Xiangyuan Xu, Doo-Ho Cho, Yoon-Suk Chang, Jae-Boong Choi, Young-Jin Kim*, Hyun-Kyu Jun, Jung-Won Seo and Dae-Sang Kim
The Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology, vol. 25, no. 5, pp.1215-1220, 2011

Abstract : Crack propagation due to rolling contact fatigue (RCF) could be a significant potential challenge to the integrity of railway rails because it may lead to a serious disaster. Fatigue cracks subjected to cyclic rolling contact force experience a complex non-proportional mixed loading and complicated boundary condition. In the present research, complex crack opening/closure/sliding/locked behaviors as the cyclic contact loading movement is analyzed considering liquid lubrication action on rail surfaces as well as crack faces. Based on a series of FE analyses, the calculations of the effective SIF ranges for RCF cracks under certain contact loading and boundary conditions are proposed in the form of polynomial functions which will be appropriately used to predict RCF crack growth rate.

Keyword : Effective stress intensity factor range; FE method; Hertzian contact; Rolling contact fatigue; Slant crack