Rolling contact fatigue analysis and mitigation strategies based on wheel wear after 200,000 km

Purpose This study aims to extend wheel reprofiling intervals by analyzing rolling contact fatigue (RCF) after 200,000 km of service and proposing a novel mitigation strategy. Design/methodology/approach This study predicts wheel wear after 200,000 km of service. Combined with shakedown map and damage function, it analyzes wheel RCF based on wheel wear and track irregularity amplitude. Furthermore, a novel approach for mitigating RCF is proposed in this study, based on nonlinear quartic polynomial fitting and the Levenberg–Marquardt optimization algorithm. Findings The outer wheel exhibits a higher likelihood of RCF compared to the inner wheel. Analysis combining the shakedown map and the damage function reveals that the ratcheting effect becomes significant after 250,000 km, and the proportion of total damage continues to rise with increasing mileage. Additionally, the analysis indicates a sharp rise in RCF probability when track irregularity amplitudes range from − 5 to 5 mm. At the amplitude of − 6∼6 mm, the proportion of total damage exceeds 50%. As track irregularity amplitude increases, fatigue and wear damage intensify, with small-radius curves experiencing the most severe deterioration. Originality/value This study presents the first analysis of the influence of wheel wear after 200,000 km of service and track irregularity amplitudes on RCF, while proposing a novel mitigation strategy. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: Link to the website of publons