Influence of solid solution strengthening on spalling behavior of railway wheel steel

The object of this paper is to investigate the influence of solid solution strengthening on the spalling behavior of railway wheel steel. White etching layer (WEL) was reproduced by twin-disc test and analyzed by phase transformation kinetic. Spalling of WEL was then evaluated by rolling contact fatigue (RCF) test and finite element analysis. The results show that solid solution strengthening improves the resistance to WEL formation for wheel steel through increasing the austenitization temperature. WEL remarkably reduces the RCF life of wheel steel. Whether containing WEL or not, solid solution strengthened steel exhibits a better rolling contact fatigue strength than the traditional wheel steel.