MxV Rail’s Rolling Contact Fatigue Simulator (RCFS) was installed in 2016 as a part of the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR’s) rolling contact fatigue (RCF) research program, which included different projects related to wheel and rail fatigue. The objective of the RCF research program is to provide effective wheel and rail interface management strategies to mitigate the safety and financial burden of RCF. One management strategy for reducing RCF on rails and extending rail life is rail grinding. The arrangement of grinding stones on a rail grinder leaves facets across the rail profile. The intersection of these facets form ridges. Contact between a wheel and these ridges is expected to increase the resulting contact stresses due to a reduction in the ridge/wheel contact area. According to the shakedown theory of RCF initiation, the maximum value of the contact stress contributes to RCF initiation.1 To better understand the contribution of these…
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