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Rail Bogie Structural Assurance

Ross Stewart
P. Hayes, S. Trezise, M.I Houston , A. Jackson, T.
Cooper
A presentation to: Fatigue 2014 Conference

March 2014

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Contents
1. Introduction
2. Loads and Spectrum
Measurement
3. Finite Element Model
4. Condition Assessment
5. Structural Life Assessment
6. Technical Assurance
Instructions
7. Conclusion

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1. Introduction
Two types of classical cast steel rail bogies have been affected by cracking and
defects, resulting in the bogies being removed from service over structural
integrity concerns.
The task was undertaken in two stages:
Stage 1: Rapid relief engineering assessment that allowed some bogies to be returned
to operations for a limited 6 month period subject to amended operational and
maintenance requirements.
Stage 2: More detailed engineering assessment to allow both bogies to be used for an
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extended period. The tasks undertaken for Stage 2 were:
Loads and spectrum measurement
FEM
Condition assessment
Structural life assessment
Technical assurance instructions

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1. Introduction
Side View of Bogie
Assembly

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1. Introduction
Single steel casting
40-60 years
30-40 years
No certification basis
No in-service structural failures
Many repairs

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2. Loads and Spectrum Measurement

Bogie instrumentation:
Instrumented 2 bogies
2 x 16 channel loggers
22 strain gauges
Wheel sensor speed / distance

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2. Loads and Spectrum Measurement

Vertical Load Calibration

The strain gauges were

calibrated by a shunt calibration
and axial, lateral and
longitudinal load calibrations.

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2. Loads and Spectrum Measurement

Longitudinal Load Calibration

Lateral Load Calibration

Operational data of over 20000 km was recorded for one bogie type and over
11000 km was recorded for the other bogie.
This data was health checked, processed and rain flow counted to provide spectra
for different locations on each bogie. Stress spectra were derived from the usage
strain data.

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3. Finite Element Model

Bogie frame geometries were first modelled in AutoDesk Inventor Computer
Aided Design (CAD) software, version 2011.

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3. Finite Element Model

The bogie CAD geometry was
imported into Patran as a
Parasolid file, which defined the
frame component as a solid
geometry entity for meshing and
analysis.

Boundary Conditions of the FEM

The axles and horn keeps

(attached to the bottom of each
pair of horns) were connected to
appropriate points on the bogie
frame in specific degrees of
freedom using rigid link
elements (RBE2 elements).
Longitudinal loads from the
axles due to braking were
transmitted to the appropriate
faces of the horns by the RBE2
elements acting in the X
direction
only.
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3. Finite Element Model

Linear static analysis using MSC.Nastran FEA solver and MSC.Patran pre- and postprocesser.

Typical Mesh Detail

FEA Output

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3. Finite Element Model

Load cases from AS 7519.3: 2008, BS-EN-13749:2011, one additional usage derived
load case.

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3. Finite Element Model

Deflected Shape and Contour Plot for Load
Case 1

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4. Condition Assessment
Condition data was obtained from
inspection reports and grouped by
defect size, location, type and
orientation.
Bogies striped and grit blasted
Bogie split in sections

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4. Condition Assessment
All bogies inspected had from 10 to 230+
defects
Majority of defects were Crack Like
Indications (CLIs)
Over 21 CLIs > 200 mm, the largest 725
mm
Most 10-25 mm
27 CLIs were found associated with
welds
Only one through crack
Many CLI from manufacture
Most CLI not fatigue
all impact residual strength
all potential fatigue cracks
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5. Structural Life Assessment

A list of assessment locations was
developed and prioritised based
upon a number of criteria
consequence of failure
number of defects in the general area
stress magnitude
the operational load survey

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5. Structural Life Assessment

Residual Strength Diagrams (RSD)
critical crack length

Typical RSD

Different flaw shapes to match

condition data
56 and 49 separate locations
Combination of locations and
orientations
13 Load cases to consider
Combinations of FEM and Analytical

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5. Structural Life Assessment

Damage Tolerance Assessments (DTA) of a
sub set of critical locations were undertaken
Locations expected to produce the shortest
crack lives- based on:
45
critical crack lengths

40

max operational stress

local geometry

35
COM-D-15
Stress Range Mpa

spectrum

COM-A-2

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1

10

100

1000
Exceedances

10000

100000

1000000

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5. Structural Life Assessment

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5. Structural Life Assessment

Some locations produced unrealistic Crack
Growth Lives (CGL) compared to their known
service life.
No fatigue test to peg CGL
CGL pegged to service life
Swing link lug used - worst CGL
Loading known

A scaling factor was developed from this

location and applied to the CGL at all
locations.

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5. Structural Life Assessment

Raw CG Curve

Scaled CG Curve

25

25

Interval * SF
20

20

a/c=3

Crack Length (mm)

a/c=1.5
a/c=1

15

15

10

Maximum Acceptable
Crack Length

10

5
5

0
0

50000

100000 150000
Life (km)

200000

250000

0
0

10

20
Life Years

30

40

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5. Structural Life Assessment

Acceptable flaws sizes where then calculated from the scaled crack growth curves,
by allowing for the interval multiplied by a suitable safety factor.
Crack growth curves for different a/c ratios to allow for alternate acceptance
criteria developed.
80
70

Crack Length (mm)

60
50

Acceptable crack length 38 mm

40

Interval * SF

30
20
10
0

Life (years)

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5. Technical Assurance Instructions

Technical assurance instructions covered the
return to service for the customer agreed
period.
This was based on initial inspection to
examine the entire bogie frame using
Magnetic Particle Inspection (MPI) and
compare flaws at critical locations with the
flaw acceptance criteria.
Any CLI at a critical location above the
maximum acceptable size resulted in the
bogie being classified unfit for service.

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5. Technical Assurance Instructions

Additional criteria were provided to
account for flaw interaction
assess weld repairs found
Allow larger flaw sizes but with repeat inspections every 6 months
No growth allowed
No through cracks
24 months/ 400,000 km limit

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