Rough Rail Surfaces Slash Equipment Life, Study Finds
Grinding maintenance on railway tracks creates surface roughness that dramatically accelerates wear and fatigue damage, reducing rail longevity. The research suggests operators could extend asset life and cut maintenance costs by optimizing grinding practices and building surface texture into predictive maintenance models.
Originaltitel: Effect of the rail surface topography on wear and fatigue
<p>This study is an investigation of the impact of grinding-generated surface roughness on the wear and fatigue life of rails. The grinding process, essential for rail maintenance, creates a rough surface that significantly influences wheel/rail contact conditions. Using a combined experimental and numerical approach, this work replicates and integrates grinding-generated roughness into an elastoplastic rolling contact model. To evaluate the effects of surface roughness on rail degradation, Archard's wear equation is applied for wear assessment, while fatigue is analysed using the Jiang-Sehitoglu fatigue parameter. The results show that rough surfaces induce localised high stresses and plastic strains, accelerating material degradation, particularly in early rolling cycles. In contrast, smoother surfaces exhibit more stable plastic strain evolution over fewer cycles. Additionally, the grinding-generated roughness significantly increases the damage accumulation, highlighting its role in reducing rail life. These findings emphasize the need to incorporate surface roughness into predictive maintenance models and optimise grinding practices to ensure rail longevity and operational reliability.</p>