The Strength of Railroad Wheels : 3rd Report, Stress Analysis on Wheels Subjected to Vertical and Lateral Forces

Abstract

Reactions between the wheel and the rail have a great effect on the strength of the railroad wheel. These forces comprise a vertical force acting on the tread of wheel and a lateral force onto the flange, and they induce high stresses on the wheel disc. Those stresses fluctuate in accordance with the rotation of wheel and cause principally the fatigue of wheel disc. However, it is usually very difficult to analyze those stresses exactly because of the specific intricate contour of wheel. the authors then calculate the stresses with the finite element method, and try to establish a general calculation method for stresses of the wheel. Results of calculation show good agreement with experiments.