Journal Pre-proof

Correlations between rail grease formulation and friction, wear and RCF of a wheel/
rail tribological pair

L. Biazon, B.P. Ferrer, A. Toro, T. Cousseau

PII: S0301-679X(20)30397-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2020.106566
Reference: JTRI 106566

To appear in: Tribology International

Received Date: 7 May 2020

Revised Date: 13 July 2020
Accepted Date: 20 July 2020

Please cite this article as: Biazon L, Ferrer BP, Toro A, Cousseau T, Correlations between rail grease
formulation and friction, wear and RCF of a wheel/rail tribological pair, Tribology International (2020),
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2020.106566.

This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition
of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of
record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published
in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that,
during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal
disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

© 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

 Laboratory of Surfaces and Contact
Mechanics (LASC), Program in
Mechanical and Materials
Engineering (PPGEM)

Dear Editor-in-chief,

of
I hereby declare that the following description of each author’s role is accurate and agreed by all authors.

ro
Lucas Biazon (Corresponding Author): Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing, Formal

-p
analysis
re
Bruno Pereira Ferrer: Writing - Review & Editing, Formal analysis
lP

Alejandro Toro: Methodology, Investigation

na

Tiago Cousseau: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Resources, Writing - Original Draft, Writing -
ur

Review & Editing, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition

Jo

Sincerely,
Lucas Biazon
Jo
ur
na
l Pr
e-
pr
oo
f
 Correlations between rail grease formulation and friction, wear and RCF of a
wheel/rail tribological pair

L. Biazona,∗, B. P. Ferrera , A. Torob , T. Cousseaua

a Mechanical Engineering Department, Federal University of Technology - Paraná – Curitiba, PR, Brazil
b Tribology and Surfaces Group, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia

Abstract
Twin disc tests were employed to assess rail grease formulation effect on friction, wear, and retentivity to propose
guidelines for grease selection based on key aspects of grease formulation. Two commercial rail greases plus six in-house
formulated greases with the same additive package and consistency, but different thickener types and base oil viscosities

f
were evaluated. The results showed that: i) at low nominal lambda ratio, crack propagation and friction coefficient are

oo
highly dependent on thickener type - both increase for Calcium and decrease for Lithium; ii) at high nominal lambda
ratio, friction and wear are controlled by the base oil viscosity; iii) retentivity is controlled by the base oil viscosity
regardless of the nominal specific film thickness or thickener type.

r
-p
Keywords: Grease formulation; Railways; Mass loss; Rolling contact fatigue; Coefficient of Friction
e
1. Introduction Most of the reported data about grease lubrication are fo-
Pr

cused on rolling bearings applications, which significantly

To remain competitive with other forms of transport,
railway industry needs to minimize costs and capital in-
vestment. This can be achieved by reducing friction losses
l
na
differ from rail lubrication. Therefore, this work aims to
contribute to increase the knowledge on gauge face rail
lubrication, more specifically on the impact of grease for-

and wear of wheel and rail materials through more efficient mulation and properties on friction, wear and retentivity.
gauge face lubrication. It is well known that correctly ap-
plied lubricants can reduce friction and wear on track and
wheel, particularly on the gauge face of the high rail of 2. Background
ur

sharp curves. However, it is also known that lubricants 2.1. Field and full-scale lab observations
can increase rolling contact fatigue crack growth due to Field observations are mainly based on the evaluation
Jo

