A FATIGUE LIFE MODEL FOR GENERAL ROLLING-CONTACT WITH APPLICATION TO WHEEL/RAIL DAMAGE

A high cycle fatigue model for the prediction of component lifetime in elastic rolling contacts is developed and applied. Varying magnitudes and positions of the contact loads are described by use of discretized statistical distributions. Longitudinal and lateral adhesion are included. The Hertzian contact pressures are analytically found, and the corresponding subsurface stresses are calculated using a numerical integration scheme starting from the exact point force solutions of Boussinesq and Cerruti. Triaxial fatigue with rotating directions of principal stresses is studied using the Dang Van fatigue initiation criterion, together with the Palmgren-Miner damage accumulation law. The full model has been implemented in a computer code. A wheel/rail contact problem is treated and the results are compared to previous numerical and experimental data.