The Influence of Wheel/Rail Contact Conditions on the Microstructure and Hardness of Railway Wheels

Figure 18

OM image of microstructure on the field side tread chamfer, showing localised plastic flow (Region F2). Together with the lack of microstructural shear in the majority of Region F, this suggests that material “rollover” on the field side of this wheel is a localised phenomenon and not associated with material flow from other parts of the wheel tread.