Pime Proc 1967 182 014 02

89
RAILWAY ENGINEERING GROUP
MEASURES TO COUNTER FATIGUE FAILURE

IN RAILWAY AXLES
By W. W. Maxwell, M.A., C.Eng., M.I.Mech.E.*, B. R. Dudley, B.Sc.(Eng.), Ph.D., C.Eng.,
A.M.1.Mech.E.f-, A. B. Cleary, Ph.D., G.I.Mech.E.$, J. Richards, B.Sc., C.Eng.*,
and J. Shaw, B.Sc.*
This paper reviews the experience in London Transport of fatigue cracking in railway axles, and presents the
results of laboratory fatigue tests on full-scale axle specimens under simulated rotating bending. The investigation was undertaken with the aim of entirely eliminating fatigue cracking and fretting under the press fits of
wheel-axle sets. Whilst cold rolling of wheel seats, which is standard L.T. practice, strongly inhibits the propagation of such fatigue cracks, it does not prevent their initiation. The introduction of a stress-relieving
groove, such that the edge of the press fit overhangs the groove, leads to a marked reduction in fretting and
increase in life of test specimens, and the results of a limited service test suggest that the presence of such a
groove reduces the stresses under the wheel hubs to a level at which cracking is eliminated. Since the presence
of a press fit near to a groove increases the stress level at the root of the groove it is desirable to cold-roll the
grooves, and a suitable rolling technique employing three rollers of slightly different profile radii has been
developed.
INTRODUCTION
INCOMMON with other operators of railway rolling stock,

London Transport is faced with a continuing problem
resulting from the development in service of fatigue
cracks in railway axles. For example, in one type of motored
axle in which the problem is particularly pronounced,
shallow cracks are found frequently in the cold-rolled
wheel seats after service milages of only 200 000-300 000
miles, the cracks being only 0.002-0.010 in deep. In the
period 1948-64 inclusive, about 4000 axles were scrapped
for this reason at a cost of approximately E500,000. That
fatigue cracking is a problem which is almost as old as
railways themselves is shown by Wohlers pioneer work in
1858-66, but thereafter there was little investigation of
the subject until the late 1920s when Moore (I) studied
The M S . of this paper was first received at the Institution on 13th
December 1966 and in its revised form, as accepted by the Council
for publication, on 30th June 1967. 33. For a report of the meeting at which the paper was presented see p . 108.
London Transport Board.
.I. Nottingham University.
Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd, Billingham on Tees, Co. Durham;
former& Nottitqgham University.
5 References are given in Appendix 3.
Proc Instn Mech Engrs 1967-68
fatigue in car axles and Foppl (2) demonstrated the

beneficial effect of cold working upon fatigue life. The
influence of press-fitted wheels upon the fatigue characteristics of axles was examined by Kiihnel (3), who showed
that the fatigue strength of shafts could be reduced by as
much as 50 per cent by this method of assembly.
The literature reveals that the most common point for
cracking to occur in railway axles is in the wheel seat
in inside the inner face of the wheel hub, and
about
this is also true of London Transport axles. The weakness
of this highly stressed section has been generally attributed
to a combination of three factors: fretting corrosion;
stress-concentration effects associated with the edge of the
wheel hub; the tensile stresses produced in the axle by the
pressing on of the wheel. The influence of press-fit
stresses on fatigue strength is further discussed in
Appendix 1.
++
Experience in London Transport

So far as London Transport is concerned, it is convenient
to divide the history of the problem into the period up
Vol182 Pt I N o 4
90
W. W. MAXWELL, B. R. DUDLEY, A. B. CLEARY, J. RICHARDS AND J. SHAW
to and including 1947 and the period from 1948 onwards.

