Sara Caprioli

Wheel Tread Damage: A Numerical Study of Railway Wheel Tread Plasticity Under Thermomechanical Loading

A numerical study is presented where the impact of simultaneous thermal and mechanical loading on a railway wheel tread, as imposed by braking and rolling contact, is reported. A comparison is made of two-dimensional (2D) and 3D finite-element simulations of the thermomechanical problem featuring a material model that accounts for thermal expansion and plastic deformations. It is found that 2D simulations give unrealistic predictions of plastic deformations. The 3D simulations demonstrate a significant influence of the thermal loading also in cases of rather moderate temperature increases. In particular, the combination of thermal loading and high traction is found to be very detrimental.

Thermal cracking of a railway wheel tread due to tread braking - critical crack sizes and influence of repeated thermal cycles

A numerical study of tread cracking due to thermal loading induced by tread braking is carried out. The analysis features a computationally efficient approach combining two-dimensional finite-element simulations with an analytical evaluation of resulting stress intensity factors. The analysis identifies critical sizes for when existing surface cracks are prone to propagate under thermal loading and resulting crack lengths after propagation. The results imply that fully functional brake systems are not likely to induce thermal crack propagation under normal stop braking, but that with pre-existing defects, a severe drag braking due to malfunctioning brakes may cause very deep cracking. Furthermore, the analysis concludes the cracking to be a static phenomenon related to the most severe brake cycle, i.e. later brake cycles of similar or lower severity will not cause any significant propagation of existing cracks. Additional three-dimensional finite-element simulations are used to validate the model, and they indicate two-dimensional results to be on the conservative side. This paper originated from the 2011 IHHA Conference.

Influence of short thermal cracks on the material behaviour of a railway wheel subjected to repeated rolling

An analysis of whether and how the occurrence of shallow (radial) thermal cracks promotes additional plastic deformation of a mechanically loaded wheel tread is carried out. The study employs numerical simulations of a 2D slice of an elastoplastic railway wheel tread containing thermal (radial) cracks. The cracked wheel material is subjected to repeated passes of a frictional rolling contact load. The effect of the existing thermal cracks on bulk deformation and subsequent rolling contact promoted growth is quantified. Results indicate that thermal cracks of a depth of 0.1 mm have a negligible effect, whereas 1.0 mm cracks significantly decrease the bulk resistance of the wheel material. Further, it is shown how the magnitude of stress, strain and deformation depends on the direction of applied traction.