Fretting wear behaviors of a railway axle steel

Fretting damage was one of the most important reasons for the failure of the railway axle. Fretting wear (tangential fretting mode) tests of a railway axle steel (LZ50 steel) flats against 52 100 steel balls were carried out under different normal loads and displacement amplitudes on a hydraulic fretting wear rig. Dynamic analyses in combination with microscopic examinations have been performed. The experimental results showed that the fretting regimes of the LZ50 steel were strongly dependent upon the imposed normal loads and displacement amplitudes. The F_t/F_n curves exhibited different variation trends in different fretting running regimes. The fretting scars presented slight damage in partial slip regime. In mixed fretting regime, the trace of the plowing and plastic deformation flow can be observed on the fretting scars. The wear mechanism during this regime was the combination of the abrasive wear, oxidative wear and delamination accompanied with obvious plastic deformation. The detachment of particles and plowing traces were the main phenomena in slip regime. And, thicker debris layer covered the contact zone of the scar. The severe degradation in slip regime presented the main wear mechanisms of abrasive wear, oxidative wear and delamination.