Int. J. Fatigue Vol. 20, No. 2, pp.

135144, 1998
1998. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Printed in Great Britain
01421123/98/$19.00+.00

PII: S0142-1123(97)00096-0

The analysis and prevention of failure in

railway axles
K. Hirakawa*, K. Toyama and M. Kubota
Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Kyushu University, 6-10-1 Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka-si 812, Japan
Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd, Corporate Research and Development
Laboratories, Applied Mechanics and Systems Department, 1-8 Fuso-cho,
Amagasaki, Hyogo 660, Japan

Axles are one of the most important components in railway vehicle with regard to safety, since a failsafe design is not available. To maintain the safety record of high speed railway systems, the fatigue
strength of the axles has been extensively studied. The objective of the present paper is to review and
analyse the causes of failure in railway axles, and to show how the results have been applied to
improve axle manufacture and in-service inspection. The problems of fretting fatigue crack initiation at
press-fitted axle parts is emphasized, however, these problems have not been completely solved even
though up-to-date fatigue design methods are employed. The safety of the railway has been ensured
by maintenance such as the regular inspection for fatigue cracks at critical parts. 1998 Elsevier
Science Ltd.
(Keywords: failure analysis; fretting fatigue; evaluation; railway axle)

INTRODUCTION

This method is basically the same as the method used

in Europe. However, in Japan the railways are classified into two systems, and dependency of the acceleration force on velocity is standardized separately in
each system as shown in Table 13. In the high speed
railway system, the acceleration force is less dependent
on velocity than in conventional low speed rail. This
is because of the adoption of high level maintenance
and the use of high running performance bogies. These
have been proved by a test run at a velocity of
250 km h 1.

Derailment caused by the fatigue failure of railway

axles is very rare in Japan. Consequently, there have
been no passenger casualties from railway system failure since the inauguration of the high speed railway
service in 19641.
Axles are one of the most important components in
railway vehicles with regard to safety, since a fail-safe
design is not available. To maintain this safety record,
the fatigue strength of high speed railway axles has
been extensively studied. The results of these studies
have been used to improve axle manufacture. Axles in
service are regularly checked by ultrasonic testing and
magnetic particle inspection2.
In the present paper, these case histories and consequent improvements in manufacturing process are
presented. The fatigue design method of axles for high
railway systems is also discussed.

Allowable stress
Fatigue strength critical parts of the railway axle are
the wheel seats, gear seats and brake disk seat where
fretting fatigue cracks may initiate. Allowable stresses
are given in standards as shown in Table 24. Table 3
shows the allowable stresses according to the European
standard5 in which the material is specified as carbon
steel of 0.37C% with annealed conditions. This material
corresponds to the materials specified as the second
class in the Japanese standard. Therefore, the allowable
stresses in both standards are approximately the same.

FATIGUE DESIGN METHODS

The fatigue design method in Japan is, as shown in
Figure 1, to calculate the bending stresses incorporating
the accelerated gravity force due to vibration of the
body3. The axle diameter is then chosen so the
maximum stress is lower than the allowable stress.

Detailed design
In order to increase the fretting fatigue strength at
the press-fitted parts, many shape and material change
countermeasures are adopted. The detail shape of the
press-fitted part is shown in Figure 26. The axle diam-

*Author for correspondence.

135
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K. Hirakawa et al.

136

Figure 1

Axle design method3

eters of the wheel and brake disk seats are larger than
the diameter of the plain part, and the fillet curvatures
are optimized. The fillet shapes in the high speed
railway systems of various countries are compared in

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Table 4. The effect of diameter ratio and fillet shape

on fatigue strength is shown in Figure 36. The results
indicate that when the diameter ratio is increased, the
fillet becomes the critical part and the interference
surfaces are relatively less important.

