Proven around the globe for over four decades, our Friction Management Solutions or as we like to call it Total Friction Management is a 360 degrees approach to reducing unsafe conditions of noise, wheel climbing, track and wheelset wear.
Our Total Friction Management systematic approach includes five stages:
Track assessment to find critical curves Understanding Friction Managment
Equipment and Consumable recommendation
Equipment and Consumable supply
Installation and Commissioning Service and Maintenance
Performance Monitoring and Measuring of results Performance Validation
For mixed traffic lines there are particular pressures on the time available for maintenance, as the lines are occupied by passenger traffic during the day and by freight at night. This reduced track access makes maintenance operations such as rail grinding/milling and rail replacement particularly challenging to schedule. LB Foster’s friction management solutions reduce the requirement for rail maintenance and our innovations such as Remote Performance Monitoring enable infrastructure managers to plan and optimize trackside maintenance.
Product Benefits
Reduction of flange noise due to rail gauge face and wheel flange contact Gauge Face and WF Lubrication
Reduction of TOR (Top of Rail) squealing noise due to TOR and wheel tread contact Top of Rail Friction Management
Reduction of noise and vibration due to rail corrugation
Improved safety with less possibility of wheel climbs due to reduced coefficient of friction
Reduction of rail GF (Gauge Face) wear and wheel flange wear by lubrication
Reduction of rail vertical wear and wheel tread wear thru TOR friction control
Extension of rail / wheel life by increasing reprofiling cycles.
Safety improvement due to lateral force reduction during curving.
Environmentally conscious Enviromental Products
With hundreds of successful implementations worldwide L.B. Foster is without doubt the global leader in Friction Management for Mixed Traffic and Mainline Passenger Trains. We continually improve and develop new Wayside Solutions and consumables I.e., grease for gauge face lubrication, friction modifiers for top of rail lubrication, Onboard Solid Stick Solutions for wheel flange and thread protection and Mobile TOR Spray Solutions.
