Particle characterisation of rail sands for understanding tribological behaviour

Low adhesion between a train’s wheel and the rail can cause performance and safety issues; in the rail industry this is mitigated by sanding. This paper outlines a particle characterisation framework and applies it to three types of silica sand. It was found that the size of the sand particles differed with sand type but all other measured characteristics were relatively similar. Tribological tests were then conducted under realistic contact pressures to study the sands’ influence on traction under varying adhesion conditions. All sands increased traction in low adhesion contacts. Further work will investigate extending the range of particles.