A numerical model of twin disc test arrangement for the evaluation of railway wheel wear prediction methods

Twin disc tests are commonly used to study wear in railway materials. In this work the implementation of a numerical model of the twin disc arrangement is given, which reproduces the distribution of tangential forces over the contact patch between the two discs. Wear is subsequently calculated by relating the forces and creepage between the two discs using three different wear functions found in the literature. The resulting wear rates are compared with experimental data for discs made of common railway wheel and rail steels. This allows a comparison and assessment of the validity of the different wear algorithms considered.