Reza Masoudi Nejad - School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu China
Zhiliang Liu - School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu China
Filippo Berto - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, MTP Gløshaugen, Richard Birkelands vei ۲B, Trondheim ۷۴۹۱ Norway

The purpose of this paper is to simultaneously investigate the effect of periodic overloads and wear phenomenon on the rolling contact fatigue crack growth in railway rails. For this purpose, the rail with the exact geometry of the profile in the railway systems and the boundary element method has been used. Using Franc ۳D software while performing stress analysis for different wheel placement positions, different values of stress intensity factors have been obtained. Also, stress intensity factors are evaluated by changing the initial crack length and traction force by changing the train speed under periodic overloads and for rail in contact with three worn and new wheel profiles. Two characteristics related to fatigue crack growth, i.e. crack growth angle and direction, have been calculated using these stress intensity factors. Then fatigue crack growth under periodic overloads was simulated using three-dimensional modeling. Comparison of the obtained results showed that the effect of wear on fatigue life is significant and cannot be ignored

Fatigue crack growth, Rail, Wear, Periodic overload, Fracture mechanics