its pressurisation into the crack and / or because reduced
wear means that cracks are truncated less [1]. Nonethe-
less, it has been shown in full-scale tests that the rate of
wear and crack propagation could both be reduced with ef-
ficient lubrication [2]. The “efficient gauge face lubrication
(GFL)" for heavy haul nowadays means the use of track
side lubricators operating with grease. The choice of the
grease and the operating conditions of the lubricators are,
in general, defined by local experience and pricing. This
occurs due to the lack of systematic studies relating lu-
bricator set-up and grease formulation with performance,
which prevents proper identification and selection of lubri-
cation strategies from an overall cost perspective. Eadie et
al. [3] had already reported that even though gauge face
lubrication is well established, the research on the topic is
rather limited. In fact, there is little information on the
relationship between grease formulation, grease properties
and field performance either for full or small-scale tests.
∗ Corresponding
author
Email address: lbiazoncavalcanti@gmail.com (L. Biazon)
Preprint submitted to Tribology International
of i) friction coefficient, which is commonly measured by
a hand tribometer; ii) wear, that is measured comparing
the wheel and rail profiles over time; iii) retentivity, which
is a measure of the distance, from the lubricator, in which
the grease is capable to keep the friction coefficient of the
rail under a predetermined value; iv) and efficiency, which
is measured by comparing the energy or fuel consumption
of a locomotive operating under dry (non-lubricated) and
lubricated conditions.
The benefits of wayside gauge face lubrication (GFL)
have been demonstrated experimentally in different rail-
ways around the world. Sims et al. [4] reported that way-
side GFL can reduce energy consumption by up to 32%.
The reduction in rolling resistance due to rail and wheel
flange lubrication can reach up to 50% at sharp curves [5],
and effective lubrication can improve wheel life by a factor
of six [6].
Several studies have shown the influence of grease type
on the tribological performance of the wheel-rail interface.
Uddin et al. [7] evaluated four different greases in terms
of retentivity. All tests were performed in the same rail-
way under the same operating conditions. Differences in
August 1, 2020
performance up to 14 times were observed among the 4
commercial tested greases (0.33 km vs 4.62 km carried
down distance). However, no attempt to correlate grease
formulation and properties with the observed performance
has been reported to the authors’ knowledge. In fact, just
a few reports looking for such correlation were found in the
literature. They are mainly based on a series of tests con-
ducted at the Transportation Technology Center’s (TTC)
Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST) along with
some field tests, in which it was verified that: i) the ad-
dition of different amounts of graphite as solid additives
in the lubricating grease did not present any performance
improvement in comparison to the same grease without
graphite [8, 9, 10]; ii) the addition of MoS2 (molybdenum
disulphide) in the lubricating grease increased retentivity;
iii) and the use of more viscous lubricants also appeared
to increase retentivity [11, 12].
In 1987 Reiff et al. [11] reported that no measurable
physical parameters of grease had been proposed that can
be related to performance indicators such as retentivity.
r
Eadie et al. [3] pointed out the same lack of fundamental
knowledge in 2013, and presented it as an area of opportu-
nity for future research and development. According to the
authors’ knowledge, the relation between grease properties
e -p First, base oil film thickness follows the conventional elas-
and formulation with performance still lacks a systematic
Pr
approach.
2.2. Small-scale lab observations
l
Several twin-disc tests performed in the 1980’s and
na
early 1990’s with 13 lubricating greases [9, 8] were com-
pared with full-size lab tests [11, 10]. Only two consistent
results were observed. The first was that the addition of
ur
graphite in various levels as solid additives on rail greases
did not improve retentivity, i.e., the number of cycles un-
der low friction values when the supply of lubricant ended
Jo
remained similar whatever the percentage of graphite in
the grease. Secondly, that coefficient of friction values
were approximately 0.1 for all tested greases under fully
flooded lubrication. Recently, an upgraded twin-disc tri-
bometer was used to perform retentivity tests. The results
were compared with field tests and it was verified similar
trends, i.e., the greases with highest and lowest retentivity
in the twin-disc tests also presented the highest and lowest
retentivity in the field tests [3]. Another recent work com-
pared 10 greases designed for wayside flange lubrication
in terms of friction, retentivity and wear [13]. The results
were shown to be highly dependent on the tested greases,
with differences up to 450% in wear, 85% in friction and
110% in retentivity. However, there was no attempt to re-
late the tribological response to the grease formulation or
properties. This lack of understanding justifies the great
amount of lubricating greases with significantly different
properties and formulations that are commercially avail-
able for the same railways.
2
2.3. Observations related to rolling bearing research
The major application of lubricating greases is in rolling
bearings. Therefore, most research on lubricating greases
are performed in ball-on-disc test rigs under operating con-
ditions that resemble the ones from rolling bearings. The
state-of-the-art relating grease formulation and properties
with performance (film thickness and friction) for such ap-
plication are well depicted in Figures 1 and 2. The list of
abbreviations used in these figures are presented in the
Appendix.
2.3.1. Film thickness
Figure 1 shows schematically (on a log-log scale) the
grease’s film thickness as function of the entrainment speed
at fully flooded condition and low slide-to-roll ratio for
several lubricating greases with the same base oil viscosity
f
(continuous lines). The two dashed lines in the figure rep-
oo
resent the film thickness of the greases’ base oil (mineral
and synthetic). The data used to make this figure are from
references [14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26].
Relevant information can be extracted from this figure.
tohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) behavior; that is, a
straight line on a double logarithmic scale in which film
thickness (h0 ) is proportional to the entrainment speed
(U ) as h0 ∝ U 0,67 . Secondly, given the same base oil
viscosity synthetic oils present lower film thickness than
mineral oils under the same operating conditions, due to
its lower pressure-viscosity coefficient.
Different than their base oils, lubricating greases present
a well known V-shape curve when plotting film thickness
versus entrainment speed in a log-log scale. At high speeds,
greases present the same behavior of their base oils, al-
though in general with slightly higher film thickness [22,
27, 24, 25]. The average fully flooded film thickness of the
greases increases in comparison to the corresponding base
oil in the order: PP-PAO > Lic-PAO > Cas-M > Cas-S
> CaLi-M > Pu-E > Li-M 1 . Such increase was modelled
by Cyriac et al. [25] as a function of thickener geome-
try and concentration with good correlation between the
model and experimental measurements. Other attempts
using grease’s rheological properties and bled oil viscosity
were not satisfactory [17].
As the speed is reduced, a transition defined as ‘transi-
tion speed’ occurs and the grease does not follow the con-
ventional EHL behavior anymore. At speeds lower than
the transition speed the film thickness is not only deter-
mined by elastohydrodynamic effects, but also by thick-
ener material trapped at the contact interface. Usually,
as the speed decreases the film thickness increases in this
region. Cen et al. showed that the transition speed and
the minimum film thickness (i.e. the film thickness at the
transition speed) are not significantly affected by load and
slip ratio. However, the transition speed shifts to higher
1 see List of Symbols
Figure 1: Schematic representation of film thickness as function of
entrainment speed under fully flooded lubrication for different lubri-
cating greases at moderate temperatures. It was considered that all
grease present the same base oil viscosity.
speeds with an increase in temperature (base oil viscos-
r
ity reduction), whereas the minimum film thickness stays
fairly constant [17]. In other words, for each type of grease,
there seems to be a minimum film thickness value (or spe-
cific film thickness) below which the effect of the thickener
e -p It can be inferred from the figure that base oil’s friction
becomes relevant. The grease formulations that enhance
Pr
film thickness more significantly below the transition speed
and also present higher film thickness at the transition
speed are as follows: PP-PAO > Lic-PAO > Cas-M >
Cas-S > CaLi-M > Pu-E > Du-S > Li-M (see Figure 1).
l
na
According to the authors’ knowledge, only one empirical
model has been proposed to predict such behaviour. This
model uses measured film thickness values to estimate the
ur
effective grease viscosity, which is then used to predict film
thickness [18]. Other simpler solutions were also proposed,
but all of them are based on film thickness measurements.
Jo
So far, no one has modeled the film thickness at low speeds
using thickener properties, morphology or quantity, even
though Kanazawa et. al [26] showed strong evidences that
the transition point is related to the ratio between film
thickness and thickener particle size, and that colloidal
nano-particle dispersions present the same behaviour.
It is important to mention that this short review on
grease film formation did not take into account starvation
and the role of the additives, which also chemically inter-
act with the surface and therefore change the role of the
thickener.
2.3.2. Friction coefficient
Grease friction coefficient under EHL conditions de-
pends on film thickness, therefore, all the uncertainties
about film thickness prediction and properties are also ob-
served for coefficient of friction. Figure 2 shows schemat-
ically the friction coefficient as a function of the entrain-
ment speed at fully flooded condition and low slide-to-roll
ratio for several lubricating greases with the same base oil
viscosity (continuous lines). The two dashed lines in the
figure represent the friction coefficient of the greases’ base
3
Figure 2: Schematic representation of coefficient of friction as func-
tion of entrainment speed under fully flooded lubrication for different
lubricating greases at moderate temperatures. It was considered that
f
all grease present the same base oil viscosity.
oo
oil (mineral and synthetic). The data used to make this
figure are from references [14, 16, 19, 20, 24, 28, 29, 26].
coefficient follows the conventional Stribeck’s curve; that
is, high friction at low speeds (low specific film thickness)
due to metal-metal contact, followed by a reduction of fric-
tion values as the speed increases, up to a point in which
the friction does not vary significantly. Also, synthetic oils
present lower friction values than mineral oils of similar
viscosity under the same operating conditions at full film
lubrication. For mineral oils, friction presents a slight re-
duction as viscosity increases, as shown by De Laurentis
et al. [16].
Different than their base oils, some lubricating greases
do not follow the standard Stribeck’s curve. In fact, they
present a friction reduction for very low speed (or ‘nominal’
lambda ratio2 ).
Generally speaking, at high speeds (high nominal lambda
ratio) greases present the same behaviour of their base oils
with slightly higher friction coefficient though [14, 16, 29].
However, lower friction values have also been reported in
some studies. From references [14, 28, 16, 29, 26], it is
observed that in the high-speed region friction is lower in
the following order: PP-PAO < Li-E ≈ Li-PAO < Pu-E ≈
Lic-PAO < Li-M < Cas-M. It is important to notice that
the lubricating grease formulations that enhance the film
thickness the most at the high-speed oil-dominated region
(see section 2.3.1) are not necessarily the ones presenting
lower friction values. This occurs because the friction does
not only depend on the thickness of such films, but also
on their properties. Based on data available in the litera-
ture, it can be said that in the high-speed oil-dominated
region lubricating greases will present lower friction values
when formulated with base oil and thickener as follows:
synthetic < mineral; PP < Pu < Li < Ca.
2 nominal lambda ratio refers to film thickness calculated using
EHL theory and base oil properties
 In fact, only Calcium greases follow the standard Stribeck’s
curve, in which the CoF continuously increases when the
speed decreases. Lithium, Urea and Polypropylene greases
present moderate friction increase followed by stabiliza-
tion or reduction of the friction values as speed decreases.
Again, this is related to the much thicker films formed at
the low-speed thickener-dominated region in comparison Figure 3: Fluid assisted crack growth mechanisms: a) shear b) hy-
to the nominal EHL predictions, and also to the rheolog- draulic and c) fluid entrapment crack growth. Reproduced from
ical properties of such films. As already pointed out, for Wang et al. [31].
lubricating greases formulated with mineral oil, Calcium
thickener particles tend to remain at the contact and form
viscosity (water) tend to promote shear crack growth and
thicker films than Lithium thickener fiber, however such
fluid entrapment crack growth. On the other hand, fluids
films present high friction properties [16]. In the low-speed
with high viscosity enhance the hydraulic crack growth
region, lubricating greases will present lower friction val-
mechanism. Since all crack grown mechanisms depend on
ues when formulated with base oil and thickener in the
fluid entering the contact, it was observed that low viscous
following order: synthetic < mineral; PP < Lic < Pu <
fluids tend to enter the contact easily, and therefore accel-

