Railway wheel cracks exposed to rolling contact loads and residual stresses are numerically investigated. The cracks originate from wheel flats (typically with a length 10 to 40 mm along the circumference of the wheel) as induced by wheel/rail sliding. Stress intensity factors in modes I, II and III are studied assuming linear elastic conditions (state of shakedown) by 2D and 3D models. Both two- and three-dimensional geometries are used to model the freight car wheel SJ 57H, manufactured by Lucchini Sweden (formerly Adtranz Wheelset). The radius corresponds to the railhead geometry of the European standard rail type UIC6O. A surface crack of depth d (=a), oriented in the lateral direction and perpendicular to the tread surface, is considered for both the two- and the three-dimensional problem. The 3D crack has a plane semi-elliptical shape and is symmetrically positioned relative to the wheel running circle. The local geometry at the wheel flat is not included. A recently developed influence function method, based on Betti's reciprocity theorem, is applied. It is found that the calculated stress intensity factors in general are lower in a 3D model than in a 2D model. The stress intensity factors in modes II and III are much larger than in mode I, for which the crack closes when the load passes. A simplified model consisting of only a part of the rim was tried and showed good agreement with the full wheel model for mode II and mode III cracks. The research reported in this paper is inspired by the drive to reduce maintenance costs.
Cracks around railway wheel flats exposed to rolling contact loads and residual stresses
2003
12 Seiten, 23 Bilder, 6 Tabellen, 14 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
Cracks around railway wheel flats exposed to rolling contact loads and residual stresses
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