Abstract
Structural optimization is widely used for designing mechanical components. In the paper, the wheel web is designed using shape optimization method in order to confirm the effectiveness of the method to railway component design. From the aspect of optimal designing for wheel web, some properties such as weight, mechanical stress, thermo-mechanical stress, stiffness or compliance, and natural vibration frequency are considered. For the clarity of comparing obtained results, weight of wheel and fatigue strength of wheel web were defined as objective and constraint functions of the analyses in this study. The analytical results indicate the effectiveness of structural optimization method to railway wheel design.
