The paper aimsto analyse the occurrence of acoustic emission at the wheel-rail contact during microslip. The experimental model allows the different loads and the low sliding speeds specific to the wheel-rail contact. It is determined experimentally the appearance of the stick-slip phenomenon at the Hertzian contact of cylinder type (fixed-wheel specimen) - plane (mobile with very low speed - rail specimen). The experimental stand simultaneously measures the normal force, the friction force and the acoustic emission at different normal forces, sliding speeds and rigidities of the wheel specimen fixing system. The specimens are made of UIC standard materials used in the driving wheels and rails. The stick-slip phenomenon occurs at low micro-slip speeds and normal bending stiffness. Experimentally, it is found that the jumps specific to the stick-slip phenomenon (friction coefficientCOF) are accompanied by the acoustic emission (AE) at the cylinder-plane interface. The energy emitted by AE (WAE) is correlated with the energy consumed by friction during the stick-slip period (WCOF).Postprint (published version
