Adhesion modeling in the wheel–rail contact under dry and lubricated conditions using measured 3D surfaces

Adhesion between wheels and rails plays an essential role in the safe, efficient, and reliable operation of a railway network. Particularly under lubricated conditions, which can be a natural lubricant as water and an applied lubricant as rail oil, trains can experience adhesion loss. This paper presents an adhesion model constructed using the measured 3D wheel–rail surfaces. The numerical model comprises of three parts: a normally loaded contact model; an interfacial fluid model; and a rolling–sliding contact model. Simulation examples use the numerical model to investigate how water or oil contamination might affect wheel–rail adhesion in contacts with different surface roughness levels. Simulation indicates that adhesion peaks are almost at the same creep on different surfaces. The fluid load capacity is inversely proportional to the adhesion coefficient, both of which are clearly dependent on vehicle speed. Oil reduces adhesion coefficient more than water does. The adhesion coefficient on the low roughness surfaces is higher than that on the generated smooth surfaces under oil-lubricated conditions while it is the opposite for water-lubricated contact.

► Wheel–rail adhesion is simulated by using a numerical model based on two pairs of real measured 3D wheel rail surfaces. ► The model consists of three parts: a normally loaded contact model; an interfacial fluid model and a rolling–sliding model. ► The model is able to predict adhesion coefficient under dry, water-lubricated and oil-lubricated conditions. ► Adhesion peaks at the same creep regardless of the surface roughness. ► Adhesion loss mechanism is analyzed according to the type of fluids.