Prediction of Crack Initiation of Rail Rolling Contact Fatigue

Abstract:

A plain-strain finite element (FE) model of the rail is developed by ABAQUS. The 1070 rail steel is considered in the model by Jiang and Sehitoglu's cyclic plastic constitutive equation. The wheel-rail rolling contact is represented by a moving load applied on the contact surface. Based on the FE results the initiation of rolling contact fatigue (RCF) crack is further evaluated by Jiang's fatigue model. Effects of the rail material inner defect and the friction coefficient are also investigated. The results show that the stress-strain state of the rail surface material becomes stable after about thirty passages. The maximum residual stress and strain are located in the subsurface. The life of a defected rail can be as low as 1/27~1/17 of a qualified rail, and the most probable location for crack initiation is highly dependent on the inner defect. The fatigue life is found to considerably decrease with the friction coefficient, while the location of crack initiation and its direction of propagation are less affected.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 344)
• Pages: 75-82
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.344.75
• Online since: July 2013
• Authors: Tie Song Deng, Xin Zhao, Bing Wu, Wei Li, Ze Feng Wen, Xue Song Jin
• Keywords: Crack Initiation, Cyclic Plastic Constitutive Relation, Inner Defect, Rail, Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF)

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