Wheel and rail contact simulation using a twin disc tester.

The contact between wheel and rail has been studied for many years in the field and using different test approaches. The wheel/rail contact in this work was simulated by a rolling-sliding twin disc contact machine. Currently this approach is widely accepted as a technique for studying different aspects of the wheel/rail contact such as; wear, rolling contact fatigue (RCF) crack propagation and issues concerning wheel/rail isolation.