Six Vesconite Superlube load pads that have been recovered from South African rail parastatal Transnet’s Sishen-Saldanha-line bogies show little wear after two years of use.
This is according to Dr Jean-Patrick Leger, the CEO of Vesconite Bearings, which makes the polymer load pads that are installed on railway bogies - the metal structures on which the rail wheels and axles are mounted and on which railway vehicles lie.
“What is interesting is that the samples are hardly worn at all,” he says.
“We see tiny areas where there is 0.1mm wear, but you can see the original machining marks and machine ridges on most of them.”
The Vesconite Superlube load pads have been specified for many