Comparison of crack growth behaviour between full-scale railway axle and scaled specimen

•Crack growth behaviour of full-scale axles was evaluated under constant stress.•The tests were conducted in accordance with ASTM E 647 requirement.•The results were compared to C(T) test results obtained by the same manner.

There is an increasing demand for railway-axle damage tolerance analysis. However, few studies have focused on the correspondence between the theoretical crack growth behaviour and the observed results for railway axles under constant stress amplitude. This paper presents the results of crack propagation tests using full-scale axles conducted in accordance with the ASTM E 647 standard. The threshold stress intensity factor range is also evaluated using a full-scale axle. Moreover, the crack growth behaviour of the full-scale axles is compared to that exhibited by compact tension specimens, which is obtained in the same manner.