Controlling Rail and Wheel Wear on Commuter Operations
Date
1993-10
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
American Railway Engineering Association
Abstract
The Regional Railroad Division of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) operates approximately 450 route miles of commuter operation in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. In 1991, the railroad division began experiencing an unusually high rate of wheel and rail wear, particularly on sharp curves on the commuter rail lines. This wear was predominately wheel flange/rail gage face wear with an apparent correlation between the increase in wear on both the wheels and the rails. The cause of the increase in wear was not clear or well defined, and as a result the most appropriate form(s) of corrective action was difficult to determine. In order to effectively address this issue, a comprehensive examination of the wear mechanisms, wheel and rail, was undertaken, together with a de- tailed study of the dynamic interaction between the wheel and the rail. As part of this detailed study, a series of specific activity areas were defined, and each of these areas were ad- dressed both individually and as part of the overall integrated study. These specific study areas included the following: 1. Field investigation of rail and wheel wear. 2.Computer simulation of wheel/rail interaction and wear, 3.Analysis of wheel and rail profiles. 4.Analysis of rail grinding effects and requirements. 5.Evaluation of rail lubrication effectiveness. 6.Evaluation of track geometry (super-elevation and unbalance) effects. 7.Assessment of critical measurements and tolerances. 8.Economic benefit analysis. This paper presents a summary of each of these activities together with some of the overall finding and recommendations of this study. It should be noted here that this study was specific to the conditions and operations of the Railroad Division of SEPTA, and any extrapolation of these results to other properties should be done with extreme caution.
Description
Keywords
Rail Wear, Wheel Wear, SEPTA
Citation
Zarembski, A. M., & Bohara, A. P., “Controlling Rail and Wheel Wear on Commuter Operations”, American Railway Engineering Association, Bulletin 742, Volume 94, October 1993.