The correlation between rail rolling contact damage and surface hardening behavior under various curvature radius and axle loads: comparing pearlitic and bainitic rail steels

IF 6.1 1区工程技术 Q1 ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL

Wear Pub Date : 2025-09-13 DOI:10.1016/j.wear.2025.206342

Yuan Wang , Yang Qin , Honghao Wang , Haohao Ding , Wenjian Wang , Enrico Meli , Roger Lewis , Qiyue Liu , Zhongrong Zhou

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study investigated the correlation between rail surface hardening behavior and wear/rolling contact fatigue (RCF) damage through a series of rolling contact tests under varying curve radii and axle loads. Three rail steels with different hardness levels were examined: U75VH pearlitic steel (396 HV_0.5), 1250B and 1380B bainitic steel (433 and 499 HV_0.5, respectively). Results indicated that rail wear increased significantly with decreasing curvature radius or increasing axle load, with a generally slight increase in both crack length and depth. Notably, U75VH with the lowest matrix hardness exhibited the lowest wear rate, while the bainitic rail steel 1250B with intermediate hardness demonstrated the highest wear rate, accompanied by a significant increase in crack length as curvature radius decreased or axle load increased. Further Pearson correlation analysis revealed that wear rate exhibited a more significant negative correlation with post-test rail surface hardness (-0.54, P<0.05), whereas no correlation was observed with matrix hardness (-0.0053), indicating that rail surface hardening behavior played a pivotal role in directly determining wear resistance. The difference in hardening degree was related to the varying microstructural deformation of rail steels. The 1250B with the lowest hardening level was characterized by a discrete granular structure near the surface, in contrast to the fibrous structure seen in U75VH and 1380B rail steels. These findings highlight the importance of considering not only bulk mechanical properties but also surface hardening capability in rail material design.

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不同曲率半径和轴载荷下钢轨滚动接触损伤与表面硬化行为的关系：比较珠光体和贝氏体钢轨钢

通过一系列不同曲线半径和轴载下的滚动接触试验，研究了钢轨表面硬化行为与磨损/滚动接触疲劳损伤的相关性。研究了三种不同硬度水平的钢轨：U75VH珠光体钢（396 HV0.5）， 1250B和1380B贝氏体钢（分别为433和499 HV0.5）。结果表明：钢轨磨损随曲率半径的减小或轴载荷的增大而显著增加，裂纹长度和深度均略有增加；值得注意的是，基体硬度最低的U75VH磨损率最低，中等硬度的贝氏体1250B钢轨钢磨损率最高，裂纹长度随曲率半径的减小或轴载的增加而显著增加。进一步的Pearson相关分析显示，磨损率与试验后钢轨表面硬度呈显著负相关（-0.54,P<0.05），而与基体硬度无相关性（-0.0053），这表明钢轨表面硬化行为在直接决定耐磨性方面起着关键作用。硬化程度的差异与钢轨钢组织变形的不同有关。与U75VH和1380B钢轨钢的纤维状组织形成对比，硬化程度最低的1250B钢轨钢的表面呈离散粒状组织。这些发现强调了在钢轨材料设计中不仅要考虑整体力学性能，还要考虑表面硬化能力的重要性。

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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.