Study on spalling behaviours of the railway wheel steel due to cyclic rolling contact

• Main Author: Song, Wenkai
• Other Authors: Xiao Zhongmin
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/77929
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Over the years, faster moving speed with higher load capacity of different trains have been innovated in railway industrial through advances in technology, resulting in much rolling contact fatigue damage phenomenon for the railway, which may faster wear rate of the railway wheel. So the safety and preventative of the railway has been researched in great demand. During different defects on the railway wheel, spalling is a critical field of research. Such crack normally initiates in the white etching layer of the wheel surface and then propagate into the wheel due to thermal loading in cyclic rolling contact, leaving voids known as spalling. The project seeks to investigate the crack growth in white etching layer and wheel material affected by different initial crack angles on the white etching layer due to cyclic rolling contact condition. With these understanding, it will allow us to maintain and prevent railway wheel failures efficiently. For a better study, a two dimensional model will be built using the software ABAQUS Version 6.13. This software allows for simulation of the crack growth and propagation in the railway wheel using Extend Finite Element Method (XFEM). In addition, the varied load with initial crack angles would be two key parameters for investing the crack growth between the white etching layer and wheel bulk material region.