• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.116-120
• /
• 2010

The wheelset, an assembly of wheel and axle, is one of important parts in railway bogie, directly related with the running safety of railway rolling stock. In this investigation, the tensile failure behavior of railway axle materials was investigated. The tensile coupons were prepared from the actual rolling stock parts, which were operated over 20 years. The tensile testing was performed according to the KS guideline. During tensile testing, an infrared camera was employed to monitor temperature changes in specimen as well as demonstrate temperature contour in terms of infrared thermographic images. The thermographic images of tensile specimens showed comparable results with mechanical behavior of tensile materials. In this paper, the failure mode and behavior of railway axle materials were provided with the aid of infrared thermography technique.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.210-215
• /
• 2005

The safety evaluations of railway wheelsets make use of the static fracture toughness obtained in ingot materials. The static fracture toughness of wheelset materials has been extensively studied by experiments, but the dynamic fracture toughness with respect to wheelset materials has not been studied enough yet. It is necessary to evaluate the characteristics of the fracture mechanics depending on each location for a full-scale wheelset for high-speed trains, because the load state for each location of the wheelset while running is different the contact load between the wheel and rail, cyclic stress in the wheel plate, etc. This paper deals with the fracture toughness depend on load rates. The fracture toughness depending on load rate data shows that once the downward curve from quasi-static values was reached, subsequent values showed a slow increase with respect to the impact velocity. This means that dynamic fracture toughness should be considered in the design code of the wheelset material.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.33 no.11
• /
• pp.1320-1325
• /
• 2009

The sources of the vibration of railway vehicles in the cabin are usually bogie, axle, and wheel. The vibrations are transmitted through the floor structures of railway vehicle. The floor structure is the combination of bottom plate, plywood, and rubber. In this research the vibration transmission is measured experimentally and analyzed numerically to find the transmission characteristics of the vehicle floor structures. The result shows that the vibration characteristic of soft rubber is better than hard rubber or wood as the connecting material between the bottom plate and the plywood.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.16 no.8
• /
• pp.5039-5044
• /
• 2015

In this study, we evaluated corrosion behavior of a common rolling stock axle material, RSA1, in seawater. 3-electrode electrochemical cell experiment was conducted using artificial sea water, fabricated according to ASTM-D1141 set by American Society for Testing and Materials, where the corrosion current density and corrosion rate were determined to be $18.3{\mu}A/cm2$ and 0.217 mm/yr, respectively, by employing potentiodynamic test method and impedance spectroscopy method. Considering the fact that life time of railway car is ~25 years, the expected corrosion layer depth is 5mm. Constant-current corrosion test was conducted to accelerate the corrosion process, to reach corrosion periods of 1,3 and 4 years based on Faraday's law, followed by tension tests where the reduced specimen gauge cross-section was re-measured for stress calculation. While no apparent corrosion-related changes in mechanical properties were observed in the elastic regime, the reduction in ductility of the material was found to be increased as the corrosion period increased. The results of this study are expected to be basic corrosion data for the design of rolling stock axles, which will be operated in the sea water environment.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.31 no.9
• /
• pp.783-790
• /
• 2014

Railway wheels and axles are the most critical parts of the railway rolling stock. The wheel carry axle loads and guide the vehicles on the track. Therefore, the contact surface of wheel are subjected to wear and fatigue process. The wheel damage can be divided into three types; wear, contact fatigue failure and thermal crack due to braking. Therefore, in the contact surface between the wheel and the rail, the materials are heat treated to have a specific hardness. The manufacturing quality of the wheel have a considerable influence on the formation of tread wear and damage. Also, the residual stress on wheel is formed during the manufacturing process is one of the main sources of the damage. In this paper, the mechanical characteristic and the residual stress according to wheel material have been evaluated by applying finite element analysis and conducting mechanical tests.

• International Journal of Railway
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.124-126
• /
• 2009

Energy savings can be achieved with optimum energy consumptions, brake energy regeneration, efficient energy storage (onboard, line side), and primarily with light weight vehicles. Over the last few years, the rolling stock industry has experienced a marked increase in eco-awareness and needs for lower life cycle energy consumption costs. For rolling stock vehicle designers and engineers, weight has always been a critical design parameter. It is often specified directly or indirectly as contractual requirements. These requirements are usually expressed in terms of specified axle load limits, braking deceleration levels and/or demands for optimum energy consumptions. The contractual requirements for lower weights are becoming increasingly more stringent. Light weight vehicles with optimized strength to weight ratios are achievable through proven design processes. The primary driving processes consist of: $\bullet$ material selection to best contribute to the intended functionality and performance $\bullet$ design and design optimization to secure the intended functionality and performance $\bullet$ weight control processes to deliver the intended functionality and performance Aluminium has become the material of choice for modern light weight bodyshells. Steel sub-structures and in particular high strength steels are also used where high strength - high elongation characteristics out way the use of aluminium. With the improved characteristics and responses of composites against tire and smoke, small and large composite materials made components are also found in greater quantities in today's railway vehicles. Full scale hybrid composite rolling stock vehicles are being developed and tested. While an "overdesigned" bodyshell may be deemed as acceptable from a structural point of view, it can, in reality, be a weight saving missed opportunity. The conventional pass/fail structural criteria and existing passenger payload definitions promote conservative designs but they do not necessarily imply optimum lightweight designs. The weight to strength design optimization should be a fundamental design driving factor rather than a feeble post design activity. It should be more than a belated attempt to mitigate against contractual weight penalties. The weight control process must be rigorous, responsible, with achievable goals and above all must be integral to the design process. It should not be a mere tabulation of weights for the sole-purpose of predicting the axle loads and wheel balances compliance. The present paper explores and discusses the topics quoted above with a view to strengthen the recommendations and needs for the weight optimization by design approach as a pro-active design activity for the rolling stock industry at large.