling contact friction and wear behavior of these frictional pairs was investigated. The results show that the wear resistance of treated wheel steel was improved obviously,while the friction coefficient of the frictional pair was increased and the wear of the corresponding rail steel is deteriorated. The dominant wear mechanism in the untreated wheel steel was delamination wear accompanied by mild fatigue wear. The dominant wear mechanism in the treated wheel steel was fatigue wear accompanied by mild delamination wear. LDT improved the plastic deformation resistance of wheel steel and inhibited the treated wheel steel from delamination wear. The delamination was the dominant wear mechanism for both rail steels against treated and untreated wheel steels. However,the delamination wear of rail steel was deteriorated after LDT was performed on the corresponding wheel steel.