Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Engineering Failure Analysis

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engfailanal

Effects of residual stress and shape of web plate on the fatigue life
of railway wheels
Jung Won Seo *, Seok Jin Kwon, Hyen Kue Jun, Dong Hyong Lee
Korea Railroad Research Institute, Uiwang, Gyeongi-do 437-755, South Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Railway wheels have been one of the most critical components in a railway vehicle. Fatigue
Received 13 November 2008 design of railway wheel is one of the most important factors. Damages on the wheel can be
Received in revised form 7 April 2009 divided into three types, such as the contact fatigue of the tread, the thermal fatigue of the
Accepted 13 April 2009
rim due to braking and the mechanical fatigue of the web plate. The railway wheel has the
Available online 24 April 2009
initial residual stress formed during the manufacturing process, and this residual stress
changes due to the thermal stress induced by braking. In this study, we evaluated residual
Keywords:
stress of web plate by heat treatment due to the manufacturing process and changes of
Railway wheel
Residual stress
residual stress by braking using finite element analysis. The cyclic stress history for fatigue
Fatigue analysis is determined by applying finite element method. The fatigue strength evaluations
of the web plate are performed to investigate the effect of the residual stress.
Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Railway wheels have been one of the most critical components in a railway vehicle. In recent years, higher train speeds
and increased axle loads have led to larger wheel/rail contact forces. Also, efforts have been made to optimize wheel design
to improve the performance and reduce the cost. These trends have changed the major wheel damage from wear to fatigue
[1]. In case of wear, the deterioration process of wheel tread is slow, however, Fatigue cause abrupt fractures in wheels or the
tread surface material loss. These failures may cause damage to train suspension, damage to rails and, in some cases, derail-
ment with loss of life and property. The main factors which must be taken into consideration for the fatigue design of wheel
are the contact fatigue of the tread, the thermal fatigue of the rim due to braking and the mechanical fatigue. Researches on
the thermal fatigue of the rim due to braking among the fatigue strength evaluation of wheel have extensively been per-
formed [2–4]. A couple of case studies on the contact fatigue of the tread due to wheel and rail contact has been reported
[5–7].
The fatigue strength analysis of the web plate of wheels has been performed using the method described in the UIC Leaflet
510-5 ‘‘Technical Approval of Solid Wheels” [8]. This method is based on an assumption that the applied loads for wheels are
mono-axial condition. However, the recent application involving the use of a wheel disc with drilled holes has shown that
the principle stress field directions vary during the wheel rotation [9]. The UIC does not define a calculation method that is to
meet the requirements of the multi-axial stress and other influence parameter. Okagata [10,11] evaluated the fatigue
strength of Japanese railway wheel through fatigue test on the actual size wheel and proposed the fatigue design method
of high speed railway wheel by considering the effect of manufacturing conditions and the volume factor on the fatigue
strength of the material. Cocheteux [12] proposed the fatigue strength evaluation method of wheel disc with drilled hole
under multi-axial load. The satisfactory performance of wheel depends upon its ability to withstand not only the repeated

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jwseo@krri.re.kr (J.W. Seo).

1350-6307/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.engfailanal.2009.04.013
2494 J.W. Seo et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507

stresses imposed by normal loads and braking conditions, but also the occasional high stresses that develop under abnormal
operating conditions. In the process of railway wheel manufacturing, a heat treatment is performed to reduce the wear rate
by increasing the surface hardness. The residual stress on wheel is formed during the manufacturing process which includes
a heat treatment, and then, is changed in the process of braking which results in thermal stress. However, the effect of resid-
ual stress was not considered in their simulation.
The fatigue life of railway should be estimated by considering both of mechanical stress and residual stress. Also, the ef-
fect of residual stress variation from on-tread friction braking should be included in evaluating fatigue strength. In this study,
the multi-axial load and the effect of the residual stress variation on the fatigue life are evaluated through the employment of
the critical plane approach. Residual stress due to the manufacturing process and changes of residual stress by braking were

Fig. 1. A typical wheel manufacturing process [13].

