Influence of Extension of Load Spectrum on Estimation of Residual Fatigue Lifetime of Railway Axle

Abstract

Railway axles are subjected to cyclic amplitude loading which can lead to fatigue failure. For safe operation of railway axles a damage tolerance approach taking into account a possible defect in railway axle is often required. Because of different operation regimes of trains (fast/slow ride, ride on straight track, on curved track, over switches etc.) the load amplitude of axle is not constant. The variability of load is defined by a load spectrum, which is determined experimentally by measuring of load in service conditions. Even though the load spectrum is measured on several hundreds or thousands of operation kilometres, the railway axles are in operation much longer time (often tens of years). Therefore, some load amplitudes higher than ones measured in the test can occur during a long-term axle service. The contribution presented deals with the effect of extension of load spectrum by rare high load amplitudes, which can occur during long-term operation, on residual fatigue lifetime of railway axles.