Wheel flange wear on curved tracks is a significant issue that poses a threat to the safety of rail vehicles and leads to increased maintenance costs for railway operators. This study aims to develop a numerical model to predict wheel flange wear on small radius curves. The model integrates an efficient wheel-rail conformal contact model with laboratory-tested wear coefficients. By using virtual penetration and influence coefficients for conformal geometries, the model accurately simulates the conformal contact between the wheel flange and the rail gauge corner. The validity of the wheel flange wear prediction model is confirmed through field tracking testing. Using the proposed model, the effects of track layout parameters and solid lubricants on wheel flange wear are investigated. This study provides theoretical guidance for the operation and maintenance of the wheel-rail system to reduce wear.
The Ti-6Al-4V fretting wear of complete contacts on a proving ring-like rig is investigated in this paper. Under this contact configuration, the Ti-6Al-4V alloy exhibited distinctive fretting wear behaviors. Especially in the continuous wear zones of the fretting specimen and pad, a paired continuous pit and peak were formed, respectively, and moved inward as the continuous wear zones expanded. To explain these fretting wear behaviors of the fretting configuration, a novel phenomenological fretting wear model is proposed in this paper. Additionally, due to the failure of the conventional FE method with a constant wear coefficient to simulate the fretting wear, a new local wear coefficient model, which is position-dependent and time-dependent fretting, is also proposed in this paper.
The objective of this research is to examine how various cooling and lubrication techniques affect the machinability of Duplex F53 steel when turning it, with particular attention to residual stress, surface roughness, chip morphology, tool wear, machining temperature, and crystallographic structures. According to the microstructure analysis, the presence of additional austenite grains at high temperatures during dry machining results in an increase in hardness. On the other hand, cooling techniques including liquid nitrogen (LN2), carbon Quantum dots with SQL (CD), and oil with small quantity lubrication (OSQL) produce larger ferrite grains, which lower hardness. According to residual stress analysis, the high temperatures during dry cutting result in increased strains, which are successfully mitigated by lubrication. The two-phase microstructure has a crucial influence in mechanical characteristics, as demonstrated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies, wherein finer grains improve surface polish but demand more energy. Measuring surface roughness (Ra) reveals that adhesion wears during dry machining raises Ra, while OSQL and LN2 cooling lower Ra and improve surface quality. Tool performance is negatively impacted by high machining temperatures. Cutting temperatures and friction are greatly reduced by LN2 cooling. Dry machining increases tool wear because of the high temperatures and absence of lubrication; OSQL and CD lower wear rates, while LN2 offers the best protection for tools. Thinner, better-separated chips are produced by effective lubrication in OSQL and LN2, while thicker, more deformed chips are produced by dry machining, according to chip morphology and thickness analyses. The study leads to the conclusion that super duplex steel's surface quality, tool life, and machinability can all be significantly enhanced by carbon quantum dots and cryogenic cooling.