Fig. 2. Finite element model.

Fig. 3. FE results of S-shape wheel.

J.W. Seo et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507 2495

Fig. 4. FE results of flat wheel.

Fig. 5. Residual stress distribution of S-shape wheel.

2496 J.W. Seo et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507

Fig. 6. Residual stress distribution of flat wheel.

Case 4

6
Vertical force (X10 KN)

4
Case 3

2 Case 6
Case 5
Case 2

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (sec)

Fig. 7. Braking condition applied for FE anlaysis.

J.W. Seo et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507 2497

Fig. 8. FE analysis results according to case 6.

Fig. 9. Residual stress distribution according to case 6.

2498 J.W. Seo et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507

Fig. 10. Residual stress analysis according to different braking condition.

Fig. 11. FE model.

 J.W. Seo et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507 2499

evaluated by using finite element. The cyclic stress history for fatigue analysis is determined by applying finite elements and
the fatigue strength analysis of the web plate are performed to investigate the effect of the residual stress.

2. Residual stress analysis

2.1. Residual stress analysis during manufacturing

In the process of the railway wheel manufacturing, the residual stress is created by a heat treatment which is performed
to reduce the wear rate by increasing the hardness of the tread. The residual stress on the wheel has been reported to be
changed its distributions due to the shape of the plate. Fig. 1 shows a typical wheel manufacturing process; cooling after
rolling, quenching at the contact zone, and tempering, consequently. Fig. 2 shows finite element models for residual stress
analysis. An axisymmetric model is used to adopt the symmetric characteristics of the wheel geometry and the loading con-
dition. The heat transfer analysis on the basis of convection conditions are followed by the thermal stress analysis simulating
the heat treatment process of heating, cooling, quenching and tempering, consequently. The loading condition and analysis
procedure are adopted from the previous study [4].

2.2. Residual stress analysis results

Figs. 3 and 4 show the resulting residual stress of S-shape wheel and flat wheel from finite element analysis, respectively.
For S-shape wheel, the magnitude of residual stress appears to be 320 MPa at web plate and the tendency of residual stress is
not symmetry at upper and down side. While the residual stress for flat wheel shows symmetry at web plate, the magnitude
of residual stress is observed to be smaller than that of S-shape wheel. Fig. 5 shows the residual stress distribution at surface
of the web plate of S-shape wheel. The maximum residual stress of upper part appear to be 280 MPa to 200 mm from the
axle part, while the maximum residual stress for lower part is observed to be 320 MPa to 90 mm from the axle part.
Fig. 6 shows the residual stress evaluation results according to the distance from a axle part at surface of the web plate
of flat wheel. The resulting residual stress in the radial direction is observed at the center of the web plate, the highest stress
appears to 50 mm from the axle part. The circumferential residual stress appears to be 180 MPa at axle part and gradually
changes along the distance and turns to be compressive stress over 80 mm from the axle part.

2.3. Residual stress analysis during braking

Fig. 7 shows six different braking conditions for various brake time and vertical forces including no braking condition
(case 1). Braking conditions which result in tensile residual stress on the surface were decided from the previous report
[4]. The residual stress resulting from manufacturing process is applied as the initial condition for braking analyses. Fig. 8
shows FE analysis results according to case 6. The residual stress on the surface of contact part is observed to be changed
into tensile residual stress by applying braking conditions. Fig. 9 shows residual stress distribution according to case 6.
The variation of residual stress at web plate shows the same tendency, the amount of residual stress changes is observed
to be not significant because the residual stress redistribution after braking is limited on a small area of contact surface.
Fig. 10 shows the residual stress variation after the application of five different braking conditions, respectively. While
the redistributed residual stress shows the same tendency according to braking condition, the amount of residual stress in-
crease is observed to be 60 MPa at upper part and 40 MPa at lower part.