f
Li < Ca.
erate the overall crack propagation the most. Rico et al.

oo
The study of the rheological properties of the films
[32] observed the same when comparing 6 lubricating oils
formed in the thickener dominated region is of extreme
in terms of crack propagation in a 4-ball machine. How-
importance for a proper prediction of grease lubricated
ever, they point out that pressure-viscosity coefficient and

r
contacts performance.
compressibility play a role too. Numerical simulations also
2.3.3. Crack propagation
The major failure mode of rolling contacts is due to
e -p
showed that crack growth in Mode I increases when low
viscous fluids are used [33] [34], while crack growth rate
in Mode II rises with increased surface traction for small
rolling contact fatigue (RCF). Fatigue can be originated
crack tip radii (< 5mm) [34]. Meheux et al. [35] com-
Pr

in the subsurface - high cycle fatigue, when friction val-

pared the crack growth rate of artificially generated cracks
ues are low and / or the surface finishing is smooth, or
in a twin-disc machine using a base oil, a base oil with a
in the surface - low cycle fatigue, when friction values are
commercial additive package, and a base oil with only dis-
high and / or the surface finishing is rough [30]. This
l

persant and detergent additives. They verified that the

na

is well depicted in the shakedown diagram, which shows

additives had a detrimental effect on the fatigue strength
that fatigue life is reduced when the friction coefficient in-
of the discs, with reductions in fatigue life of up to two
creases. As presented in Section 1, lubrication has been
thirds of the values found in the tests with base oil only.
ur

extensively used in railways to reduce wear and RCF by

This was attributed to the formation of tribofilms, com-
reducing the friction at the contact interface between rail
posed mainly from Sulfur, Phosphorus and Calcium, at
and wheel. However, as soon as surface cracks are present,
Jo

