Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of the surface topography on the tribological behavior of the wheel/rail contact. Four different groove orientations forming the surface topographies—smooth surface, 0°, 45° and 90°—were manufactured by grinding and compared. All friction tests with different surface topographies were conducted using an alternative tribometer simulating the pure sliding process in the wheel-rail contact. The Hertzian pressure was maintained at 1,000 MPa with two levels of sliding velocity (20 mm/s and 80 mm/s). This study resulted in five main findings.
First, the initial surface topographies seemed to have a significant effect on the friction coefficient independently of the speed. Second, the increase of the sliding velocity would decrease the friction coefficient. Third, especially when accompanied with a high sliding velocity, an initial rough surface would have a significant effect on the wear of the wheel. Fourth, the highest wear values were observed at groove orientations of 45° when accompanied with a high sliding velocity. Finally, the break-in duration seemed to depend on the initial surface topographies of the rail and the sliding velocity.
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Abdessalem KHALLADI. He received his bachelor degree in mechanical engineering from Higher School of Technical and Science of Tunis (ESSTT), Tunisia, in 2002. He received his MS degree in mechanical engineering from National Engineering School of Sfax (ENIS), Tunisia, in 2011. He joined the Laboratory of Materials Engineering and Environment (LGME) at National Engineering School of Sfax, Tunisia, in 2009. He finalized his Ph.D degree in the same laboratory. His research includes the tribological behavior of wheel and rail materials, mechanical design and manufactory. His current position is a technologist in Higher Institute of Technological Studies of Sfax, Tunisia.
Khaled ELLEUCH. He received his M.S. and Ph.D degrees in material engineering from Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France, in 1998 and 2002, respectively. He joined the Laboratory of Materials Engineering and Environment (LGME) at National Engineering School of Sfax (ENIS), Tunisia, in 2003. His current position is a Professor and Dean of Material Engineering Department. His research areas cover the mechanics of material and durability, material forming, tribology and surface treatment, tribocorrosion and nano-composite development.
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Khalladi, A., Elleuch, K. Effect of surface topography with different groove angles on tribological behavior of the wheel/rail contact using alternative machine. Friction 4, 238–248 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-016-0121-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-016-0121-y