Design, Analysis and Test of Truck Frame and Bolster for Railway Vehicle

• DOI: 10.1115/imece2024-142827
• Publication Date: 2025-01-23T13:12:18Z
• Authors: Haifeng Hong; Shihai Xue; Wenkang Zhang; Long Zhang; Yanbo Yin; Lvxian Wu; Peng Lu; Qiubo Chen

Abstract In North American railway industry, the truck design generally takes into consideration of several factors, e.g. the axle load, maximum operating and design speed, new and worn wheel diameter, arrangement of journal box, service life, safety, stability, ride quality and maintainability and etc. and the design typically follows applicable FRA, APTA and AAR standards. To ensure the truck frame and bolster have enough strength for loads during testing and revenue services, FEA is used to calculate stresses in the frame and bolster for static and fatigue load cases. Various static loading cases as specified in EN standard were simulated to make sure that these stresses shall not exceed half of the yield stress. The fatigue stress calculation is based on cyclic loads, taking into consideration of forces experienced during vehicle accelerating and braking. Von-Mises stresses are calculated for static load cases. The modified Goodman line is solved for the endurance limit using the yield strength of the material. Finally, static and fatigue testing are performed to compare and validate the simulated results.