A Comparative Investigation between Rolling Contact Fatigue and Wear of High-speed and Heavy-haul Railway

Rolling contact fatigue (RCF) and wear are inevitable problems for the infrastructure of modern railway. The rolling tests of railway rail were performed using a JD-1 wheel/rail simulation facility without any lubricant. The failure behavior of rail rollers with different axle load and speed was investigated in detail by examining wear volume and wear scar using optical microscopy and scanning electronic microscopy. The results indicate that the crack propagation was more significant and fatigue damage was more severe at high speed. The wear volume of rail roller became larger on heavy haul railway. The results show that there was a mutual competitive relationship between wear and surface fatigue crack. A high wear rate can reduce rolling contact fatigue damage by removing surface cracks.