Multiaxial fatigue of a railway wheel steel under non-proportional loading

The results of an experimental investigation of the multiaxial fatigue behaviour of the R7T steel are presented. The R7T steel is currently employed in the production of solid high-speed railway wheels. Wheel failures due to rolling contact fatigue may occur and, on some occasions, fatigue cracks nucleate in the sub-surface region under the contact area between wheel and rail. Here, the stress field is multiaxial and the loading path is non-proportional. Specimens extracted from the rim of railway wheels were subjected to combined out-of-phase alternating torsion and pulsating compressive axial loads, a non-proportional stress state which is similar to that observed under the contact area in the wheel rim. The tests results are discussed in the light of some multiaxial fatigue theories, chosen among those based on the critical plane concept and those implementing an integral approach, with the aim of selecting a fatigue criterion suitable for the sub-surface fatigue assessment of railway wheels.