Tribological Interrelationship of Seasonal Fluctuations of Freight Car Wheel Wear, Contact Fatigue Shelling and Composition of Brakeshoe Consumption

This paper proposes a novel theory which explains the strong linkage between brakeshoe metal pick-up and a corresponding increase in wheel tread wear and shelling during the wet winter months. The model suggests that pick-up metal forms through the tribo-reduction of oxidized wheel-rail wear debris. The presence of abundant carbonaceous...