Rolling Contact Fatigue on premium rail grades: Damage function development from field data

Rolling Contact Fatigue in Ultra High Vacuum

A new solution method for wheel/rail rolling contact

To solve the problem of wheel/rail rolling contact of nonlinear steady-state curving, a three-dimensional transient finite element (FE) model is developed by the explicit software ANSYS/LS-DYNA. To improve the solving speed and efficiency, an explicit-explicit order solution method is put forward based on analysis of the features of implicit and explicit algorithm. The solution method was first...

Analysis of Surface Crack Growth under Rolling Contact Fatigue

Understanding the fatigue crack growth phenomenon in railheads requires a study of driving forces such as the crack tip opening and sliding displacements, under repeated rolling contact. Finite element simulations, allowing elastic-plastic deformation, and mixed-mode crack growth laws were utilized to demonstrate that the fatigue crack growth rates display a minimum after a finite amount of cra...

Rolling contact fatigue of surface coatings—a review

The aim of this review is to survey the state of the art relating to the rolling contact fatigue (RCF) investigation of various overlay coatings and also, to ascertain the influence of design parameters such as the type of deposition process, coating material and thickness on the RCF performance. Rolling contact fatigue is a significant factor in the failure of components in rolling/sliding con...

Rail roughness and rolling noise in tramways

Companies which manage railway networks have to cope continually with the problem of operating safety and maintenance intervention issues related to rail surface irregularities. A lot of experience has been gained in recent years in railway applications but the case of tramways is quite different; in this field there are no specific criteria to define any intervention on rail surface restoratio...