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The analysis and prevention of failure in railway axles

Table 1

Acceleration forces as a function of the car velocity3

Railway system
System 1
System 2

Class

Velocity V (km h 1)

Vertical accelerationV

Horizontal accelerationL

SA
A
A

200350
150200
60160
60
60130
60

0.0027V
0.0027V
0.0027V
0.16
0.0052V
0.31

0.030 0.00060V
0.030 0.00085V
0.040 0.0012V
0.11
0.060 0.0018V
0.17

SA is the especially improved tracks for the velocity 200 up to 350 km h 1

A in the system 1 is the usual high speed railway line for the velocity over 150 up to 280 km h
A in the system 2 is the especially improved tracks in the conventional line
B is the conventional track line

Table 2

The allowable stresses in the Japanese standard4

Class
1
2
3
4

Allowable stress (MPa)

Measurement

SFA55 annealing
SFA60 annealing
SFA65 quench and
tempering
SFAQA induction
hardening

98.1 (10.0 kgf mm 2)

103 (10.5)
108 (11.0)

Diameter
D (mm)
d (mm)
Diameter ratio
D/d
Radius
(mm)

147 (15.0)

Table 4 The diameter ratio and the fillet radius of the axles6

Materials

SFA55: forged steel, tensile strength 55 kgf/mm

Table 3

137

Shinkansen

TGV

ICE

209
190

212
184

190
160

1.10

1.15

1.19

100

15 and 75

15 and 75

The allowable stresses in Europe5

Railway

TGV (France)
ICE (Germany)

Allowable stress
(MPa)

Safety factor

80 (trailer, fitted part)

100 (motor, fitted
part)
100 (fitted part)
166 (plain part)

1.2
1.5
1.0
1.0

Figure 3 The effect of diameter ratio on the press-fit fatigue

strength6

Figure 2

The detail shape of the press-fitted part6

The relation between fatigue strength and axle shapes

in both Japan and Europe is shown in Figure 3. The
axles in Japanese high speed railways are induction
hardened to increase the press-fitted part fatigue
strength rather than increasing the diameter ratio.
Therefore, the fatigue critical parts are still the press-

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fits. In Europe, however, the diameter ratio is much

larger than that in Japan in order to increase the pressfitted part fatigue strength. In this case, the fatigue
critical parts are now the fillets, and it is unnecessary
to use induction hardening or similar methods.
As stated above, the fatigue design philosophy of
the axles for the high speed railway systems in Japan
and Europe is different. In service, however, the fatigue
crack initiation problems due to fretting at the fitted
parts have not yet been completely solved. Expensive

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K. Hirakawa et al.

138

Figure 5 Closely fitted part of axles

Figure 4

Location of crack initiation

maintenance such as precise inspection, is still necessary to maintain system safety.

FAILURE ANALYSIS
Axle failure of the electric passenger car
Since the 1960s, ultrasonic testing has been used in
service inspection in Japanese private railways for the

Figure 6

prevention of axle fatigue failure. In 1963, the ultrasonic angle probe was introduced to improve the threshold level of crack detection. Since that time, fatigue
cracks initiated at the press-fitted part have been
detected before they grow to final failures. The fatigue
cracks were detected in 48 axles during a period of
15 months in around 1970. Figure 4 shows the distribution of the parts where fatigue cracks were detected.
Fatigue cracks in 45 axles of the 48 axles were known
to have initiated at the wheel seats where the gear was
closely press-fitted as shown Figure 5. Three axles had
cracks at the journal bearing press-fit. As shown in
the figure, all cracks initiated at the fretted part of the
axle and were accompanied by fretting corrosion as
shown in Figure 6.
The distribution of the crack depths is shown in
Figure 7. The threshold crack depth detectable by the
1970 inspection method was ca 0.3 mm. The typical

Fretting of press-fitted axle

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The analysis and prevention of failure in railway axles

139

Figure 7 Crack size detected by ultrasonic inspection (Electric

passenger car axle)

examples of the axles whose running mileage were

known is listed in Table 5. As is shown in the table,
6 years (4 108 cycles of rotation or 1.5 millions
km of mileage) is necessary for the cracks to grow
until they are detectable.
It should be noted that the fretting fatigue is typical
high cycle fatigue. It is necessary to fatigue test for
108 cycles to find the fatigue strength under fretting
conditions. Figure 8 shows the results of fretting
fatigue tests using press-fitted axle assemblies of
50 mm axle diameter. As shown in the SN curves, in
the early stages the curve becomes horizontal indicating
a fatigue limit, but fatigue failure could occur at the
press-fitted part by fretting at higher cycles with
lower stress.
As a countermeasure to the above crack initiation,
a stress relief groove was introduced at the closelyfitted part of the axle, and a full scale fatigue testing
was conducted. The results are shown in Figure 9.
The fatigue limit of the press-fitted axle can be raised
one and a half times. Since the application of these
grooves in service, an axle fatigue fracture has never
occurred. Regular inspections are, however, still necessary today to replace cracked axles. The maximum
bending stress calculated from bogie dimensions and
Table 5

