Investigation into the causes of fracture in railway freight car axle

• Causes of railway axle fracture are obtained by numerical and experimental analysis.
• NDT had revealed surface cracks and corrosion pits in fracture zone.
• Destructive test results had shown degradation of the axle properties.
• The influence of press fit joints is of crucial importance for the analysis.
• Press fit of labyrinth seal and railway axle greatly affected to axle stress state.

Railway axles are vital parts of railway. Their failure in the form of dynamic fracture is commonly of disastrous outcomes for railway vehicles. Accordingly, railway axles are designed to be highly reliable, while the maintenance system requires regular inspection in terms of crack initiation. However, due to complex exploitation conditions, complex stress state and multiple stress concentration, railway axles often experience fatigue failures. This occurrence has been studied in a large number of papers. This paper too sheds light on the causes of fracture occurrence in the axle of railway freight car for coal transport in a thermal power plant. Detailed analyses were conducted on the axle fracture surface and mechanical properties. Also, microstructure of the axle material, as well as on exploitation conditions and stress state was examined. Calculations indicated that, apart from working load impact, the influence of press fit joints, especially of the one between the labyrinth seal and the axle is of crucial importance for the analysis of railway axle stress state. The entire numerical–experimental analysis has shown that the considered axle failure was caused by inadequate maintenance, insufficient axle strength and adverse stress state in the railway axle critical cross-sections.