A brief historical overview of the fatigue of railway axles

Abstract The history of railway axle design against fatigue is reviewed through a discussion of several notable accidents caused by broken axles. The earliest accidents prompted research into fatigue which resulted in a phenomenological understanding. In the last 50 years, largely through research d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inProceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part F, Journal of rail and rapid transit Vol. 218; no. 4; pp. 267 - 277
Main Authors Smith, R A, Hillmansen, S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.12.2004
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Inspections
Materials fatigue
Mechanical engineering
Railroad accidents & safety
Railroads
fatigue
service loads
life prediction
crack growth
accidents
railway axles
inspection
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Summary:Abstract The history of railway axle design against fatigue is reviewed through a discussion of several notable accidents caused by broken axles. The earliest accidents prompted research into fatigue which resulted in a phenomenological understanding. In the last 50 years, largely through research directed towards the aircraft industry, fatigue has been recognized to be a process involving crack initiation and propagation. Fracture mechanics is now used to assist in the timing of crack inspection intervals, but a small number of failures still occur. The paper concludes with a short discussion of modern design methods, which have their origin in the nineteenth century. Some current pressures, particularly the need to reduce unsprung mass at high speeds, continue to challenge axle designers.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0954-4097
2041-3017
DOI:10.1243/0954409043125932