Figure 8 Typical feature of the fretting fatigue

the design rule is ca 50 MPa. Comparing this value

with the fatigue limit obtained by full scale testing
shown in Figure 9, indicates a safety factor of 2.2.
As stated above, however, fretting fatigue cracks
initiate in service. Future investigation is necessary to
understand the effect of variable amplitude stresses on
fretting fatigue crack initiation at high cycle ranges.
Axle failure of locomotives
About 62 locomotive axles failures occurred during
19551970 as shown in Figure 10. In 1957 ultrasonic
testing was introduced, and the failure rate was drastically reduced. In 1963, the angle ultrasonic testing
method was introduced, and the failure rate reduced to

Running mileage and the crack depth

Running mileage million Crack depth length (mm) Location of crack initiation
km (cycle)
(proportion of
circumference)

Years in service

Yearmonth
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

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76
64
90
90
911
911
911
80
80
71
74

1.53
1.60
1.17
1.17
1.57
1.57
1.57
1.60
1.60
1.31
1.31

(5.67
(5.93
(4.33
(4.33
(5.81
(5.81
(5.81
(5.93
(5.93
(4.85
(4.85

108)
108)
108)
108)
108)
108)
108)
108)
108)
108)
108)

0.6 1/3
1.1 3/5
0.6 1/3
0.3 1/4
0.8 1/3
0.5 1/2
0.3 1/2
0.45 3/5
0.5 1/5
0.5 1/1
0.4 1/1

Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Wheel

seat
seat
seat
seat
seat
seat
seat
seat
seat
seat
seat

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140

K. Hirakawa et al.

Figure 11 Crack size detected by ultrasonic testing (Locomotive

axle)

Figure 9 Effect of stress relief groove on the fretting fatigue

strength of axle

Figure 12 Effect of tempering temperature on the surface residual

stress distribution

Figure 10 Number of axle failure

nearly zero. The rate of defective axle replacement,

however, was 10% (2500 per 25 000) in 1965. Figure
11 shows the distribution of crack size detected by
ultrasonic testing. This indicates that the threshold
crack depth detectable by this method in service is
0.10.2 mm, and the fatigue failure of the axle can be
prevented by this inspection sensitivity.
There were other causes of fatigue failure in the
period 19691970. In 1960, the part of the axle where
the wheel and gear are closely press-fitted was induction hardenedfrequency of the induction was 10 kHz
and the tempering temperature was 180C to prevent
fretting fatigue failures. In 1963, induction hardening

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of the whole length of the axle between both wheel

seats was applied to all axles. Two thousand axles
were manufactured in this way until 1970, and no
axle fretting failures were recorded. This certifies the
remarkable effect of induction hardening. Another
cause of axle failure, however, occurred. Those locomotive had a bogie system in which the weight of the
electric motor was supported partly by the axle through
a suspension metal. Friction between the suspension
metals and axle surface caused a local heating, and
thermal cracks on induction hardened axles. About 2%
of the axles failed by this mechanism. It was considered that the induction hardened surface was sensitive to thermal cracks, so the tempering temperature
after the induction hardening was raised from 180 to
350C in 1965. Figure 12 shows the relation between
the surface residual stresses and tempering temperatures. As shown in the figure, the surface compressive
residual stress decreased from 600 MPa to 100
200 MPa by increasing the tempering temperature from
180C to 350C. This caused the fatigue failures and
the derailments in 19691970. Typical examples are
shown in Table 6.
The results of the failure analysis of the axles in
Table 6 except the No. 6 axle are summarized as follows.

