Creep Force Characteristics of Wheel/Rail Contact Under Friction Control

Abstract

In this investigation, a creep force model for contact with friction modifiers is developed and validated by comparing with the experimental results. To this end, a creep force model is developed by introducing a concept of equivalent shear modulus of rigidity, and a two-roller test rig is developed and used for validating the proposed model. Furthermore, relationships between the model parameters and the amount of friction modifiers applied to the contact patch are discussed. It is demonstrated that good agreements are obtained for the creep force characteristics obtained using the proposed model and the two-roller test rig developed in this investigation. Furthermore, it is shown that the proposed model can be used as a semi-empirical model, in which one can define the model parameter as a curve-fitting parameter and, at the same time, physical interpretations regarding the lubrication state between the wheel and rail interface can be obtained using the identified parameters.