STRESSES IN THE TREADS OF RAILWAY WHEELS

The stresses arising in and below the tread of a rail vehicle wheel are very complex. The wheel material, which is in no way of a homogeneous nature, is subjected to greatly differing forces varying in magnitude, as well as to frictional forces, thermal stresses, manifold tensile stresses and wear mechanisms. Because of the great many imponderabilities, resulting from the track position and riding quality of the vehicle, a prediction of the expected life or anticipated mileage is practicable to a limited extent only. Nevertheless, it is possible to picture the complex stresses acting on the wheel tread. For practical use, a new factor is proposed, permitting an estimate of the permissible axle load for wheel sets dependent on the wheel diameter.