A number of failures of axles in wheel seats occurred
prior to 1947, but these appear to have been mainly
axles with keyways which are not typical of axles in
service today. I n 1947 two failures of motored axles and
four failures of trailer axles occurred in service. Naturally
this aroused considerable concern and the whole problem
of fatigue in axles was given considerably more attention
from that time onwards. In the same year periodic ultrasonic testing of all axles was introduced, though at that
time the technique was still largely in the development
stage. Since 1947, apart from two failures between the
journal and the wheel seat due to bearing trouble, there
have been five service failures, all in trailer axles, and all
either in the body or in the radius between body and
wheel seat, A typical example of such a failure is shown in
Fig. 1. Unfortunately, the fracture surfaces of these broken
axles are usually badly damaged subsequent to breakage.
Nevertheless, it has usually been possible to establish that
a fatigue crack had developed and extended, at first comparatively slowly and then more rapidly, up to about twothirds of the cross-section before final breakage had
occurred. The secondary damage has usually concealed
Fig. 1. Face of fracture of District Line axle No. 22932

which broke at Ealing Broadway on 13thJuly 1955.
a indicates the area containing the origin of fracture,
subsequently damaged, b the zone of comparatively
slow fatigue development, c a zone of more rapid
fatigue development, and d the final break in a single
application of stress
the origin of the fatigue cracks, but in one case, at least, the
failure appeared to have developed from an electrical
burn.
Appreciable corrosion of portions of the centre of railway axles has sometimes occurred in the past, and it is
possible that occasional failures may have been due to the
development of fatigue cracks from corrosion pits. Axle
centres are now treated with insulating paint to prevent
corrosion and are specially wrapped with glass cloth to
stop electrical burning, and it is hoped that these measures
will prevent failures from these causes in the future.
Although actual breakages of axles are comparatively rare,
many axles are scrapped each year because of cracks on the
wheel seat just under the inner edge of the hub. The
cracks usually follow a circumferential path, either in a
single interrupted arc or in a narrow band containing two
or more lines of discontinuous cracks. Horger and other
earlier workers in this field have pointed out the close
association of the fatigue cracks with a band of fretting
which develops just under the edge of the wheel hub, and
our own experience confirms this. A typical example is
shown in Fig. 2.
Effect of cold rolling upon the fatigue strength of

press-fitted assemblies
The beneficial effect of cold rolling upon the fatigue limit
of full-size press-fitted axle assemblies was shown by
Horger and Cantley (4), who estimated that cold rolling
improved the limit from f11 000 to f 2 2 400 lbf/in2. The
improvement in fatigue limit was thought to be due to
compressive residual stresses induced by the coldrolling process. Horger (5) published results, however,
showing that although cold rolling inhibits the propagation
of a fatigue crack, the initiation of the crack occurs at
approximately the same time as in the unrolled specimen.
Initiation is generally thought to occur on a shear plane
and to depend on the cyclic range of shear stress which is
not affected by the residual compressive stress. The Association of American Railroads (A.A.R.) (6) distinguishes
between the fatigue limit for complete failure and the
lower stress at which cracks initiate, thereby inferring that
non-propagating cracks exist. Their results show that, for
small axles, the breaking-off strength was over 240 per cent
greater, and the cracking limit only 17 per cent higher,
for rolled wheel seats than for unrolled. It has been the
practice since 1949 to cold-roll the wheel seats of all
London Transport railway axles, and our experience has
supported Horgers contention that cold rolling inhibits
the growth of fatigue cracks but does not significantly
affect the initiation of cracks. Certainly there is some
evidence to suggest that cracks grow more readily in
axles that are not cold-rolled. For example, 20 nonkoldrolled axles of one type which were found to have cracks
after between 700 000 and 800 000 miles service had on
average a maximum crack depth of 0.11 in, although 20
cold-rolled axles of the same service life had, on average,
a maximum crack depth of only 0-05 in.
Vol182 Pt 1 No 4
91
MEASURES TO COUNTER FATIGUE FAILURE IN RAILWAY AXLES
Fig. 2. The upper picture shows fretting of an axle just under the edge of the wheel hub. The lower
picture shows a band of tiny cracks revealed by coating the axle with white paint and using the
technique of magnetic crack detecting. (Note the indications of the edge of the hub, and the scoring
caused by pressing on and off the wheel)
Proc Instn ;l.iech Engrz 1967-68
Val I82 P t 1 No 4
W. W. MAXWELL, B. R. DUDLEY, A. B. CLEARY, J. RICHARDS AND J . SHhW
92
Other methods of improving fatigue strength