the cracks surface. Lewis evaluated 10 lubricating greases

they may propagate much faster in the presence of lubri-
in a twin disc tribometer in terms of friction and wear due
cants [1, 31]. Therefore, rail lubrication must be seen as
to crack propagation [13]. Differences up to one order of
a balance between its advantages and drawbacks. On one
magnitude were observed, however, there was no attempt
hand, proper lubrication slows down surface crack forma-
to correlate the results with grease properties and formu-
tion and reduces friction and sliding wear. On the other
lation. Popinceabu et al [36] showed that the nature of the
hand, it accelerates crack propagation in three different
thickener has a marked effect on fatigue life. The use of
ways, as depicted in Figure 3: i) shear crack growth: fluid
Calcium as a thickener reduced the fatigue life significantly
reduces friction coefficient on crack faces increasing crack
in comparison to Sodium, Sodium-Calcium and Lithium.
propagation in Mode II; ii) hydraulic crack growth: fluid
On the other hand, under pure sliding conditions, where
is forced into the crack due to contact dynamics increasing
crack formation and propagation are not the main failure
crack propagation in Mode I; iii) fluid entrapment crack
mechanisms, Calcium thickener showed excellent friction
growth: fluid is trapped in the crack cavity due to con-
and wear results in comparison to Lithium, Polyurea and
tact dynamics, and pushed towards the crack tip causing
Polytetrafluoroethylene [37].
local high stress intensity leading to crack growth in Mode
I [31].
2.4. Summary of the literature
The influence of grease formulation on crack propaga-
tion is not as well understood as it is on film formation It is clear that grease formulation (thickener, oil type,
and friction generation. Some insights can be found in additives) affects film thickness, friction, retentivity, wear,
the literature based on computer simulations and tests crack propagation and rolling contact fatigue, as observed
carried out with different types of fluids (water, oil and in field tests, full and small-scale test rigs. The impact of
grease). Wang et al. compared water, oil and grease on each grease constituents on tribological performance de-
crack propagation [31] and verified that fluids with low pends on the operating conditions, mostly the specific film

4
thickness and the film properties - since larger film thick-
nesses do not always generate lower friction values. While
there are several advanced studies relating base oil and
thickener morphology and properties to the film thickness
and friction values, the role of base oil viscosity and thick-
ener type in terms of crack propagation and retentivity is
still unclear. In this work, 6 model greases were formulated
with systematically varied composition so that the influ-
ence of a specific component of interest, thickener type or
base oil viscosity, could be isolated and studied.
3. Material and Methods
Tribological tests were carried out to analyze the effect
of adding different greases to the rolling-sliding contact
between samples extracted from rails and wheels. The
dry conditions followed by a single application of 0.3 g of
grease to the contact. Right after the application of the
grease the CoF decreases dramatically and then increases
progressively to reach the dry-condition value again (see
an example for two of the studied greases in Figures 4 and
9). The number of cycles measured between the addition
of the grease and the moment when the dry CoF value is
restored is defined as the retentivity of the grease. Before
and after the tests all the samples were washed with tooth-
brush and soap, dried in cold air, ultrasonically cleaned
with acetone and then dried again.
3.2. Tested Lubricants
Six lubricating greases were formulated with the aim
of evaluating the effects of thickener type and base oil vis-
cosity on friction and wear of the metallic pairs as well as

f
tests were carried out in a twin-disc tribometer and the on the retentivity of the grease. All greases were formu-

oo
main outcomes of the experiments were the friction force lated with a mineral base oil and state-of-the-art additive
at the contact surface, the mass loss of the contacting discs package for extreme pressure applications currently used
and the retentivity of the greases on the surface of the in several railways in Brazil. The additive package con-

r
samples. tains usual anti-oxidants, dispersants, detergent, extreme

3.1. Tribological tests

e -p pressure, anti-wear and friction modifier compounds, plus
5% of MoS2 solid additives with average 3 µm size. Two
A twin-disc tribometer was employed in this research. thickener types, namely Lithium and Calcium, and three
A detailed description of the equipment is presented else- base oil viscosities, 50 mm2 /s, 200mm2 /s and 500mm2 /s
Pr

where [38]. The tests discs were extracted from forged were used in the formulation. Two commercial greases (Li-
class C wheels (AAR, 2010) and TR68 rails, whose main CaM220 and LiM460) were also evaluated for comparison
properties and relevant geometrical parameters are shown purposes. Table 2 presents the main properties and des-
l

in Table 1. ignations of the greases, along with the “nominal" specific

na

Two kind of tests were performed: One to measure film thickness (Λ), whose detailed computing procedure
mass loss, defined from here on as wear test, and an- is given in Appendix A. Specific film thickness was cal-
other one to measure lube retentivity, defined from now culated considering the composite surface roughness after
ur

on as retentivity test. Both tests were performed at the dry conditions testing in both retentivity (Sq ≈ 1.2
room temperature (23 ± 1 ◦ C), nominal rotational speed µm) and wear (Sq ≈ 1.6 µm) tests, in order to determine
the lubrication regime of the tests. All lubricating greases
Jo

of 400 rpm, initial contact pressure of 1.1 GPa and creep-

age of 1%, being the wheel disc always the faster of the present grade NLGI 2, which corresponds to the consis-
pair. The friction force was recorded over the whole tests tency of the commercial lubricating greases for curve rail
with the aid of a torque transducer with 0-20 Nm range lubrication used in Brazil.
and 0.1% accuracy installed in the driving shaft where the
wheel sample is mounted. Wear tests consisted of 12.000 4. Results and Discussion
cycles under dry conditions followed by another 8.000 cy-
cles lubricated with grease added at a rate of 0.3 g/min. 4.1. Friction behavior
The mass losses of the samples were registered before and Figure 4 presents the variation of CoF as a function of
after the tests by using a scale with a resolution of 0.01 the number of cycles for the CaM200 and CaM500 greases,
mg. Retentivity tests consisted of 4.000 cycles under as an example of characteristic friction curves from wear
tests. Figure 5 shows the average CoF of the last 2000 cy-
Table 1: Specimens geometry and material properties. cles of the wear tests as a function of viscosity and specific
film thickness for the studied lubricating greases. It can
Unit Rail disc Wheel disc be seen that CoF slightly decreases as viscosity increases
for all lubricating greases, and that for boundary lubrica-
Elastic Modulus, E GPa 210 210 tion conditions (Λ ≈ 0.58) the effect of the thickener type
Poison coefficient, v - 0.3 0.3 becomes more relevant. In this condition, the Lithium-
Hardness, HV GP 3.45 3.45 thickened grease LiM50 showed lower friction values than
Radius x, Rx mm 47 47 the Calcium-thickened grease CaM50.
Contact length, l mm 9 9 It is important to point out that the tests were car-
R. Mean Sq. roughness, Sq µm 0.7 0.7 ried out at moderate tangential velocity (U ≈ 1 m/s).

