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Fatigue behaviour of railway wheels at different temperatures

Interrelation of the microstructure and the fatigue behaviour of railway wheels at ambient and elevated temperatures
  • Frank Walther and Dietmar Eifler
Published/Copyright: May 26, 2013
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Materials Testing
From the journal Materials Testing Volume 46 Issue 4

Abstract

This paper aims at a better understanding of the fatigue behaviour of highly loaded railway wheel materials under special consideration of the microstructural gradients in the wheels/tires due to the industrial heat treatments and elevated temperatures developing in the wheel/rail contact area during service loading. The experiments with specimens machined from original components were performed with servohydraulic testing systems. In addition to mechanical hysteresis measurements, the change of the specimen temperature and the electrical potential (voltage) due to plastic deformation processes were recorded in ambient temperature tests. Besides characteristic cyclic softening and hardening processes, dynamic strain ageing effects were observed in a defined temperature range in constant amplitude tests. The microstructural characterisation of the different material conditions was done by light (LM), scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy together with digital image processing.

Summary

Der Beitrag soll zu einem besseren Verständnis des Ermüdungsverhaltens von hochbeanspruchten Eisenbahn-Radwerkstoffen bei Raumtemperatur und erhöhten Temperaturen beitragen. Besondere Berücksichtigung finden hierbei die in Vollrädern und Radreifen infolge der industriellen Wärmebehandlungen auftretenden Mikrostrukturgradienten sowie die bei Betriebsbeanspruchung im Rad-Schiene-Kontakt auftretenden erhöhten Temperaturen. Die Wechselverformungsexperimente mit aus Original-Bauteilen entnommenen Ermüdungsproben wurden an servohydraulischen Prüfsystemen durchgeführt. Ergänzend zur mechanischen Hysteresismessung wurde in Raumtemperaturversuchen die Veränderung der Probentemperatur und der elektrischen Spannung infolge plastischer Verformungsprozesse aufgezeichnet. Bei konstanter Beanspruchungsamplitude wurde neben charakteristischen zyklischen Entfestigungs- und Verfestigungsprozessen im Temperaturbereich 300…350°C dynamische Reckalterung beobachtet. Die Gefügecharakterisierung der verschiedenen Werkstoffzustände wurde mittels Lichtmikroskopie (LM), Rasterelektronen- und Transmissionselektronenmikroskopie (SEM und TEM) sowie bildanalytischer Auswerteverfahren durchgeführt.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dietmar Eifler, born in Querschied, Saar, obtained his PhD from the University of Karlsruhe working on the cyclic deformation behaviour of quenched and tempered steel. From 1991 to 1994 he was Professor at the University of Essen. Since 1994 he has been Professor at the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Kaiserslautern. His research is mainly focused on the cyclic deformation behaviour of construction materials, medical implant materials and innovative joining techniques like ultrasonic welding and friction stir welding.

Dr.-Ing. Frank Walther, born in Karlsruhe, obtained his PhD from the University of Kaiserslautern working on the influence of the local microstructure on the cyclic deformation behaviour of highly loaded wheel and tire steels. He has been the leader of the working group “Cyclic Deformation Behaviour” at the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering since 2002. He is working in variew fields of the cyclic deformation behaviour of construction materials.

References

1 Ekberg, A.; Sotkovszki, A.: Anisotropy and rolling contact fatigue of railway wheels. Int. J. Fatigue23 (2001) p. 29–4310.1016/S0142-1123(00)00070-0Search in Google Scholar

2 Walther, F.; Eifler, D.: Microstructure and cyclic deformation behavior of wheel and tire steels in technically relevant heat treatments. Z. Metallkd.92 (2001) p. 882–887Search in Google Scholar

3 Ahlström, J.; Karlsson, B.: Microstructural evaluation and interpretation of the mechanically and thermally affected zone under railway wheel flats. Wear232 (1999) p. 1–14Search in Google Scholar

4 Schelp, M.; Eifler, D.: Evaluation of the HCF-behavior of 42CrMoS4 by means of strain, temperature and electrical measurements. Materials Science and Engineering A319–321 (2001) p. 652–65610.1016/S0921-5093(01)00981-9Search in Google Scholar

Published Online: 2013-05-26
Published in Print: 2004-04-01

© 2004, Carl Hanser Verlag, München

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Inhalt/Contents
  2. Inhalt
  3. Fachbeiträge/Technical Contributions
  4. Failure of a dampening pin
  5. Fatigue behaviour of railway wheels at different temperatures
  6. Multiaxial loading and fatigue lifetime in LCF
  7. Quality improvement of elastomers
  8. Streuungen gemessener Beanspruchungen
  9. Berührungsloses Messen von Längenänderungen
  10. Internationale Normungsarbeit
  11. Vorschau/Preview
  12. Vorschau
https://doi.org/10.3139/120.100576

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Inhalt/Contents
  2. Inhalt
  3. Fachbeiträge/Technical Contributions
  4. Failure of a dampening pin
  5. Fatigue behaviour of railway wheels at different temperatures
  6. Multiaxial loading and fatigue lifetime in LCF
  7. Quality improvement of elastomers
  8. Streuungen gemessener Beanspruchungen
  9. Berührungsloses Messen von Längenänderungen
  10. Internationale Normungsarbeit
  11. Vorschau/Preview
  12. Vorschau
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