Advancing the state of the art in wheel-rail interface characterization and control.

客运和货运铁路在加拿大（和世界范围内）是一种至关重要的运输方式，为城市交通和货物运输提供了基础设施的支柱。与其他动力运输方式相比，铁路的效率更高，排放更低，在实现加拿大的气候行动目标方面也将发挥关键作用。随着轨道车辆重量、列车长度、运行速度和频率的不断增加，所涉及的材料和系统会以新的和不同的方式不断受到压力（导致新的和不同的损坏和失效模式）。因此，我们迫切需要继续开发新的基础知识、技术、运营实践和维护技术，以确保铁路系统能够在未来高效、安全、高效地维护和运营。我的研究重点是发生在轮轨界面的动态相互作用，以及它们在确定整体车辆-轨道系统行为方面的显著影响，包括乘坐质量、能源效率、安全性和基础设施寿命。为了开展这项工作，我结合了基于实验室和基于现场的实验方法，以及跨越一系列空间和时间尺度的先进建模和模拟。该提案包括以下三个研究目标：(1)量化轮轨冶金与界面摩擦特性在实际操作条件下对横截面轮廓演变和随之产生的损伤倾向的影响。(2)提高对重轴载下运行条件、维护策略（包括磨削和摩擦控制）、损伤机制和资产寿命之间定量相互作用的理解。(3)研究实际工况下轮轨界面摩擦条件的近实时识别和随机表示的潜力。实现这些目标将包括全面的收入服务测试计划、基于实验室的冶金分析、先进的车辆轨道和轮轨建模和仿真，以及来自轨道绑定和列车安装的测量系统（既有现有的，也有新的）的数据汇总和综合。车轮和轨道材料特性、横截面轮廓演变、维护实践、损伤机制和摩擦特性之间相互作用的新基础知识的发展，将有助于开发增强的操作和维护策略和技术，以延长铁路车辆和基础设施的使用寿命，同时提高系统性能和能源效率。这将有助于铁路运输部门在实现加拿大气候行动目标方面发挥关键作用，同时追求为公民提供公平的机动性。

Passenger and freight railways in Canada (and worldwide) represent a critically important mode of transportation, providing a backbone of infrastructure for both urban mobility and the transportation of goods. With substantially higher efficiency and lower emissions than other powered transportation modes, railways will also play a key role in meeting Canada's climate action goals. As rail vehicle weights, train lengths, operating speeds, and frequencies continue to increase, the materials and systems involved are perpetually stressed in new and different ways (leading to new and different damage and failure modes). As such, there is a strong need to continue developing new fundamental knowledge, technologies, operating practices, and maintenance techniques to ensure that they railway systems can be maintained and operated productively, safely, and efficiently into the future. My research focuses on the dynamic interactions that occur at the wheel-rail interface, and their remarkable impacts in determining overall vehicle-track system behaviour in terms of ride quality, energy efficiency, safety, and infrastructure life. To carry out this work, I use a combination of lab-based and field-based experimental approaches, together with advanced modeling and simulation across a range of spatial and temporal scales. This proposal includes the following three research objectives: (1)Quantify the effects of wheel and rail metallurgies, in combination with interfacial friction characteristics, on cross-sectional profile evolution and consequent propensity for damage in practical operating conditions. (2)Advance the understanding of quantitative interactions between operating conditions, maintenance strategies (including grinding and friction control), damage mechanisms, and asset life under heavy axle loads. (3)Investigate the potential for near-real time identification and stochastic representation of frictional conditions at the wheel-rail interface in practical operating conditions. Achieving these objectives will involve a combination of full-scale revenue service test programs, lab-based metallurgical analyses, advanced vehicle-track and wheel-rail modeling and simulation, and the aggregation and synthesis of data from track-bound and train-mounted measurement systems (both existing and novel). The development of new fundamental knowledge in the interactions between wheel and rail material properties, cross-sectional profile evolution, maintenance practices, damage mechanisms, and frictional characteristics, will enable the development of enhanced operating and maintenance strategies and technologies to extend the life of rolling stock and infrastructure, while improving system performance and energy efficiency. This will help position the rail transportation sector to play a pivotal role in meeting Canada's climate action goals, while pursuing the delivery of equitable mobility to its citizens.