3. Fatigue strength evaluation

3.1. FE model and load condition

A flat wheel with drilled holes and a S-shape wheel for on-tread friction braking is chosen for the analysis. The two type
models are used, respectively. One is a model for new wheel. The other is a model for wheel with thin rim thickness due to
wear during operation and reprofiling for maintenance. Fig. 11 shows a finite element model used for stress analysis. The UIC
reduced the load case to three. These three load cases and the locations of load are shown in Fig. 12. Load case 1 corresponds
to straight track where vertical force (Fz = 1.25  Q  g, Q: mass of vehicle per wheel, g: acceleration due to gravity) is pres-
ent. Load case 2 corresponds to full curve track where vertical force and transverse force (Fy1 = 0.7  Q  g) are included and
load case 3 in the passing through negotiation of crossings and points where vertical force and transeverse force
(Fy2 = 0.42  Q  g) are applied to another location. Table 1 shows material properties for the stress analysis .

3.2. Analysis method and stress state of the web plate surface

To obtain stress histories for wheel loads which rotate, it is considered that the center of the wheel is fixed and loading
locations vary on the wheel at equal angle intervals. Figs. 13 and 14 show stress analysis results according to load case 2. The
stress distribution shows the same tendency that the maximum stress appears at axle part. Figs. 15 and 16 show the stress
2500 J.W. Seo et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507

Fig. 12. Load condition according to UIC.

Table 1
Material properties used for stress and fatigue analysis [8,12].

Young’s modulus, E (GPa) 209

Shear elastic modulus, G (GPa) 80
Poisson’s ratio, m 0.3
Permitted stress (machined center, UIC method, MPa) 180
Permitted stress (non-machined center, UIC method, MPa) 145
Permitted stress (elastic limit, UIC method, MPa) 355
Fatigue limit in tension–compression (Dang van’s criterion, aDV, MPa) 255
Fatigue limit in torsion (Dang van’s criterion, sw, MPa) 174

Fig. 13. Stress analysis results of S-shape wheel.

 J.W. Seo et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507 2501

Fig. 14. Stress analysis results of flat wheel.

50 xx
yy 40
40 zz
xy 20
30 yz
0
Stress (MPa)

zx
Stress (MPa)

20
-20
10
-40
0 xx
-60 yy
-10 zz
-80 xy
-20 yz
-100 zx
-30

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Angle between the position with loading Angle between the position with loading

(a) Stress history at a point of upper part (b) Stress history at a point of lower part

50 Upper point
Down point 0.0
-0.1
40
Principle stress (MPa)

-0.2
Variation of biaxiality

-0.3
30
-0.4

20 -0.5
-0.6
10 -0.7
-0.8
-0.9 Upper point
0
Down point
-1.0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Angle between the position with loading Angle between the position with loading

(c) Variation of principle stress (d) Variation of biaxial ratio

Fig. 15. Stress analysis state of S-shape wheel.
2502 J.W. Seo et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507

state of S-shape wheel and flat wheel, respectively. To evaluate multi-axial characters, variations of biaxial ratio which are
the ratios of the principle stress with the minor absolute amplitude and that with the major absolute amplitude were cal-
culated. Figs. 15(a) and (b) show the stress history for one wheel rotation at a point of the hole from finite element analysis.
The stress histories are used for the fatigue strength analysis. Figs. 15(d) and 16(d) show variation of biaxial ratio. As shown
in Figs. 15(d) and 16(d), the biaxial ratios vary from 0 to 1 and shows multi-axial states at that point.

