Abstract
As the railway wheels are irregularly reprofiled due to the defects of wheel before a regular reprofiling on wheel tread, the maintenance cost for the railway wheel is remarkably increased. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the damage mechanism for the nucleation of wheel defect in order to the reduction of maintenance cost. In the present paper, the combined effect on railway wheels of a periodically varying contact points and an intermittent thermal braking loading is investigated. To analyze the damage cause for railway wheels, the measurements for the replication of wheel surface and the mechanical properties with respect to the wheel defect are carried out. The results show that the surface cracks in railway wheel tread are due to combination of thermal loading/ratchetting and also that the replication and fracture toughness test can be applied in new evaluation method of wheel damage.
