Strain partitioning and damage initiation in a continuously cooled carbide free bainitic steel

Microscopic stress and strain partitioning control the mechanical and damage behavior of multiphase steels. Using a combined numerical and experimental approach, local strain distributions and deformation localization are characterized in a carbide free bainitic steel produced by continuous cooling. The microstructure of the steel consists of...

Influence of microstructure on mechanical properties of bainitic steels in railway applications

Wheel–rail contact creates high stresses in both rails and wheels, which can lead to different damage, such as plastic deformation, wear and rolling contact fatigue (RCF). It is important to use high-quality steels that are resistant to these damages. Mechanical properties and failure of steels are determined by various microstructural...

Thermomechanical analysis of the wheel-rail contact using a coupled modelling procedure

This research presents a coupled thermomechanical modelling procedure for the wheel-rail contact problem and computes the flash-temperature and stress-strain responses when thermal effects are present. A three-dimensional elasto-plastic finite element model was built considering the wheel-track interaction. When the wheel is running on rail,...

Development of a New Downscale Setup for Wheel-Rail Contact Experiments under Impact Loading Conditions

A new downscale test rig is developed for investigating the contact between the wheel and rail under impact-like loading conditions. This paper presents the development process of the setup, including review and synthesis of the potential experimental techniques, followed by scalability, mechanical and operational analysis of the new setup. The...

Laboratory simulation of martensite formation of white etching layer in rail steel

White etching layer (WEL) is a frequently observed microstructural phenomenon in rail surface, formed during dynamic wheel/rail contact. It is considered as one of the main initiators for rolling contact fatigue cracks. There are several hypotheses for the formation mechanism of WEL. However, due to the complicated wheel/rail contact...

Computation of the flash-temperature at the wheel-rail contact using a 3D finite element model and its comparison with analytical methods

The coupled mechanical–thermal behaviour of wheel and rail materials under rolling contact is studied to determine the temperature rise due to the frictional heat. The wheel–rail frictional rolling contact problem is solved using the three–dimensional finite element (FE) method. The FE model considers the wheel tread–rail top contact with...

Substantial Fatigue Similarity of a New Small-Scale Test Rig to Actual Wheel-Rail System

The substantial similarity of fatigue mechanism in a new test rig for rolling contact fatigue (RCF) has been investigated. A new reduced-scale test rig is designed to perform controlled RCF tests in wheel-rail materials. The fatigue mechanism of the rig is evaluated in this study using a combined finite element-fatigue prediction approach. The...