Influence of the surface contact phenomena on the structural changes and nano-layers generation

Abstract

This work is dealing with a study of the micro/structure transformation that is induced by rolling contact friction and adhesive wear, respectively, in the rail-wheel/rail system. Several small rail-surface samples, we term them as the “chips”, as well as a railway wheel samples were chosen for the analyses of the surface changes on the rail/wheel surface. A multitude of different experiments were carried out in order to analyse the microstructure changes at the surface and the near-surface region of the material samples and, thus, to contribute to the understanding of the complex rail/wheel rolling contact phenomena - and mainly, its degradation mechanisms. The formation of nano-structured martensite and carbides on the rail and wheel surface causes the extremely high microhardness valuees and the strong corrosion resistance of the so called White Etching Layers (WEL).