Broken rims in railroad wheels.

Details

• Creators:
  Cummings, Scott
• Corporate Creators:
  Transportation Technology Center, Inc.
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Car wheels (Railroads)
  • Wheel rims
  • Railroad accidents
  • Railroad safety
  • Cracking
  • Impact loads
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT/FRA/ORD-14/41
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and Development
• Abstract:
  Broken wheels are one of the most common types of equipment-caused train accidents. The failure of rail car wheel rims, which ; are usually the result of shattered rims or vertical split rims (VSR), are the leading cause of wheel-related accidents, and they are ; increasing as a percentage of all equipment-related accidents. The root causes of shattered rims have been agreed upon in the ; literature and effective mitigation procedures have already been implemented. Inspection, analysis, and testing of ; microcleanliness and residual stresses have increased confidence in a theory about the root cause of vertical split rim (VSR) ; failures in railroad wheels. However, two attempts to replicate the VSR failure mode under controlled conditions in the laboratory ; were unsuccessful, indicating that more research is needed to better understand VSRs and to assess the best potential mitigation ; methods. VSRs are thought to be the result of tread damage on the wheel surface in the form of a shell or spall that initiates ; cracking in the rim and produces impact loads when it comes in contact with the rail. If the crack propagates vertically to an area ; of tensile residual stress in the wheel rim, further crack growth is encouraged until a portion of the rim breaks free from the wheel.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  Contract DTFR53-00-C-00012 Task Order 253
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/28969/dot_28969_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.34 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Federal Railroad Administration ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:5009a07be46a221f5a9d1d6f829da2bc38f280376e6d879ec679f8561eee38db