Investigation of a transitional wear model for wear and wear-type rail corrugation prediction

In this paper, a recently proposed mechanics-based model for the wear coefficient of rail steels is experimentally validated and implemented to obtain useful predictive wear models for some popular railway steels. The model is then implemented to investigate the feasibility of top of rail (TOR) friction modifiers (FMs) for wear-type rail corrugation control. The experimental results confirm the analytical prediction of the first transition (step change in value) of the wear coefficient based on known conditions of creep and load. The implementation of the model under dry and friction-modified conditions shows a substantial reduction in the wear coefficient from 1.6 × 10−09 kg/Nm to 0.34 × 10−09 kg/Nm, respectively. This along with an approximate 50% reduction in friction coefficient, is predicted to result in substantial decreases in corrugation growth rate and grinding costs of ∼20 times under the experimentally measured conditions of friction modifiers.