Other methods of improving the fatigue strength of pressfitted assemblies have been tried with varying degrees of
success. Horger and Neifert (7) quote Biihler and Bucholtz
as showing that quenching from a sub-critical temperature
could improve the fatigue limit by 15-20 per cent. In a
more recent paper, Horger (8) has shown that water
quenching from 1000F (538C) roughly doubles the
fatigue resistance against propagation of fatigue cracks that
initiate in the wheel seat at comparatively low stresses, in
the so-called 64 i n x 12 in freight axles. Surface treatments for the wheel seat that have been tested include
nitriding, carburizing, and phosphating. Tests by British
Railways Research Department (9) on Sulfinuzed wheel
seats of 2.1 in in diameter have shown an improvement of
235 per cent in fatigue strength over that of a plain press
fit.
The application of some of these treatments to railway
axles would present certain problems. The possiblity of
slight distortion with some of them might mean that
finish machining or grinding would be necessary subsequently, which would tend to nullify the effect of the
treatment.
Size effect
Results published by Peterson (IO), Moore (11), and
Phillips and Heywood (12)show that the fatigue characteristics of small specimens, under bending, are not
necessarily applicable to large-diameter specimens of the
same material, the size effect being that increase in diameter results in a decreased fatigue limit. The A.A.R.
.,Wire rope
Fig. 3. General principle of fatigue-testing machine

Proc Instn Mech Engrs I96748
(6) (13) showed that for plain specimens with press fits,
the fatigue limits for a 0.45 per cent carbon steel in diameters of 0-3, 1.5, and 6 in were &31 000, &28 000, and
f 2 5 000 lbf/in. Using a number of steels of carbon content ranging from 0.25 to 0-41 per cent, the National
Engineering Laboratory (14)found a similar effect. It has
been suggested that the size effect in fatigue can be satisfactorily explained by reference to the stress gradient
existing across a test-specimen section when subjected to
bending or torsion, the stress gradient being less for a
test piece of large diameter than for one of small diameter.
Thus, the average stress in a small element near the surface will be greater for a large-diameter than for a smalldiameter specimen when the surface stress is the same. If
one assumes that a certain minimum volume of material
in a specimen must be stressed above a critical level (which
is constant for a given material and independent of specimen size) in order to initiate a fatigue crack, then a
specimen of large diameter would be expected to crack at a
lower surface stress than would one of small diameter.
Because of the size effect the A.A.R., in collaboration with
the Timken Bearing Company, decided to build full-scale
machines for their work on the fatigue of railway axles,
and this precedent has been followed in the London
Transport investigations described below.
FATIGUE MACHINE AND SPECIMENS
The design of a suitable fatigue-testing machine was preceded by an experimental investigation of axle bending
stresses in service. The initial work on these lines by
Broadbent and Richards (15)showed the important contribution to the bending stresses in the axle of the transverse friction force between wheel and rail when a curve is
being negotiated, a factor which had been neglected
previously in axle-design formulae. Values of the bending
stress in the axle surface just outside the inner edge of
the wheel hub were also obtained, the maximum being
about f12 000 lbf/in2. It had been originally intended to
design a full-scale fatigue-testing machine which could
apply a stress programme similar to that which the axle
experiences in service. However, it was decided that this
would make the test runs too time-consuming, that peak
power requirements would probably be excessive, and
that results might be difficult to interpret, so the idea of a
fatigue machine which would give a simple rotating bending stress with a mean stress of zero was adopted. The
design and construction of such a machine was undertaken
at Nottingham University under a research contract from
London Transport; thereafter the machine was installed
and operated in the L.T. Laboratory at Chiswick. A complete description of the machine has been reported by
Dudley (16),and the general principle of the machine is
illustrated in Fig. 3. Each end of the fatigue specimen is
press-fitted by the oil-injection method into a large
resonance weight, and to the lower weight is bolted a
heavy tube, or magnification arm.
The system is excited as a free-free beam at its first
Yo1182 Pt I No 4
'Cold roll body

