Researchers on the track of wheel-rail interaction

The interaction of train/track dynamics and wear may result in periodic wear patterns on the wheel tread and the railhead (Fig 2). In simple terms, the 'bouncing' motion of the wheel on the rail will make some locations on both wheel and rail more worn than others. If this process continues over a long period (for instance on a line with uniform traffic), the result may be the formation of rail corrugation6 and wheel polygonalisation7.