Remaining fatigue life assessment of high-speed railway wheel web under measured load spectra

Abstract

The fatigue life assessment of railway wheels is a critical issue to establish an effective maintenance strategy. Presently, the traditional nominal stress method is commonly adopted, assuming the wheels are defect-free. However, the wheels are always subjected to railway ballast, corrosion, and more, rendering the traditional design method inadequate. To address this, our study introduces a stepwisefatigueassessment approach. Initially, the traditional nominal stress method is employed as the first level, followed by the application of advanced damage tolerance analysis as the second level, which takes into account the impact of defects. The safe-critical position of the wheels is identified using the finite element model. Three fatigue crack growth rate models are compared to assess the residual life of the wheels with defects. The numerical simulation results illustrate that the iLAPS model is proved to be effective, demonstrating the effectiveness of the developed assessment method. This work is expected to provide a scientific guidance for establishing and optimizing of maintenance strategy for railway wheels.