Effects of rail hardness on transverse profile evolution and computed contact conditions in a full-scale wheel-rail test rig evaluation

This paper revisits a comprehensive data set generated in a prior test program using a full-scale wheel-rail test rig. The test program evaluated premium and standard grade rail steels with respect to wear and rolling contact fatigue (RCF). The current work evaluates the evolution of rail profiles throughout the test cases, taking advantage of the database of wheel and rail profiles that were collected. Contact conditions are modelled using the CONTACT library, including recent developments in the handling of conformal geometries and interfacial layers. Observations are made regarding the relative characteristics of rail profiles for each steel type, as they evolve with accumulated wheel passes, on the basis of the computed contact conditions. • Improved performance of conformal CONTACT solver, versus planar solvers • Reduced wear for higher hardness rail grades, without an inherent increase in RCF • Importance of establishing and maintaining profiles for higher hardness rail grades