The low adhesion problem due to leaf contamination in the wheelrail contact Bonding and low adhesion mechanisms.pdfVIP

Wear 378-379 (2017) 183–197 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Wear journal homepage: /locate/wear The low adhesion problem due to leaf contamination in the wheel/rail contact: Bonding and low adhesion mechanisms Kei Ishizaka a,b, Stephen R. Lewis a, Roger Lewis a,n a Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Shef?eld, Mappin Street, Shef?eld S1 3JD, UK b East Japan Railway Company, 2-2-2 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0053, Japan article info Article history: Received 3 August 2016 Received in revised form 13 February 2017 Accepted 22 February 2017 Available online 28 February 2017 Keywords: Low adhesion Leaves Pectin Cellulose Lignin Railway Wheel/rail contact abstract Autumn leaves often cause low adhesion problems for train operations, leading to station overruns and signals passed at danger (SPADS). The aim of this paper was to review operational data and research methods to assess the current understanding of the problem and formulate hypotheses for the causes. Incident analysis showed the relatively high possibility of incidents between the hours of 05:00–10:00 and 20:00–24:00, suggesting the dew effect was important. This result corresponds to the knowledge that wet leaves in the contact area produce very low friction coef?cients, below 0.1. Current mitigation methods, such as sanding, seem inadequate to remove the leaf ?lms completely. To explain the bonding mechanism between the leaf ?lm and the rail, a laboratory-based model and a ?eld-based model were developed based on previous studies. Moreover, key parameters for a strong bond formation were identi?ed, which are iron oxide, temperature, pressure and leaf material. The research gaps were identi?ed by a paper grading method, and several hypotheses for bonding mechanisms and low adhesion mechanisms were proposed, such as sub- or super critical water and pectin gel. 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Recently, railways have been re-evaluated as an eco-friendly met