and as far up
f i l l e t rad. as
possible t o
9000 Ib
I5
CI
Fig. 4. Designs of specimen

natural frequency by causing the lower end of the magnification arm to move in a circular path, but without rotation about its own axis. This motion occurs when the
speed of the motor drive to a slipping clutch, located at the
end of the magnification arm, coincides with the natural
frequency of the system. The transmission of direct
rotation from the drive shaft to the magnification arm is
eliminated by taper-roller bearings in the clutch assembly.
As shown in Fig. 3, any point on the specimen is made to
move in a circular path and is thus subjected to alternating
bending stresses as in a conventional rotating bending
machine.
Specimen design and material
The designs of specimens tested in the machine are shown
in Fig. 4. Type (a), having larger diameter ends with a
generous radius at the change of section, was used for
testing the bodies of the specimens, i.e. the region unaffected by the press fit, and type (b), having sleeves as
shown at ane or both ends, was used for tests on press
fits.
Two casts of steel, each providing about 30 specimens,
were used, and are referred to as Casts A and B; details of
their composition and properties are given in Appendix 2.
The standard rig used to cold-roll railway axles was also
used to cold-roll the specimens.
Inspection of specimens
The difficulty in the fatigue testing of press fits is that it
is not feasible to determine whether cracks have formed
within the wheel hub or to measure the depths of cracks
without removing the wheel. It was thought that the disturbance and cleaning of the fret zone for inspection might
affect the endurance upon further testing. However,
Waterhouse (17)had reported that the contribution of
fretting to the fatigue failure of a component, by initiating
minute cracks, is largely confined to the first few cycles of
stressing; when the cracks have reached a critical size they
are propagated by the stresses within the component and
93
fretting plays little further part in their growth. On this

