Influence of sliding wear on contact characteristics based on 3-D wheel/rail contact model

During the process of starting, braking and running of the train, sliding contact between wheel and rail occurs. The wear caused by sliding contact exerts a noteworthy influence on the contact characteristics of wheel/rail. To analyze these characteristics, a three-dimensional wheel/rail contact wear model is established, and the contact characteristics at different wear depths are studied. The results indicate that at initial contact, the wheel/rail contact patch is approximately elliptical in shape and its area is 122.5 mm2. The von Mises stress of the wheel and rail is maximum in the subsurface at a distance of 2 mm from the contact interface, with maximum values of 559 MPa and 628 MPa respectively. When the wear depth is less than 0.5 mm, the wear depth, contact area and size increase quickly. As the amount of wheel contact wear increases, the maximum contact stress gradually decreases and the contact stress becomes uniform. In addition, the calculation results indicate that the contact patch shape does not always remain elliptical, the shape can change from elliptical to rectangular as the wear depth increases. As the increasing of wear amount, the contact stress gradient on the inner side of wheel contact surface increases.