5
 Table 2: Grease formulation, base oil kinematic viscosity and nominal lambda ratio.

Grease specification LiM50 LiM200 LiM500 CaM50 CaM200 CaM500 LiCaM220 LiM460
Thickener type Lithium Lithium Lithium Calcium Calcium Calcium Lithium + Calcium Lithium
Base Oil type Mineral Mineral Mineral Mineral Mineral Mineral Mineral Mineral
Thickener content, % 10 8.5 7 10 8.5 7 - -
Base Oil Viscosity @40C, cSt 50 200 500 50 200 500 220 460
Base Oil Viscosity @100C, CSt 4.1 15.5 32.6 4.1 15.5 32.6 19 36
Nominal Λ @ Retentivity Tests, - 0.77 1.99 3.89 0.77 1.99 3.89 2.02 3.44
Nominal Λ @ Wear Tests, - 0.58 1.49 2.92 0.58 1.50 2.92 2.58 1.51

and CaM50, and considering that these greases have the

same base oil and additive package, it is reasonable to
state that the thickener played a significant role in the
friction results. Therefore, the observation that Calcium-
thickened greases presented higher friction coefficient than
Lithium-thickened greases, which had been reported by

f
oo
others [16, 24], may be attributed to the higher probability
for Calcium thickener particles to pass through the contact
and form thicker films than Lithium ones [25], along with

r
its intrinsic higher friction properties. At higher lambda

Figure 4: Typical coefficient of friction as a function of the number of

cycles for lubricating greases CaM200 and CaM500 during the wear
e -p ratios (Λ > 1.5), the CoF of the greases with the same
additive package and base oil viscosity (LiM200-Ca200;
LiM500-CaM500), presented very similar friction values,
test. suggesting these tests were carried out above the transi-
Pr

tion point, i.e., in the oil-dominated region, where the role

of thickener is less relevant. In fact, even the commercial
This speed is higher than any transition speed (transition grease with unknown formulation presented similar fric-
from thickener-dominated to oil-dominated behaviour) re- tion values, which reinforces this assumption.
l

ported in the literature for film thickness measurements

na

at room temperature [14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 4.2. Wear evaluation
23, 24, 25, 26]. However, Kanazawa et al. [26] showed
that it is the film thickness and not the entrainment speed Figure 6 shows the mass loss of wheel and rail disc
ur

what determines the transition point. In fact, based on the samples after the wear tests with all the greases stud-
works of Chinas-Castillo and Spikes [39, 40], Kanazawa et ied in this work. The figure clearly shows that the rail
discs were more damaged than wheel discs. This occurs
Jo

al. stated that the particle size / film thickness ratio is

the crucial parameter in determining the transition point.
Besides, Cyriac et al. [25] showed that even when the
thickener particles do not affect the film thickness curve’s
shape (h ∝ U 0.67 - above transition point), they can ac-
tually change the film thickness values. Taking into ac-
count the low nominal lambda ratio (Λ ≈ 0.6) for LiM50
Figure 5: Coefficient of friction as a function of grease’s base oil
viscosity, thickener type and nominal film thickness.
because the main wear mechanism acting on the samples is
rolling contact fatigue (RCF), which proceeds by crack ini-
tiation and propagation due to exhaustion of the capacity
of the material to deform (plastic shakedown) and further
delamination of heavily deformed layers. The cracks origi-
nate during the initial 12.000 cycles under dry conditions,
and when the greases are introduced to the contact the
crack propagation rate is significantly increased in the rail
discs due to hydraulic effects combined with the stress dis-
tributions close to the surface of the samples. This is well
depicted in Figure 7 [31], which shows that in the wheel
discs the compressive stresses close the mouths of the in-
cipient cracks just before entering to the contact zone and
prevent the lubricant to enter in the cracks. On the other
hand, the tensile stresses open the cracks in the rail sam-
ple and facilitate the entrance of the grease; right after the
contact patch the stresses are reversed and the crack in the
rail closes pressurizing the fluid inside.
When the total mass loss of the samples is plotted as
a function of viscosity and nominal specific film thickness
(Figure 8) several trends are observed. At high nominal

6
lambda ratio (Λ ≈ 2.9) the base oil viscosity seems to con-
trol mass loss, since all the tests performed with viscous
greases yielded similar mass loss regardless of the thick-
ener type, oil type or additive package (CaM500, LiM500,
LiMS460). As the lambda ratio decreases and the tribo-
logical system migrate to boundary lubrication conditions
the effect of thickener type becomes evident. Lithium
thickener provides significant wear reduction while Cal-
cium thickener generates high wear (LiM50 and LiM200
versus CaM50 and CaM200). At mixed lubrication condi-
tions (Λ ≈ 1.5) one can observe that the LiCaM220 com-
mercial grease presents slightly higher wear values than the
CaM200 grease. One would expect the LiCaM220 grease
to lead to mass losses in between those from the experi-
ments performed with LiM200 and CaM200 greases since Figure 7: Effect of stress type on crack propagation ofn wheel and
they have similar viscosities and the LiCaM200 has a mix rail disc samples due to hydraulic pressure - fluid entrapment. Re-

f
of Lithium and Calcium thickener types. This, however, produced from Wang et al. [31].

oo
was not the case. This behavior could be attributed to
the unknown additive package and thickener concentra-
tion (Lithium and Calcium) of the LiCaM220 commercial

r
grease.
The results of the wear tests indicate that the thickener
characteristics are more relevant than the base oil viscos-
ity in terms of crack propagation, and the general state-
e -p
ment given by several authors [32, 31, 33] in the sense that
Pr

RCF crack propagation assisted by hydraulic pressuriza-

tion mechanism is faster for low viscous fluids may not be
applicable to greases. In the case of the Lithium greases
studied in this work, for instance, viscosity reduction led
l
na

to lower mass loss of the metallic samples in contact. Also,

the assumption that high CoF values promote crack prop-
agation, as observed by Fletcher et al [34], might be valid
ur

only under specific situations.