basis the removal of the sleeve from the specimen to
allow the fret zone to be inspected could probably be
tolerated, but to substantiate this, comparison was made
between specimens that had frequently been inspected and
specimens that had been left undisturbed for long periods
of testing. Such a comparison showed that the effect of
inspections upon fatigue behaviour was small. Various
methods of inspection for cracks have been tried, including magnetic ink, dye penetrant, ultrasonics, and eddy
currents, the best results being obtained with magnetic
ink. Magnetization of the specimen is achieved by passing
an alternating current of about 500 A through four or five
turns of cable looped round the end of the specimen
being examined; inspection of the surface for indication
of cracks is facilitated by first applying a thin coat of
quick-drying white paint to provide good contrast with
the black magnetic ink particles. Cracks about
in
long, and less than 0.005 in deep, can be clearly detected
in this way.
T o estimate the depth of cracks without sectioning, a
variant of the well known electrical method is employed,
in which a current is passed through the specimen, and
the drop of potential between a pair of probes straddling
the crack is compared with that for sound metal. Earlier
work in the Laboratory had established that an approximately linear relation between voltage ratios and actual
crack depths determined by sectioning could be obtained
for depths of up to an inch or more, provided that probe
spacing was kept as small as practicable; also that the
minimum detectable crack depth was about one-third
of the probe spacing. In practice a probe spacing of 0.015
in is used, so that cracks exceeding about 0.005 in depth
can be detected. It is not claimed that the apparatus used
gives an accurate measure of the depth, particularly of the
very shallow cracks, but it does give useful comparison
between cracks of different depths.
Stress-relieving grooves
The use of a roller-bearing motor suspension sleeve
precludes the adoption of raised wheel seats at both ends
of a motored axle as a means of reducing axle stresses. At
the plain end the provision of a groove at the edge of the
wheel hub offers an alternative means of reducing the
bending stresses at the fretting zone within the hub, and
also of relieving the tensile stresses induced by the press
fit, thereby leading to increased fatigue resistance. The
A.A.R. had tested such a groove in the axle wheel seat,
with the edge of the hub overhanging the groove, and had
obtained promising results on a small number of axles,
both with rolled and unrolled grooves; no detailed information was available on the method of cold rolling
employed. Little information was available on the extent
to which other railway authorities had employed stressrelieving grooves, although the Netherlands Railways
were known to have employed unrolled grooves. It was
decided to adopt a groove of circular profile similar to one
Vol182 Pt I No 4
94
of those tried by the A.A.R. and the Netherlands Railways, and the dimensions selected were 1.475 in for the
radius, 0.205 in for the depth, and 1-5 in for the width.
Strain-gauge tests showed that at the root of the groove
the tensile stress induced by a press-fit pressure of 13 500
lbf/in2 was about 6000 lbf/in2, as compared with 5000
lbf/in2 on a plain press fit at the same distance from the
hub face; the bending stresses would also be greater
owing to the reduced cross-section at the groove. It was
therefore decided to cold-roll the grooves to minimize the
danger of fatigue cracking occurring in the groove.
The method of cold rolling of grooves finally adopted
was as follows,
The wheel seat was first cold-rolled in the normal
manner, with a load on the top roller of 9000 Ibf, and a
groove of 1-475 in radius and 1-5 in wide was then
machined and cold rolled. Three rolls were employed,
with slightly different profile radii as follows: top roll
1.450 in; front roll 1-465in; back roll 1.460 in. A number
of test grooves were rolled, different rolling loads and
rolling times being used, and sections cut through the
grooved portions were hardness tested. As a result of these
tests, it was decided to standardize on the following rolling
conditions :
rolling load 10 830 lbf;
rolling time 5 min;
rolling speed 65-70 rev/min.
Under these rolling conditions, appreciable work hardening was obtained over the whole groove surface, without
the production of any upstand of metal at the edge of the
groove. The degree of work hardening produced at the
groove surface was not as great as that produced during
normal wheel-seat rolling, and the intensity of the favourable compressive stresses produced at and near the surface
of the groove was presumably also correspondingly lower.

Nevertheless, it was thought probable that the cold working would be sufficient to reduce the probability of cracking in the groove very considerably and the effectiveness
of the treatment from this point of view would, of course,
be subsequently tested in the fatigue machine.
TEST PROGRAMME A N D R E S U L T S
Initial tests were carried out at a bending-stress level of

A39 000 lbf/ina in order to establish datum results for
Cast A, and to assess the effectiveness of cold rolling upon
the fatigue strength of the bodies of the specimens.
Whereas unrolled ground-finish specimens all developed
significant cracks between 1 m and 3 m cycles, coldrolled bodies had an endurance in excess of 20 m cycles.
This figure was rather higher than might have been
expected from Horgers results; he had quoted a fatigue
limit of f24000 lbf/in2 for plain specimens of 6 in
diameter, and the limit for our 64-in-diameter specimens
should not be appreciably different. However, the significant point from the results obtained was the demonstration of an eight-fold-or-more increase in endurance
at this stress level obtained by the cold rolling.
T o obtain further quantitative results it would have
been necessary either to continue testing to, say, 50-100 m
cycles, or to increase the stress level. It was felt that the
former would be so time-consuming as to be uneconomic,
since the machine was running about a million cycles a
day. The second course was not favoured, first because
the present stress level was already far above the stress
levels experienced by axles under service conditions, and
secondly because under test the cold-rolled specimens had
heated to such an extent that forced air cooling was
necessary to keep the surface temperature below 100C.
G G
0
Ground,
plain
!Z 30
0,
(lower rnds)
Cold-rolled,plain
R U
R R.U U
Lo 0
0 or 0,
Cold-rollerd, plain and grooved (lower rnds)
R,U.U
R R R
000 0
0.
R,R,U U
T
Cold-rolled, plain
and grooved
(upper ends)
Cold-rolled,plain
R,UJ
and grooved
(lower ends)
CYCLES (LOG SCALE) TO CRACK INITIATION

