Identification of the Best Material Combination Between Wheel and Rail of Railway Vehicle with Minimum Wear Rate

Wear is a natural phenomenon that exists when two bodies, which are in contact, perform
a relative motion; this is also true for the wheel and rail of a railway vehicle. This wear is
mainly dependent on the type of material they are made of. There is a tolerable level of
wear that is safe to the railway operation. Once this critical wear level is reached, it is
mandatory to re-profile the wheel, grind the rail. However, after some time it will be
worn out to the level it can no more be used and the whole system must be replaced with
a new one. This indicates that there is a need to focus on the wear properties of wheel and
rail materials in order to secure a safe and sustainable railway operation.
This research tries to set new combinations (pairs) of wheel and rail materials, simulate
them for wear performance using a multi body simulation software (SIMPACK). An
important criteria for the comparison is the hardness and strength of the wheel/rail
materials. Then compare the wear rate of the different combination and identify for the
best material combination with the minimum wear rate. Based on the simulation it is
found that a softer wheel material rolling on a relatively harder rail material has a
minimum wear rate. But increasing the hardness of both wheel and rails will not secure
better wear performance. Safety is also considered in this research using the derailment
coefficient parameter. Based on the minimum derailment coefficient value among the
combinations those with better wear performance showed a better safety.