Figure 8: Total Mass Loss as function of grease base oil viscosity,
thickener type and nominal film thickness.
4.3. Retentivity
Jo

Figure 9 presents the variation of CoF as a function of

the number of cycles for the CaM200 and CaM500 greases,
as an example of characteristic curves from retentivity
tests. Figure 10 shows the retentivity of each grease as
function of viscosity and nominal specific film thickness
for all the greases studied. It can be seen that retentivity
increases slightly with viscosity up to a certain point in
which the effect is intensified for the in-house formulated
greases. The commercial grease LiCaM220, however, does
not follow the aforementioned trend, which may be at-
tributed in principle to its different additive package. On
the other hand, and opposed to what was observed in the
wear tests, the thickener type did not show any measurable
effect on retentivity.
The increase of retentivity with viscosity observed in
this work is in good agreement with the previous obser-
vations of McEwen et al. [12] who showed, in field and
full-scale tests, that retentivity can be improved by using
more viscous lubricants or solid additives. Overall, the
results showed that retentivity increases as base oil vis-
cosity increases, and that thickener type does not play a
relevant role for greases with the same additive package
and base oil nature. Also, that a different additive pack-
age could increase significantly the retentivity for the same
base oil type and similar viscosity (LiCaM220 vs. LiM200
and CaM200).

Figure 6: Mass Loss of wheel and rail disc samples along with total
wear measured during the Wear Tests.

