Numerical Analysis of Rolling-sliding Contact with the Frictional Heat in Rail

Thermal damage caused by frictional heat of rolling-sliding contact is one of the most important failure forms of wheel and rail. Many studies of wheel-rail frictional heating have been devoted to the temperature field, but few literatures focus on wheel-rail thermal stress caused by frictional heating. However, the wheel-rail creepage is one of important influencing factors of the thermal stress In this paper, a thermo-mechanical coupling model of wheel-rail rolling-sliding contact is developed using thermo-elasto-plastic finite element method. The effect of the wheel-rail elastic creepage on the distribution of heat flux is investigated using the numerical model in which the temperature-dependent material properties are taken into consideration. The moving wheel-rail contact force and the frictional heating are used to simulate the wheel rolling on the rail. The effect of the creepage on the temperature rise, thermal strain, residual stress and residual strain under wheel-rail sliding-rolling contact are investigated. The investigation results show that the thermally affected zone exists mainly in a very thin layer of material near the rail contact surface during the rolling-sliding contact. Both the temperature and thermal strain of rail increase with increasing creepage. The residual stresses induced by the frictional heat in the surface layer of rail appear to be tensile. When the creepage is large, the frictional heat has a significant influence on the residual stresses and residual strains of rail. This paper develops a thermo-meehanical coupling model of wheel-rail rolling-sliding contact, and the obtained results can help to understand the mechanism of wheel/rail frictional thermal fatigue.

A unifying approach in simulating the shot peening process using a 3D random representative volume finite element model

Using a modified 3D random representative volume（RV）finite element model,the effects of model dimensions（impact region and interval between impact and representative regions）,model shapes（rectangular,square,and circular）,and peening-induced thermal softening on resultant critical quantities（residual stress,Almen intensity,coverage,and arc height）after shot peening are systematically examined.A new quantity,i.e.,the interval between impact and representative regions,is introduced and its optimal value is first determined to eliminate any boundary effect on shot peening results.Then,model dimensions are respectively assessed for all model shapes to reflect the actual shot peening process,based on which shape-independent critical shot peening quantities are obtained.Further,it is found that thermal softening of the target material due to shot peening leads to variances of the surface residual stress and arc height,demonstrating the necessity of considering the thermal effect in a constitutive material model of shot peeing.Our study clarifies some of the finite element modeling aspects and lays the ground for accurate modeling of the SP process.

Influence of residual stresses on failure pressure of cylindrical pressure vessels

The utilization of pressure vessels in aerospace applications is manifold.In this work,fnite element analysis（FEA）has been carried out using ANSYS software package with 2D axisymmetric model to access the failure pressure of cylindrical pressure vessel made of ASTM A36 carbon steel having weld-induced residual stresses.To fnd out the effect of residual stresses on failure pressure,frst an elasto-plastic analysis is performed to fnd out the failure pressure of pressure vessel not having residual stresses.Then a thermo-mechanical fnite element analysis is performed to assess the residual stresses developed in the pressure vessel during welding.Finally one more elasto-plastic analysis is performed to assess the effect of residual stresses on failure pressure of the pressure vessel having residual stresses.This analysis indicates reduction in the failure pressure due to unfavorable residual stresses.

Effect of cerium on the cleanliness of spring steel used in fastener of high-speed railway

The effects of Ce addition on the quantity, size, distribution of inclusions and the content of oxygen, sulfur and other hazardous residual elements in spring steel used as fastener in high speed railway were investigated by metallographic examination, SEM-EDS and composition analysis. The results indicated that the contents of oxygen decreased with the addition of Ce （[Ce]〈0.1%） and the content of sulfur continually decreased with increasing content of Ce （[Ce]〈1.2%）. However, with the further increase of Ce element addition, the content of [O] and T[O] began to increase. The content of Ce corresponding to the lowest [O] and T[O] lied in the range of 0.10%-0.13%and 0.045%-0.065%, respectively. The addition of Ce in spring steel resulted in the formation of rare earth oxides/oxysulfides and decreased the size of inclusions to less than 3μm in globular or spheroid shape. Moreover, the residual harmful elements （As, P, Pb and Sn） were found to exist in the Ce-containing inclusions, which had proved that the Ce addition could capture the residual elements and suppress their precipitation behaviors in the grain boundary.