The Influence of Wheel/Rail Contact Conditions on the Microstructure and Hardness of Railway Wheels
Figure 15
OM images of microstructure in the RCF band, (a) Region E1, and (b) Region E2. This region experiences high tangential forces, typically toward the centre of the tread (a) as shown in Figure 4, and these cause significant surface cracking (Figure 3). The microstructure is sheared in the same direction, and the influence extends to a depth of about 0.3 mm. Cracks are visible in this section, including two that have joined sub-surface in Region E1.
