Fatigue life prediction of a railway hollow axle with a tapered bore surface

•The purpose of this study is predict fatigue life of railway hollow axle with tapered bode surface.•The fatigue strength of axle is evaluated by fatigue test and analysis method according to EN standards.•The fatigue life is predicted by fatigue analysis with variable amplitude loads derived from railway vehicle dynamic simulation.

This paper aims to evaluate the fatigue life of railway hollow axles with tapered bore surfaces (hereinafter indicated as RATB) that have a different inner shape than the shape of existing hollow axles. The fatigue strength evaluation method is identified in accordance with European Standards EN13103 and EN13261; the fatigue strength is also evaluated by finite element analysis of a full-scale axle test piece by way of applying an S–N curve that was identified through fatigue tests of high strength axle materials. Furthermore, a fatigue life analysis of the wheel–rail contact force was conducted using dynamic simulation results of a Korean Electric Multiple Unit (K-EMU) multi-body dynamics model. As a result of the fatigue life evaluation, the RATB for metro vehicles satisfied the fatigue strength requirements of EN, and the fatigue life by wheel–rail contact force was predicted to be safe within a standard axle replacement cycle.