Assessment of Thermal Damage for Railway Wheel of Long-Term Running

The railway wheel in long-term running had experienced the wheel damage due to fatigue crack and shelling. The damaged wheel in railway vehicle would cause a poor ride comfort, a rise in the maintenance cost and even fracture of the wheel, which then leads to a tremendous social and economical cost. It is necessary to evaluate long-term damage of railway wheel in order to ensure the safety of wheel. To evaluate the damage for railway wheels, the measurements for the replication of wheel surface and residual stress of railway wheel using x-ray diffraction system were carried out. The result shows that the residual stress of wheel is depend on the running distance and thermal gradient during brake application also that the replication test can be applied in new evaluation method of wheel damage.