Tribological studies for developing friction modifiers in the wheel–rail system

In this work, friction modifiers in a wheel–rail system and their operation mechanism are considered. Three stages of a complex tribological study and tribological tests are applied within the development of friction modifiers and estimation of their tribological properties. The first stage (Institute of Element and Organic Compounds, Russian Academy of Sciences) is to elaborate hydroalcoholic soluble compounds and polymeric binders, as well as of methods of applying them to steel surfaces, and to study their tribological characteristics using an I-47 friction machine. The second stage (Institute of Mechanics Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences) is devoted to probing of tribological characteristics and durability of the elaborated composites on a tribometer, which allows to implement a cylinder–plate contact interaction under full slip conditions. The third stage (JSC “Railway Research Institute”) is aimed at studying the tribological parameters of the developed modifier composites at rolling-sliding conditions under real contact pressure of 1200 MPa.