CASE STUDY 4: Low Adhesion Investigation (Grooved Rail)

Background

Our PRT300 tribometer can be mounted to embedded/grooved rail for friction measurements on trams and light rail systems.

There can be various sources of third body materials, some which can contrinute to low adhesion. These include:

• Crossing debris from vehicles

• Construction and installation debris

• Organic contamination from leaves or grass,

• Brake dust and wear particles

• Sand or friction management products.

The site we visited was experiencing low adhesion issues throughout the year. It had steep gradients and a visible black layer on the railhead.

Our practices

• High risk sites identified for measurements

• Rail marked with magnets, dry and wet baseline friction measurements using PRT300 tribometer

• Measurements at three different sites, friction monitored after passing trams

Results and outputs

• One site identified using measurement as very low friction wet (site 1)

• No expected low adhesion issues under dry conditions

• Measurements carried out during trial of friction enhancing product