Theory 23/Railway Engineering
Wear Is a Creep Ratio
The claim
Wheel-rail wear rate is set by the ratio of creep force to the adhesion limit, so wear accelerates sharply where the ratio approaches one.
01Mechanism
Below the limit, contact is in partial slip and wear is mild; as the ratio approaches one, full slip develops and wear rises steeply.
02Predictions
- P1Wear should rise sharply near a ratio of one.
- P2Load alone should mispredict.
03Refutation
Wear tracking load would remove the creep term.