Keywords: low rail rolling contact fatigue, spalling, rail surface damage, wheel hollowness, wheel-rail interface, gauge widening.

High axle load poses several challenges for infrastructure management. The introduction of 30-tonne axle load wagons on the Swedish iron ore line exacerbated rolling contact fatigue challenges. While infrastructure managers have effectively controlled rolling contact fatigue on the high rail of curves through the adoption of wear-resistant rail profiles and optimized rail grinding practices, mitigating rolling contact fatigue on the low rail remains a significant challenge. Particularly, tight curves with radii up to 850 meters are prone to spalling defects under widened gauge conditions. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of gauge widening and wheel profile wear on wheel-rail interaction and rail damage. A multi-body dynamic model of an iron ore wagon is implemented in the GENSYS software environment. Practical degradation parameters relevant to wheel-rail interaction are incorporated for both the vehicle and track. Simulations are conducted under normal and widened gauge conditions to assess the differences in severe gauge widening scenarios. The simulation results demonstrate that under widened gauge conditions, rolling contact fatigue on the low rail exhibit considerable increase compared to normal gauge operations. The combination of increased wheel hollowness and gauge widening further exacerbates rolling contact fatigue. Moreover, the effect of running speed indicates that reducing speed is advisable to minimize rail damage in widened gauge conditions.

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