G Ground finish plain; R Cold-rolled finish plain; U Cold-rolled finish with rolled groove.
Fig. 5. Results of fatigue tests on plain and grooved press-fit specimens, both groundfinished and cold-rolled, at single stress levels
Proc
Instn
Mech Engrs 1967-68
Yo1182 Pt I No 4
MEASURES TO COUNTER FATIGUE FAILURE I N RAILWAY AXLES
95
G Ground finish plain; R Cold-rolled finish plain; U Cold-rolled finish with rolled grooves; W Cold-rolled finish
with unrolled groove; 0 Crack present; c-t no crack present when test ended.
Broken line represents a higher stress loading programme used for testing fatigue resistance of unrolled grooves.
Fig. 6. Results of fatigue tests on plain and grooved press-jit specimens, both ground-jinished and cold-rolled,
subjected to increasing stress levels (staircase loading)
At even higher stress levels the increased amplitude of
vibration and increased energy losses due to damping
would have resulted in appreciably greater heating.
Accordingly it was decided to initiate a programme of
fatigue testing of press fits, and until further experience
with the machine had been gained to have only one press
fit, at the lower end of the specimen.
The results obtained for press-fit specimens, plain and
grooved, at single stress levels are given in Fig. 5, and
those for specimens tested at increasing stress levels are
given in Fig. 6. Details of the programme are given below.
Press fits (single stress levels) on plain and grooved

specimens
Plain press-fitted assemblies with both cold-rolled and
unrolled ground-finish wheel seats were prepared, and
two specimens of each category were tested at f 3 9 000
lbf/ina. The results again showed an improvement in
endurance to be obtained by cold rolling under the press
fit, but the extent of the improvement was by no means as
marked as in the tests without press fits. In view of the
short lives obtained, further tests were conducted at
lower bending stress levels, viz. f 2 8 000 lbf/in2 and
+20 000 lbf/in2, and again the improvement obtained by
cold rolling was only marginal. Accordingly it was decided
to investigate the effect of providing a relief groove at the
intersection of the sleeve face and the specimen.
Initially tests were carried out on three grooved and
four plain press fits at f 2 8 000 lbf/in2, the wheel seats of
all specimens being cold-rolled. At this stress level
cracks developed under the press fit in both the grooved
and plain specimens, and fretting was present in all cases,
though to a lesser extent in the grooved specimens than in
the plain ones; furthermore crack-depth estimations
indicated that the cracks in the grooved specimens were
less deep than those in the plain specimens. There was

thus an indication that the relief groove was having some
beneficial effect even at this stress level, which is considerably above the level of bending stresses normally
encountered in service. It was not impossible that at lower
stress levels, more typical of service conditions, the grooves
might prevent crack formation entirely. It was encouraging
to note that no cracks were detected at the bottom of the
grooves, where the reduced diameter would lead to increased bending stresses. Accordingly the next series of
tests comparing plain and grooved axles was made at a
stress level of f20 000 lbf/in2, using four specimens of
each type from Cast B. Two specimens from Cast A,
which had previously had a period of running at this stress
level without apparently cracking were found to have
minute cracks when re-examined by the white-paint-andmagnetic-ink technique just introduced at that time, and
these two specimens were also included in the tests. Some
of the specimens were examined for cracks, by ultrasonic
and magnetic-ink methods, at short intervals, whilst
others were left to run undisturbed for longer periods to
see whether any significant differences in cracking
resulted. As before, cracking was observed under the press
fit in both plain and grooved specimens, so that once again
the presence of the groove had failed to prevent crack
initiation, although it had had some beneficial effect.
After the introduction of the improved magnetic-inkand-white-paint technique the cracking was detected at a
relatively early stage, so that it now appeared practicable
to reduce the stress level even lower without having to run
the tests for inordinately long periods. Furthermore,
with increasing confidence the rate of testing had been
increased by keeping the machine running unattended
for 24 hours a day under the protection of automatic
safety devices, and by fitting press-fit sleeves to both ends
of the specimens. There was, in fact, a further cogent
Vol 182 PI I N o 4
96
reason for carrying out tests at even lower stress levels.