3.3. Fatigue analysis method

The fatigue strength analysis was performed by using the UIC method and the critical plane approach which is one of the
methods account for multi-axial fatigue damages. In the procedure of the UIC, the principal stresses should be calculated at
all points in the nodes for each of the three load cases. The maximum and the minimum stresses for the three load cases for
each node are determined. Finally, the mean stress and the dynamic stress are calculated by using the following equations.
This calculation supplies the stresses at every point on the wheel, which can then be compared with permitted stresses. The
procedure of calculation is described in UIC Leaflet 510-5, Appendix B [8].
r þ rmin
rmean ¼ max ð1Þ
2
r  rmin
rdyn ¼ max ð2Þ
2
where rmean, rdyn, rmax and rmin are the mean stress, the dynamic stress, the maximum stress and the minimum stress,
respectively. Many researchers [14–17] have proposed multi-axial fatigue criteria suitable to different loadings and different
materials. In this paper, the Dang van’s criterion based on the shear stress for the high-cycle fatigue is applied as follows. This
criterion condenses the time histories of the six stress tensor components into a load path of two parameters. These two
parameters are the hydrostatic stress and the maximum shear stress. According to this criterion, damage occurs if the com-
bination of the value of a shear stress and the value of the hydrostatic stress.

30

20 20

10
0
0
Stress (MPa)
Stress (MPa)

-10 -20
-20
xx -40 xx
-30 yy yy
zz zz
-40
xy -60 xy
-50 yz yz
Hole upper Hole side
zx zx
-60 -80
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Angle between the position with loading Angle between the position with loading

(a) Stress history at a point of hole (b) Stress history at a point of web plate
50
0.0
Hole upper
Hole side
40 -0.2
Variation of biaxiality
Principle Stress(MPa)

30 -0.4

20 -0.6

Hole upper
10 -0.8
Hole side

Variation of biaxiality
0 -1.0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Angle between the position with loading Angle between the position with loading

(c) Variation of principle stress (d) Variation of biaxial ratio

Fig. 16. Stress analysis state of Flat wheel.
 J.W. Seo et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507 2503

sðtÞ þ aDV rH ðtÞ ¼ sw ð3Þ

 
sw 1
aDV ¼ 3  ð4Þ
rw 2
where smax(t) and rH(t) are the maximum shear stress and hydrostatic stress evaluated at each time of the load cycle, aDV and
sw are constants for loads and materials determined by tension–compression and torsion fatigue tests. Table 1 shows mate-
rial properties for the fatigue analysis.

4. Results and discussion

According to the criterion, damage occurs if the combination of the shear stress amplitude and the hydrostatic stress con-
sidered on a shear plane. Figs. 17 and 18 show the fatigue strength evaluation results according to the UIC. The fatigue anal-
ysis results of the S-shape wheel were the boundary of the fatigue limit due to the residual stress that was applied to the
mean stress. In the case of without the consideration of the residual stress, the mean stress is seems to be almost a constant
value of 10 MPa. While, in the case considering the residual stress, the maximum mean stress was 300 MPa and the dy-
namic stress was 50 MPa at the web plate of the wear wheel. All of the results of the flat wheel were within the allowable
stress .

400
Without residual stress
350 Considering residual stress

300
Dynamic stress (MPa)

250

200
Machined Center
150
Non-Machined Center
100

50

-50
-400 -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400
Mean stress (MPa)

(a) New wheel with S-shape plate

400
Without residual stress
Considering residual stress
350

300
Dynamic stress (MPa)

250

200
Machined Center
150
Non-Machined Center
100

50

-50
-400 -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400
Mean stress (MPa)

(b) Wear wheel with S-shape plate

Fig. 17. Fatigue analysis results with S-shape plate according to UIC.
2504 J.W. Seo et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507

Fig. 19 shows the fatigue strength evaluation results of S-shape wheel according to the Dang van’s criterian. In the case of
without the consideration of the residual stress, the magnitude of hydrostatic stress appears to be 20 MPa and that of Dang
van stress is observed to be 50 MPa. While, in the case considering the residual stress for manufacturing process, the max-
imum hydrostatic stress was 180 MPa and the Dang van stress was 50 MPa. Since the residual stress affect only hydrostatic
stress term, the Dang van stress was not changed. All of the results were within the allowable stress and the safety factor (Sf)
was calculated from the following formula:
1
Sf ¼ aDV rh ð5Þ
sw þ ssmax
w

