Wear behaviour investigation of wheel/rail interface in water lubrication and dry friction

Purpose The aim of this study is to calculate the coefficient of friction of wheel/rail interface in both water lubrication and dry friction conditions. Design/methodology/approach Specimens taken from wheel and rail used in railway transport were exposed to pin‐on‐disc wear testing with 10, 20, 30 and 40 N loads. The disc took the place of the rail and the pin that of the wheel in wear tests, and rain water was fed to the disc/pin interface with a three drops/min speed in wet friction conditions. The coefficient of friction and weight loss values of specimens were determined and types of wear mechanism were characterized. Findings It was observed that the friction coefficient decreased in wet sliding experiments, so smaller values were calculated in wet friction conditions than those of dry friction conditions for wheel specimens. However, this decrease was more drastic for rail specimens. Weight and volumetric loss values of rail materials were lower than those of wheel samples. Originality/value This study investigates the wet and dry sliding wear characteristics of train wheel‐rail materials.