Research of rail traction shafts and axles fractures towards impact of service conditions and fatigue damage accumulation

Traction shafts and axles of railway vehicles are designed to be safe and reliable in normal service conditions. Accidental and unpredictable conditions including bad exploitation (rail tracks, maintenance and extreme long service life) make the probability of shaft and axle fracture realistic. This article contains the experience and analysis of the traction shafts and axles fractures and fracture processes. Research also shows service conditions with results presented in the form of service stress spectrums. Besides normal service conditions, the results also include unpredictable phenomenon such as natural torsion vibrations of the shaft and wheels caused by stick–slip processes at the moment of the set in motion of a full-loaded train or at the moment of braking. These vibrations create an extremely high level of torque which is the main cause of cracks initialization. The next part of the article contains the results of the traction shafts and axles endurance research. The results of testing are transformed using the results of calculation by the FE method and by statistical estimation of the failure probability distribution. The main part refers to the interaction (impact) of service stress probability and failure (endurance) probability, which leads to the traction shaft (axle) reliability definition. Using the established model, locomotive traction shaft reliability is calculated and analyzed. The final part of the article contains suggestions for the traction shafts (axles) failure prevention.