Effects on braking distance from the use of traction fluid as a wheel/rail lubricant

Mineral oil and other lubricants are commonly applied to the gauge corner of high rails to avoid wheel/rail interface wear on railways. Although not directly applied to the top of the rail, these lubricants sometimes end up on this surface, and the relatively low coefficient of friction they produce can cause slipping or sliding at the wheel/rail interface during vehicle acceleration or braking. It has been reported in the literature that the application of traction fluid (a modern technique involving the use of a synthetic lubricant) produced a higher coefficient of friction than that of a conventional wheel/rail interface lubricant. In this study, tests were performed using traction fluid to evaluate its influence on a vehicle’s braking distance and other important performance elements from a practical point of view. The results of the braking performance evaluation carried out on a braking test stand showed that the braking distance increase with synthetic traction fluids was roughly one-half of that observed with conventional wheel/rail lubrication oil. This suggests the potential of using traction fluid as a wheel/rail lubricant.