7

Figure 9: Retentivity as a function of the number of cycles for lubri-
cating greases CaM200 and CaM500.
r
e -p formulation and properties with its overall tribological per-
Pr
Figure 10: Retentivity as a function of grease’s base oil viscosity,
thickener type and nominal film thickness. CaM50 and CaM500
markers, not clearly visible, are behind LiM50 and LiM500 markers,
l
na
respectively.
5. Discussion
ur
Comparing the in-house formulated greases it is possi-
ble to state that Calcium-thickened greases are more likely
Jo
to pass through the contact, and due to mechanical entrap-
ment to deposit on the contact surface to form thicker films
than Lithium-thickened greases. However, these films ex-
hibit high CoF values while Lithium greases present thin-
ner films and lower friction. Such observation suggests
that, different from the conclusions of Kanazawa et al.
[26], the ‘real’ specific film thickness3 is not a significant
parameter in terms of frictional behaviour of grease lubri-
cated contacts, because a typical CoF vs lambda curve,
as observed for oils, will not be observed for lubricating
greases due to the different nature and properties of the
thickener dominated film.
Comparing absolute values of CoF, mass losses and re-
tentivity, the use of Lithium greases led to lower friction
and mass loss than the Calcium greases, with the largest
difference being found under the harshest conditions of low
nominal lambda ratios (low base oil viscosity). In terms of
retentivity, the effect of thickener type is negligible, while
the base oil viscosity is dominant, with retentivity increas-
3 measured film thickness of lubricating greases
8
ing with viscosity. These results indicate that a lubricat-
ing grease properly formulated with lithium thickener and
a mineral base oil with high viscosity is able to ensure high
retentivity with low friction while also providing satisfac-
tory wear protection of the contacting surfaces to RCF.
These characteristics make such a formulation suitable for
rail curves lubrication, since retentivity is of utmost impor-
tance to ensure the lubricating grease will cover the whole
curve length. However, it is important pointing out that
in real railways there are a number of additional factors -
not presented here - that might affect grease performance
in different manners, such as grease storage and pumping,
splash and adhesion at dry and wet periods, rail and wheel
profiles, among others. The effect of environmental condi-
tions on the rail wheel interface was reviewed in detail by
Zhu et al. [41].
f
oo
6. Conclusions
A short review on grease lubrication for railways was
presented with focus on the relationship between grease
formance (friction, wear and retentivity). The lack of sys-
tematic studies on this field imposes restrictions to rail
maintainers when it comes to identify and select a proper
grease. A systematic study with 6 in-house fully formu-
lated greases were carried out in order to clarify the effect
of base oil viscosity and thickener type on grease perfor-
mance. The results were compared with two commercial
greases available in the market. The discussion was based
on the literature of grease lubrication applied to rolling
bearings, which is much richer than the one applied to
railways. The presented results provide direct evidence for
several consistent trends relevant to curve rail lubrication.
The main conclusions are:
Grease formulation affects friction, wear and retentiv-
ity performance in different ways, depending on its lambda
ratio.
Low nominal lambda ratio: In this condition film
thickness is actually much higher than the predicted one
by using traditional EHL theory and the base oil viscos-
ity. This occurs due to mechanical entrapment and thick-
ener deposition in the contacting surfaces. Within this
region, the film is dominated by the thickener, and its
thickness is related to the characteristic dimensions of the
thickener particles / fibers and their ability to deposit on
the contacting surfaces. For lubricating greases formu-
lated with mineral base oil, Calcium thickener particles
present higher ability to deposit in the contact, forming
thicker films than Lithium greases. However, Calcium film
presents higher friction than Lithium film. As a conse-
quence of its higher ability to deposit in the contact and
higher friction, mass loss due to crack propagation for Cal-
cium greases are much higher than for Lithium greases.
This occurs because higher friction accelerates grease prop-
agation in Mode I, and the thickener deposition inside the
cracks tip prevents its closing. Retentivity was not affected
by the composition and properties of the film, even though
in this region the film is mostly composed by thickener,
which have different properties among the Calcium and
Lithium greases as observed by friction and wear results.
High nominal lambda ratio: In this condition, film
thickness can be reasonably predicted using traditional
EHL theory and the base oil viscosity. Although, thick-
ener contributes a little to enhance film thickness. Within
this region, the film is dominated by the base oil proper-
ties, and the film enhancement, observed for some types
of grease, is related to the characteristic dimensions of the
thickener material and the relation between thickener and
base oil quantity in the grease formulation. Film thickness
enhancement in this region is much smaller in comparison
to the low nominal lambda ratio region, and therefore the
impact of the thickener on friction, wear and retentivity
is small as well. Thus, the performance of the lubricating
greases in this region is dominated by the base oil proper-
ties. Still, for mineral base oil, Calcium thickener particles
present higher ability to pass through the contact, forming
r
thicker films than Lithium greases. As a consequence of
Calcium higher ability to pass through the contact, mass
loss due to crack propagation is slightly higher in com-
parison to Lithium thickener. This most likely occurs due
e -p
to higher thickener deposition inside the cracks tip pre-
Pr
venting its closing. Friction and retentivity barely change
since thickener particles may get into the crack tips, but
the lubricant film is mainly composed by the base oil.
l
na
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank VALE S.A. and the
ur
Vale Institute of Technology ITV for providing financial
support for this research through the project SAP 4600040312.
Jo
List of Symbols
Thickener type
Ca Calcium
Cas Calcium sulfonate
Li Lithium
Lic Lithium complex
PP Polypropylene
Pu Polyurea
Base oil type
E Ester
M Mineral
PAO Polyalphaolefin
S Synthetic
[1] D. Cannon, H. Pradier, Rail rolling contact fatigue research by
the european rail research institute, Wear 191 (1-2) (1996) 1–13.
[2] U. Olofsson, R. Nilsson, Surface cracks and wear of rail: A
full-scale test on a commuter train track, Proceedings of the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail
and Rapid Transit 216 (4) (2002) 249–264.
9
[3] D. T. Eadie, K. Oldknow, M. Santoro, G. Kwan, M. Yu, X. Lu,
Wayside gauge face lubrication: How much do we really under-
stand?, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers,
Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit 227 (3) (2013) 245–
253.
[4] R. D. Sims, K. A. Miller, G. F. Schepmann Jr, Device for deter-
mining coefficient of friction and level of lubrication, uS Patent
5,992,212 (Nov. 30 1999).
[5] J. DeKoker, Development of a formulae to place rail lubricators,
in: Fifth International Tribology Conference, 1994, pp. 27–29.
[6] I. H. H. Association, et al., Guidelines to best practices for
heavy haul railway operations: wheel and rail interface issues,
International Heavy Haul Association.
[7] M. G. Uddin, G. Chattopadhyay, M. G. Rasul, M. Leinster,
et al., Modelling of grease transport mechanism in wayside rail
lubrication and impact of related parameters, in: CORE 2012:
Global Perspectives; Conference on railway engineering, 10-
12 September 2012, Brisbane, Australia, Engineers Australia,
2012, p. 475.
[8] P. Clayton, D. Danks, Laboratory evaluation of wheel/rail lu-
f
bricants, in: Proceedings of Symposium on Rail and Wheel Lu-
oo
brication, 1993.
[9] P. Clayton, D. Danks, R. Steele, Laboratory assessment of lubri-
cants for wheel/rail applications, Lubrication engineering 45 (8)
(1989) 501–506.
[10] M. Sato, K. Sugino, K. Tanikawa, H. Lida, The nature of lubri-
cants and their influence on the wear and fatigue behavior of
rail, in: Proceedings of Symposium on Rail and Wheel Lubri-
cation, 1993.
[11] R. Reiff, Field evaluation of lubricant performance at fast, in:
Wheel and Rail Lubrication Symposium. Section I-5. Memphis,
TN Association of American Railroads, and American Railway
Engineering Association, 1987.
[12] I. McEwen, R. Harvey, Wheel/rail wear and lubrication-
laboratory studies and their relevance to field situations, GM
Gladwell, H. Ghonem and J. Kalousek (eds.), Contact mechan-
ics and Wear of Wheel Rail Systems II.
[13] S. Lewis, R. Lewis, G. Evans, L. Buckley-Johnstone, Assessment
of railway curve lubricant performance using a twin-disc tester,
Wear 314 (1-2) (2014) 205–212.
[14] B. Vengudusamy, C. Enekes, R. Spallek, Ehd friction properties
of iso vg 320 gear oils with smooth and rough surfaces, Friction
8 (1) (2020) 164–181.
[15] H. Cen, P. M. Lugt, G. Morales-Espejel, Film thickness of me-
chanically worked lubricating grease at very low speeds, Tribol-
ogy transactions 57 (6) (2014) 1066–1071.
[16] N. De Laurentis, A. Kadiric, P. Lugt, P. Cann, The influence
of bearing grease composition on friction in rolling/sliding con-
centrated contacts, Tribology international 94 (2016) 624–632.
[17] H. Cen, P. M. Lugt, G. Morales-Espejel, On the film thickness of
grease-lubricated contacts at low speeds, Tribology transactions
57 (4) (2014) 668–678.
[18] G. E. Morales-Espejel, P. M. Lugt, H. Pasaribu, H. Cen, Film
thickness in grease lubricated slow rotating rolling bearings, Tri-
bology International 74 (2014) 7–19.
[19] D. Goncalves, T. Cousseau, A. Gama, A. V. Campos, J. H.
Seabra, Friction torque in thrust roller bearings lubricated with
greases, their base oils and bleed-oils, Tribology International
107 (2017) 306–319.
[20] B. Vengudusamy, C. Enekes, R. Spallek, On the film forming
and friction behaviour of greases in rolling/sliding contacts, Tri-
bology International 129 (2019) 323–337.
[21] T. Cousseau, B. Graça, A. Campos, J. Seabra, Grease aging
effects on film formation under fully-flooded and starved lubri-
cation, Lubricants 3 (2) (2015) 197–221.
[22] P. Cann, B. Williamson, R. Coy, H. Spikes, The behaviour of
greases in elastohydrodynamic contacts, Journal of Physics D:
Applied Physics 25 (1A) (1992) A124.
[23] I. Couronné, P. Vergne, D. Mazuyer, N. Truong-Dinh,
D. Girodin, Effects of grease composition and structure on film
thickness in rolling contact, Tribology transactions 46 (1) (2003)
 31–36.
[24] D. Gonçalves, A. Vieira, A. Carneiro, A. V. Campos, J. H.
Seabra, Film thickness and friction relationship in grease lubri-
cated rough contacts, Lubricants 5 (3) (2017) 34.
[25] F. Cyriac, P. M. Lugt, R. Bosman, C. J. Padberg, C. H. Venner,
Effect of thickener particle geometry and concentration on the
grease ehl film thickness at medium speeds, Tribology letters
61 (2) (2016) 18.
[26] Y. Kanazawa, R. S. Sayles, A. Kadiric, Film formation and fric-
tion in grease lubricated rolling-sliding non-conformal contacts,
Tribology International 109 (2017) 505–518.
[27] T. Cousseau, M. Björling, B. Graça, A. Campos, J. Seabra,
R. Larsson, Film thickness in a ball-on-disc contact lubricated
with greases, bleed oils and base oils, Tribology International
53 (2012) 53–60.
[28] Y. Kanazawa, N. De Laurentis, A. Kadiric, Studies of friction
in grease-lubricated rolling bearings using ball-on-disc and full
bearing tests, Tribology Transactions 63 (1) (2020) 77–89.
[29] D. Gonçalves, B. Graça, A. V. Campos, J. Seabra, On the fric-
tion behaviour of polymer greases, Tribology International 93
Appendix A. EHL Lubricating Conditions
Appendix A.1. “Nominal" Specific Film thickness
“Nominal" specific film thickness Λ is given by the ra-
tio between centre film thickness and the composite rough
mean square surface roughness, as shown in Eq A.1.
h0
Λ= q (A.1)
2
Sqrail 2
+ Sqwheel
the centre film thickness for line contacts h0 with ther-
mal corrections is calculated with the equation proposed
by Duncan Dowson [42] (Eq A.2) using the thermal cor-
rection factor φT according to [43], which is described by
Eq. A.3. Thermal corrections are relevant when sliding
is imposed to the contact to account for film thickness re-
duction due to lubricant heating at the contact inlet.

