Lifetime prediction of the car-carrying wagon’s axle guard

Abstract

This study focuses on the estimation of lifetime wagon structure’s mechanical part. The mechanical part chosen for this investigation is an axle guard of running gear elements of the Hccrrs 2x2 axle car-carrying wagon. The observed axle guard is exposed to low cycle fatigue. Lifetime estimation procedure, based upon experimental and numerical methods has been introduced and applied. A complete cyclic characterization of the material is obtained, including new experimental ε–N fatigue curves for uniaxial tension–compression. The work has been developed using the experimental equipment and procedures available in Centre for engineering software and dynamic testing at Faculty of Engineering University of Kragujevac. According to the obtained experimental investigation and results performed by numerical calculations, the number of cycles until failure of axle guard is obtained.