Study on the impact of wheel roundness defects on axle fatigue damage

With the continuous increase in the operating mileage of China’s high-speed railway network, wheel out-of-roundness has become increasingly common in electric multiple unit (EMU) vehicles. Wheel out-of-roundness directly increases the vibration level of the axle, affects various vehicle components, and in severe cases, may lead to fatigue fracture of the axle – a key load-bearing component – thereby causing major safety incidents. To investigate the influence of wheel out-of-roundness on axle dynamic stress and to evaluate the fatigue strength of the axle under such conditions, this study analyzes the effects of different wheel flat lengths, polygon orders and depths, as well as various operating speeds on the dynamic stress of EMU axles. Based on numerical simulation results, the fatigue damage of the axle under wheel out-of-round conditions and the impact of wheel polygonal wear over one development cycle are calculated. The findings show that within a single re-profiling cycle, wheel flats shorter than 50 mm have a negligible effect on axle fatigue damage. Furthermore, a reference limit for polygonal wear depth is proposed, providing theoretical guidance for wheel maintenance and safety assessment of EMU vehicles.