Predicting the Effect of Grinding Corrugated Rail Surface on the Wear Behavior of Pearlitic Rail Steel

Rail grinding has become an increasingly permanent way maintenance practice to tackle rail corrugation, as well as extending the rolling contact fatigue life of rails. However, and as far as material loss is concerned, such a grinding is considered as an artificial wear process added to the natural wear. The work presented in this article investigates the quantitative effect of grinding the whole deformed rail surface layer on the overall wear process of the running surface of pearlitic rail steel. Results show that if wear behavior is known as an empirical model which can predict the effect of grinding that could be obtained.