International Journal of Vehicle Structures and Systems

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The fatigue performance of the rails is affected by many factors, including service conditions, loading, mechanical properties, environment factors, and manufacturing processes. In this paper, the investigation on wheel-rail to identify the initial damages caused by Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF) cracks and the location that experienced damages is presented. UIC 54kg rail (grade 900A) was used as the model in three dimensional (3D) finite element contact analysis. The fatigue crack growth on wheel-rail was carried out by considering the Hertz contact pressure. The finite element analysis results show that maximum stress concentration zone was between the wheel-rail surface (rail inside curve gauge corner) and it is above the yield stress limit for wheel-rail steel. Fatigue crack propagation within a depth affected stress concentration region was predicted. The stress intensity factors (SIF) for mode I, mode II and mode III fracture were plotted from ANSYS simulation. Three types of fracture modes were affected the UIC54kg rail Steel to fail or develop initial failure when the crack propagation exceeds 5 mm.

Keywords

Rolling Contact Fatigue, Finite Element Analysis, Rail-Wheel Crack Initiation, Stress Intensity Factor, Crack Growth.
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