Finite Element Analysis of the Rolling Contact Fatigue Life of Railcar Wheels

Abstract:

Railcar wheels and axles belong to the most critical components in railway vehicles. The service conditions of railway vehicles have been more severe in recent years due to speed-up. Therefore, a more precise evaluation of railcar wheel life and safety has been requested. Wheel/rail contact fatigue and thermal cracks due to braking are two major mechanisms of the railcar wheel failure. One of the main sources influencing on the contact zone failure is residual stress. The residual stress in wheels formed during heat treatment in manufacturing changes in the process of braking. Thus the fatigue life of railcar wheels should be estimated by considering both thermal stress and rolling contact. Also, the effect of residual stress variation due to manufacturing process and braking process should be included in simulating contact fatigue behavior. In this paper, an evaluation procedure for the contact fatigue life of railcar wheels considering the effects of residual stresses due to heat treatment, braking and repeated contact load is proposed. And the cyclic stressstrain history for fatigue analysis is simulated by finite element analysis for the moving contact load.

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volumes 575-578)
• Pages: 1461-1466
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.575-578.1461
• Online since: April 2008
• Authors: Byeong Choon Goo, Jung Won Seo
• Keywords: Railcar Wheel, Residual Stress, Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF), Strain-Life

References

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