DEVELOPMENT OF ROLLING CONTACT MECHANICS OF WHEEL/RAIL SYSTEMS

Rolling contact mechanics of wheel/rail systems mainly involve the study on the performance of wheel/rail in rolling contact. Due to its complexity, the study can be divided into six independent but interconnected parts. They are, respectively, creep theory of wheel/rail in rolling contact, adhesion, corrugation on the contact surfaces of wheel/rail, rolling contact fatigue, derailment and wheel/rail noise. In the paper, a historical introduction to the research fields mentioned above is given. The advantages and disadvantages of some typical creep theoretical models of whell/rail in rolling contact are emphatically discussed because they are widely applied to the dynamics of railway vehicle and track structure and wheel/rail performance. According to many serious problems concerning the performance of wheel/rail system in practical railway engineering, the authors suggest some further researches on the creep theory of wheel/rail in rolling contact, experimental method and important factors on the performance of wheel/rail in rolling contact.