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The analysis and prevention of failure in railway axles

141

Figure 13 Effect of galling on the fatigue strength of press-fitted axle

1. All the axles were broken from fretting fatigue

cracks initiated at the wheel seat or gear seat.
2. The tempering temperature after induction hardening
of the broken axles were 350C, and the surface
residual stresses were compressive at ca 100 to
200 MPa.
3. From the edge of the press-fit to the inner pressfitted surface, an annular band of fretting corrosion
of width 79 mm could be found. Within these band
several minute cracks were observed. The cracks
which propagated to final failure were originated
within this band and started at 25 mm from the
edge of the press-fit.
4. The No. 2 axle had axial surface flaws which might
have been caused by the press-fitting processes.
These flaws might have caused the premature failure.
5. The tempering temperature of axle No. 6 was
200C, and the surface residual stresses were compressive from 500 to 600 MPa. The cracks
which caused final failure were thermal fatigue
crack initiated at the contact surface with suspension metal.
It should be noted that all the derailments due to
axle failures occurred at very low running speeds, so

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that no passenger casualties occurred. This means that

the suspension system might have some fail-safe mechanism when the bogie is running at high speed. The
defects of the galling are minute axial flaws on the
surface of the axle at the wheel seat made by the
press-fitting process. To find the effect of these flaws
on the fatigue strength of press-fitted axles, tests were
performed on press-fitted axles of 50 mm in diameter.
The results are shown in Figure 13. If the tempering
temperature after induction hardening is 350C the
fatigue strength is reduced. It was, therefore, considered
to change the axle heat treatment. Table 7 shows the
fatigue test results which were made to confirm the
fatigue strength of full size axles at various heat treatments. In 1970, the frequency of the induction hardening has changed from 10 to 3 kHz in order to deepen
the heat affected zone. At the same time the tempering
temperature was reduced from 350 to 200C to increase
the compressive residual stresses near the axle surface.
Axles for Shinkansen
The Japanese Shinkansen high speed railway system
started transportation service in 1964. Since that time,
the induction hardening method has been used for the
improvement of axle fatigue strength. The manufactur-

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142
Table 6

The typical examples of the axle failures

Loco.

Mileage [km]
(cycles)

Material

TS (MPa)
EL No. 1

453 095 (1.58

108)

SFA60 (0.42%C)

256 753 (0.90

108)

360

SFA60 (0.41%C)
630

340

EL No.3

Not available

SFA60 (0.41%C)
640
350

EL No.4

791 177 (2.77

108)

SFA60 (0.46%C)
680

282 950 (0.99

108)

EL No.5

106 (3.5 108)

Remarks

IH (10 kHz)

Wheel seat

Broken

Tempered at
350C
IH (10 kHz)

(gear side)

Derailed

Gear seat (gear

side)
Galleda

Broken
Derailed

Wheel seat
(gear side)

Cracked
15 mm 60 mm

Wheel seat

Broken

(gear side)

Derailed

Wheel seat

Broken

(gear side)

Derailed

Suspension
(gear side)

Broken
Metal seat

Tempered at
350C
IH (10 kHz)
Tempered at
350C
IH (10 kHz)

360

Tempered at
350C
IH (10 kHz)

SFA60 (0.39%C)
640

EL No. 6

Crack initiation

YS (MPa)

600
EL No.2

Heat treatment

350

Tempered at
350C
IH (10 kHz)
Tempered at
180C

SFA60 (0.43%C)
600
330

EL, Electric locomotive; TS, tensile strength; YS, yield strength; SFA60, forged carbon steel for TS not less than 60 kgf mm
a
Galled: axle surfaces are sometimes called by the press-fitting process
Table 7

Effect of the heat-treatment on the fatigue strength of full scale press-fitted axles for the locomotive heat treatment
Heat treatment