f
(2016) 399–410.

oo
[30] D. Ne´ lias, M. Dumont, F. Champiot, A. Vincent, D. Girodin,
R. Fouge´ res, L. Flamand, Role of inclusions, surface roughness
and operating conditions on rolling contact fatigue.
[31] W. Wang, R. Lewis, M. Evans, Q. Liu, Influence of different
h0 = φT · 0.975 · Rx · U 0.727 · G0.727 · W −0.091 (A.2)

r
application of lubricants on wear and pre-existing rolling contact
fatigue cracks of rail materials, Tribology Letters 65 (2) (2017)
58.
[32] J. F. Rico, A. H. Battez, D. G. Cuervo, Rolling contact fatigue
e
in lubricated contacts, Tribology International 36 (1) (2003)
-p φT = 1 + 0.1 1 + 14.8Ve0.83 L0.64
 
 −1

35–40. βη0 (U1 + U2 )

2 (A.3)
L=
Pr
[33] S. Wong, P. Bold, M. Brown, R. Allen, A branch criterion
for shallow angled rolling contact fatigue cracks in rails, Wear Kf
191 (1-2) (1996) 45–53.
[34] D. Fletcher, L. Smith, A. Kapoor, Rail rolling contact fatigue the pressure-viscosity coefficient used to calculate film
dependence on friction, predicted using fracture mechanics with thickness, was computed according to Gold et al. [44], as
l

a three-dimensional boundary element model, Engineering Frac- α = s · ν t , being s = 9.9040 and t = 0.1390 for mineral
na

ture Mechanics 76 (17) (2009) 2612–2625.

[35] M. Meheux, C. Minfray, F. Ville, T. Mogne, A. Lubrecht, J.-M.
Martin, H.-P. Lieurade, G. Thoquenne, Effect of lubricant addi-
tives in rolling contact fatigue, Proceedings of the Institution of
ur
oils. The operating conditions, material and geometrical
properties, as well as lubricant viscosity are given in Tables
1 and 2.

Mechanical Engineers, Part J: Journal of Engineering Tribology

224 (9) (2010) 947–955.
[36] N. Popinceanu, M. Gafiţanu, S. Creţu, E. Diaconescu,
Jo

L. Hostiuc, Rolling bearing fatigue life and ehl theory, Wear

45 (1) (1977) 17–32.
[37] X. Fan, W. Li, H. Li, M. Zhu, Y. Xia, J. Wang, Probing the ef-
fect of thickener on tribological properties of lubricating greases,
Tribology International 118 (2018) 128–139.
[38] S. Maya-Johnson, J. F. Santa], A. Toro, Dry and lubricated wear
of rail steel under rolling contact fatigue - wear mechanisms and
crack growth, Wear 380-381 (2017) 240 – 250.
[39] F. Chinas-Castillo, H. Spikes, The behavior of diluted sooted
oils in lubricated contacts, Tribology Letters 16 (4) (2004) 317–
322.
[40] F. Chin as Castillo, H. Spikes, Mechanism of action of colloidal
solid dispersions, J. Trib. 125 (3) (2003) 552–557.
[41] Y. Zhu, W. Wang, R. Lewis, W. Yan, S. R. Lewis, H. Ding, A
review on wear between railway wheels and rails under environ-
mental conditions, Journal of Tribology 141 (12).
[42] D. Dowson, Paper 10: elastohydrodynamics, in: Proceedings of
the institution of mechanical engineers, conference proceedings,
Vol. 182, SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England, 1967,
pp. 151–167.
[43] S. Sheu, W. R. Wilson, Mixed lubrication of strip rolling, Tri-
bology transactions 37 (3) (1994) 483–493.
[44] P. Gold, A. Schmidt, H. Dicke, J. Loos, C. Assmann, Viscosity–
pressure–temperature behaviour of mineral and synthetic oils,
Journal of Synthetic Lubrication 18 (1) (2001) 51–79.

10
Highlights

• Calcium thickened greases are more likely to pass through the contact and enhance film thickness
than Lithium thickened greases formulated with mineral base oil.

• In the thickener dominant region, films formed from Calcium thickener present higher friction prop-

of
erties than the ones formed from Lithium thickener.

ro
• Calcium thickener accelerates crack propagation in a higher rate than Lithium thickener due to its
higher friction properties and probability to deposit in the contact.

-p
• Retentivity increases with viscosity, while the effect of thickener type is negligible.
re
lP
na
ur
Jo
Declaration of interests

☐ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships
that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

☐The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered
as potential competing interests:

of
ro
-p
re
lP
na
ur
Jo