Modifications of a rail / wheel simulator to measure rail curve lubricant performance

Wear of railroad rolling stock and rails costs millions of dollars each year in all rail systems throughout the world. The rail industry has attempted to address flange wear using lubricants.The choice of rail curve lubricant is currently not based on a standards approach. Measuring rail curve lubricant performance in a laboratory environment can address this information shortfall and reduce wear in rail rolling stock and infrastructure.The equipment used to measure rail curve lubricant performance consists of two dissimilar disks, of matching contact profile, rotating in contact with one another. The outcome from the modifications was the ability to quantify rail curve lubricant performance using three performance criteria and to measure the changes in apparent viscosity with respect to accumulated strain damage.This paper will provide a description of the equipment and modifications to the rail / wheel wear simulator and preliminary results to display the outcomes of the modifications.