Seizure mechanisms of wheel–rail contacts under lubricated conditions using a transient ball-on-disc test method

This study focuses on the transition from mild to severe wear in the wheel and rail contact. Such a transition has been observed at increased loading (normal load, sliding velocity, or bulk temperature) which can be compared to a change from a wheel thread–rail head contact to a wheel flange–rail gauge contact. This transition was experimentally studied using a transient test method of ball-on-disc type at different sliding velocities, contact pressures, and lubricants. It can be seen in the results that different seizure mechanisms are active for different sliding velocities. Also the amount of applied lubricant clearly affects the transition to seizure.