In the case of without the consideration of the residual stress, the safety factor of new wheel was 2.9 and that of wear
wheel was 2.6. While, in the case considering the residual stress for braking, the safety factor of new wheel was 1.07 and
that of wear wheel was 1.03. Fig. 20 shows the fatigue strength results of flat wheel. The results predicted by no considering
the residual stress were within the allowable stress. The safety factor of the new wheel was 1.4 and that of the wear wheel
was 1.3. While, in the case considering the residual stress, the results of the wear wheel were over the allowable stress at the
web plate. However, if the residual stress is relaxed by repeated loadings in service operation, it seems to be within the
allowable stress.

400

Without residual stress

350 Considering residual stress

300
Dynamic stress (MPa)

250

200 Machined Center

150 Non-Machined Center

100

50

-50
-400 -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400
Mean stress (MPa)

(a) New wheel with flat plate

400
Without residual stress
350 Considering residual stress

300
Dynamic stress (MPa)

250

200 Machined Center

150 Non-Machined Center

100

50

-50
-400 -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400
Mean stress (MPa)

(b) Wear wheel with flat plate

Fig. 18. Fatigue analysis results of wheel with flat plate according to UIC.
 J.W. Seo et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507 2505

240
220 Without residual stress
Considering manufacturing residual stress
200 Considering braking residuals stress (case 6)
180

Dang Van shear stress (MPa)

Fatigue limit
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220
Hydrostatic stress (MPa)

(a) New wheel

220
Without residual stress
200 Considering manufacturing residual stress
Considering braking residuals stress (case 6)
180
Dang Van shear stress (MPa)

160 Fatigue limit

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

-60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220
Hydrostatic stress (MPa)

(b) Wear wheel

Fig. 19. Fatigue strength evaluation of the S-shape wheel (a) new wheel and (b) wear wheel.

5. Conclusions

In this paper, the multi-axial load and the effect of the residual stress variation on the fatigue life are evaluated through
the employment of the critical plane approach. Residual stress due to the manufacturing process and changes of residual
stress by braking were evaluated by using finite element. The cyclic stress history for fatigue analysis is determined by apply-
ing finite elements and the fatigue strength analysis of the web plate are performed to investigate the effect of the residual
stress. The following conclusions are obtained:

1. The maximum residual stress of S-shape wheel is observed to be 320 MPa to 90 mm from the axle part. While, that of flat
wheel appears to be 180 MPa at axle part. the residual stress variation after the application of braking conditions shows
the same tendency according to braking condition, the amount of residual stress increase is observed to be 60 MPa at
upper part and 40 MPa at lower part.
2. It is observed that the principle stress field directions vary during the wheel rotation from stress histories obtained the
finite element analysis.
3. The results predicted by no considering the residual stress were within the allowable stress. In the case of without the
consideration of the residual stress, the safety factor of S-shape wear wheel was 2.6 and that of flat wear wheel was
1.3. While, in the case considering the residual stress for braking, the safety factor of S-shape new wheel was 1.07 and
that of S-shape wear wheel was 1.03.
2506 J.W. Seo et al. / Engineering Failure Analysis 16 (2009) 2493–2507

200
Before adding residual stress
180 After adding residual stress
160

Dang Van shear stress (MPa)

140 Fatigue limit

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
-60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220
Hydrostatic stress (MPa)

(a) New wheel

200

180 Before adding residual stress

After adding residual stress
160
Dang Van shear stress (MPa)

140
Fatigue limit

120

100

80

60

40

20

-60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Hydrostatic stress (MPa)

(b) Wear wheel

Fig. 20. Fatigue strength evaluation of the flat wheel: (a) new wheel and (b) wear wheel.

4. In the case of flat wheel considering the residual stress, the fatigue strength results according to the Dang van’s criterion
were over the allowable stress.

Acknowledgement

This study has been carried out as a part of derail assessment and prevention technology by vehicle/rail defect. We appre-
ciate all the supports.

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