Effects of intermittent airflow on rolling contact damage characteristics of wheel steels in a low-temperature environment: Airflow humidity

IF 5.3 1区工程技术 Q1 ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL

Wear Pub Date : 2025-03-11 DOI:10.1016/j.wear.2025.206025

Zhixiong Bai , Jinbo Zhou , Yanwen Lin , Jiaqiang Li , Chunying Ma , Mingxue Shen

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

In cold regions, warm and humid airflow is easily generated in tunnels with geothermal heat. As trains travel through these tunnels, sudden fluctuations in airflow conditions, temperature and humidity easily cause premature contact damage to the wheel surface. Therefore, the investigation of rolling contact damage behaviour of wheel steels under intermittent airflow could provide support for the stable operation of wheel-rail systems under such extreme service conditions. In this paper, the effects of intermittent airflow with different humidity on the damage characteristics of wheels in a low-temperature environment were investigated using a wheel-rail rolling contact tester. The results showed that the introduction of intermittent airflow mitigated wear but accelerated fatigue cracking during the rolling contact process. With the airflow humidity increased from RH = 5 % to RH = 90 %, the wear mechanism of wheel steels experienced delamination wear, adhesive-oxidative-abrasive wear and delamination-fatigue wear. At low airflow humidity, the increased proportion of small-angle grain boundaries, improved fine grain strengthening and dislocation strengthening provided mechanical support for contact damage resistance. When the humidity of the airflow was moderate, the work-hardening and contact damage at the contact interfaces were weakened, with surface oxidation occurring. Conversely, high-humidity airflow accelerated crack extension on the damaged surface. Additionally, the wheel-rail interface may experience low adhesion when exposed to warm and humid airflow. In summary, reducing humidity in the tunnels is beneficial for mitigating contact damage and extending service life.

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间歇气流对低温环境下车轮钢滚动接触损伤特性的影响：气流湿度

在寒冷地区，地热隧道容易产生暖湿气流。当火车通过这些隧道时，气流条件、温度和湿度的突然波动很容易导致车轮表面过早接触损伤。因此，研究轮毂钢在间歇性气流作用下的滚动接触损伤行为，可以为轮轨系统在这种极端工况下的稳定运行提供支撑。采用轮轨滚动接触试验装置，研究了低温环境下不同湿度的间歇气流对车轮损伤特性的影响。结果表明：在滚动接触过程中，间歇气流的引入减轻了磨损，但加速了疲劳开裂；当气流湿度从RH = 5%增加到RH = 90%时，车轮钢的磨损机制经历了脱层磨损、粘结-氧化-磨粒磨损和脱层-疲劳磨损。低气流湿度下，小角晶界比例的增加、细晶强化和位错强化的改善为抗接触损伤提供了机械支撑。当气流湿度适中时，接触界面处的加工硬化和接触损伤减弱，表面发生氧化。反之，高湿气流加速了破损表面裂纹的扩展。此外，轮轨界面暴露在温暖和潮湿的气流中可能会出现低附着力。综上所述，降低隧道湿度有利于减轻接触损伤，延长使用寿命。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Wear 工程技术-材料科学：综合

CiteScore

8.80

自引率

8.00%

发文量

280

审稿时长

47 days

期刊介绍： Wear journal is dedicated to the advancement of basic and applied knowledge concerning the nature of wear of materials. Broadly, topics of interest range from development of fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of wear to innovative solutions to practical engineering problems. Authors of experimental studies are expected to comment on the repeatability of the data, and whenever possible, conduct multiple measurements under similar testing conditions. Further, Wear embraces the highest standards of professional ethics, and the detection of matching content, either in written or graphical form, from other publications by the current authors or by others, may result in rejection.