Pre-heat
Non
Non
Ind. coil
Furnace
Non
Non
Ind. coil
Furnace

Frequency (kHz)
10
3
3
3
10
3
3
3

Number of cycles

Remarks

0.284 106
0.495 106
0.801 106
5.31 106
2.0 107
2.0 107
2.0 107
2.0 107

Broken
Broken
Broken
Broken
Not broken
Not broken
Not broken
Not broken

Tempering (C)
350
350
350
350
200
200
200
200

Rotating bending fatigue test, bending stress: 147 MPa

ing method has been improved during these 32 years

according to the experiences of locomotive axles in
the conventional railways. The axle for the Shinkansen
is made of 0.38% carbon steel specified by the
Japanese Industrial Standard as S38C. After forging
and finishing, the whole axle length is induction hardened. The method of induction hardening and the
finishing processes has been amended to improve the
fatigue strength in regard to the hardness and residual
stress distribution. Table 8 shows the change of manufacturing method in terms of frequency of induction
hardening, number of turns of induction coil and tempering temperature7.
At the start of the Shinkansen, the axles were made
by specification O in the Table 8 as used in conventional railway locomotive axles. In 1970, in order to
deepen the residual stress distribution and make it
more compressive, the frequency of the induction hardening was changed from 10 to 3 kHz. Figure 14 shows
the hardness and the residual stress distributions7. As
shown in the figure, much improvement can be

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obtained by the lowering the frequency of induction

hardening. Figure 15 show the results of rotating bending fatigue test results by using actual press-fitted axles.
Finishing such as grinding after induction hardening
influences the surface residual stresses by local heating.
The cause of the first and the last axle failure of 1965
originated at local tensile stresses caused by grinding8.
Initially, in the specifications of O and A in Table 8,
the machining allowance of 0.5 mm was ground, but
since 1965 the first 0.35 mm was lathe turn machined
and the final 0.15 mm was ground by a softer grindstone. The temperature rise from 190 to 230C in the
Table 8 was the result of expecting any improvement
in decreasing the susceptibility to the heating by the
grinding. In 1990 the grinding process, such as the
grinding stone motor power, was fully automatically
controlled to avoid the local heating.
All the wheelsets for Shinkansen are dismounted
from the bogie, and the axles are displaced from the
wheels after 300 000 km running. The wheel seats are
then subjected to magnetic particle inspections. Crack

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The analysis and prevention of failure in railway axles

Table 8

143

The change of the manufacturing process of the Shinkansen axles7

Specification

Induction heating

Frequency (kHz)

Coil

10
10
10
10
10
10
10
3

Single turn
Single turn
Single turn
Single turn
Single turn
Multiple turn
Multiple turn
Multiple turn

O
A
B
C
D
E
F
G

Tempering temperature
(C)

Finishing

190
230
230
230
230
230
230
200

Grinding
Grinding
Turning before grinding
Turning before grinding
Turning before grinding
Turning before grinding
Turning before grinding
Turning before grinding

Figure 14 The hardness and the residual stress distributions7

depth was measured by grinding off the surface of the

axle until the crack was removed. When a flaw deeper
than 0.15 mm, and/or flaws of any depth occurring
twice at the same wheel seat, are detected the axle is
replaced. The number of replacement axles caused by
the detection of fatigue cracks by the above inspection,
were none in 1991, four in 1992 and one in 1993
from a total number of ca 20 000 axles inspected
each year1.
Figure 16 shows the relative replacement rate of
axles due to flaws detected at the wheel seat. Much
improvement is seen in the figure as the axle manufacturing process has been improved.
CONCLUSION

Figure 15 Rotating bending fatigue test results of actual pressfitted axle

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To maintain the safety record of railway systems,

much effort has been paid to improvement of the axle
manufacturing processes, design, testing and maintenance2. Recently, no passenger casualties occurred due
to axle failure. This success is due to all the engineers,
research scientists, managing engineers and workers

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144

K. Hirakawa et al.

been ensured by maintenance such as the regular

inspection for fatigue cracks at critical parts9. The
effect of variable amplitude stresses on the fretting
fatigue is not fully understood. Axle fatigue design
methods are therefore incomplete. Comprehensive
investigation in this area is still necessary10,11.
REFERENCES
1

3
4
5
6
7

8
9

Figure 16 Relative replacement of axles due to fretting1

10

concerned with the railway systems. The problems of

the fretting fatigue crack initiation at press-fitted axle
parts, however, have not been completely solved even
though up-to-date fatigue design methods are
employed. As stated, the safety of the railway has

FAT: international journal of fatigue - elsevier

11

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