Fracture mechanics based design of a railway wheel made of austempered ductile iron

In the present contribution numerical stress analyses are presented at static and cyclic loads for the fracture mechanical assessment of railway wheels made of austempered ductile iron (ADI) with graphite nodules. The emphasis is placed on the safe dimensioning of the ADI wheel against fracture and fatigue crack growth. Therefore a linear elastic fracture mechanical analysis is carried out assuming hypothetical crack-like defects at exposed places. The assessment rests on fracture mechanical strength parameters of the ADI material, determined experimentally under static and cyclic loading.