from the conferences organized by TANGER Ltd.
A new surface induction hardening technology was for the first time in Europe designed in Bonatrans Group a.s. Company for the purpose of increasing the safety and resistance of railway axles to fatigue damage. The operation of railway axles should fulfill two main demands: safety and low operation costs. A significant part of operation costs is given by frequency of regular inspection intervals which should reveal potential fatigue cracks in railway axle. For the safety, the existence of potential initial crack should be considered on the axle surface and residual fatigue lifetime (RFL) should be conservatively determined for this case. Reliable procedure of fatigue lifetime estimation should take into account real geometry, material characteristics and loading of the railway axle. This document shows methodology for determination of RFL and presents a part of technological benefit such as hardness profile and fatigue characteristics and compares their values with standard heat treated railway axles.
Keywords: Railway axles; wheelset; fatigue crack; lifetime© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.