Study on the Rail Rolling Contact Fatigue of Subway

doi:10.3901/JME.2019.02.147

Abstract

Abstract: Rail rolling contact fatigue (RCF) is a common problem in subway lines. In this paper a RCF prediction model is established, including vehicle system dynamics model, fatigue index based on the shakedown map and rail damage function based on the wear number. The wheel/rail creep force, wheel/rail contact positions and rail RCF are analyzed when the vehicle operates on three typical kinds of curved tracks. The results show that when the vehicle passes through the curved track, the resultant creep forces on the low rail point to the fourth quadrant of the Cartesian coordinates system, while on the high rail they mainly point to the third quadrant of the Cartesian coordinates system. The fatigue index of rail surface is larger than 0, which indicates that the material in contact region is in the ratcheting zone. The value of rail damage is larger than 0 according to the damage function, which means RCF crack damage. The total creep force is easy to cause the crack of which the directions are approximately perpendicular to the creep force on the rail surface, which is almost the same as the situation observed on field. With the curve radius decreasing, the total of wheel/rail creep force increases significantly. The worn wheel and rail frequently interact in the small radius curves, which is the main cause of cracking and shelling on the rail surface.

Key words: creep force, damage function, fatigue index, rail rolling contact fatigue, wheel-rail interaction

CLC Number:

U211

LIANG Xiren, TAO Gongquan, LU Wenjiao, GUAN Qinghua, WEN Zefeng. Study on the Rail Rolling Contact Fatigue of Subway[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2019, 55(2): 147-155.

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