Although in the literature the existence of non-propagating cracks is mentioned, the available knowledge of their
behaviour is insufficient to inspire in an engineer responsible for the safe running of trains the required degree of
confidence that such cracks will not in fact start to
propagate. Hence the aim of this investigation was to try
to find some means of entirely preventing the formation of
any type of crack at the levels of stress encountered in
service.
Press fits (increasing stress levels) on plain and
grooved specimens
As mentioned earlier, strain-gauge tests had shown the
maximum bending stress encountered in service to be
about f 1 2 000 lbf/in2. Accordingly, it was decided to
adopt a staircase loading method, starting with a 10 m
cycle run at a stress level of f6000 Ibf/in2, and proceeding
with further 10 m cycle runs at successively increasing
stress levels of f8000, 10 000, 12 000, . . lbf/in2. Under
these conditions tests were made with ground-finish plain
specimens as well as with cold-rolled plain and grooved
specimens, when the beneficial effects of cold rolling the
wheel seats, and of providing the stress-relieving grooves,
were much more clearly demonstrated. As will be seen
from Fig. 6, ground-finish plain specimens (G)developed
incipient cracks under the press fit by the end of the first
10 m cycle period; cold-rolled plain specimens (R)
developed cracks by the end of the first or second period;
whilst grooved specimens with rolled grooves (U) or
unrolled grooves (W) generally ran for five or more periods,
at successively increasing stress levels, before developing
cracks. The effect of fretting on crack formation can also
be seen from this diagram; possibly because of a difference in the fit of the taper sleeves into the upper and
lower weights the extent of fretting was considerably
greater at the top ends of the specimens than at the lower
ends, and it will be seen that at the upper ends of the
specimens cracking occurred earlier than at the lower
ends.
SERVICE T E S T OF GROOVED AXLES
In parallel with the laboratory tests in the axle-fatigue

machine, a service test was commenced in which 20
motored axles with relief grooves at the non-gear end,
and an equal number of plain cold-rolled axles as controls, were fitted under surface stock cars running in
normal service. The grooved axles were all produced
from one cast of steel, and the plain axles partly from this
cast and partly from other casts of similar composition and
properties, details of which are given in Appendix 2.
The axles are withdrawn for inspection at intervals on a
rota system; the inspection procedure adopted is to test
ultrasonically with the wheels in situ, then to withdraw the
wheels to permit visual inspection for fretting and
magnetic-ink testing by the white-paint technique.
The results obtained so far show good correlation with
those obtained from the fatigue tests. Up to the present

seven of the plain cold-rolled axles used as controls have
developed incipient cracks at milages of up to about
160 000 (corresponding to some 80 m wheel revolutions),
whereas during the same period none of the grooved axles
has shown any sign of cracking either in the groove or on
the wheel seats, and fretting damage has been negligible.
CONCLUSIONS
Cold rolling has a very beneficial effect upon the fatigue

strength of a plain, large-diameter steel specimen (and
also produces unexpectedly high hysteresis losses causing
heating when tests are made at high stress levels).
A press-fitted component very greatly reduces the fatigue strength of both unrolled and cold-rolled specimens.
There is a close correlation between the production of
fretting and the initiation of fatigue cracks under a press
fit; cold rolling under a press fit strongly inhibits the
propagation of fatigue cracks, but the evidence suggests
that its effect upon crack initiation is not very marked.
The introduction of a stress-relieving groove at the edge
of a press fit leads to a marked reduction in fretting and
increase in the life of a specimen. The presence of the
groove may enhance the pressure and reduce the stresses
near the edge of the press fit to a level at which cracking
will not occur.
A press fit near to a groove produces an increase in
stress level at the root of the groove, and this emphasizes
the desirability of applying cold-rolling treatment to the
groove.
A hypothesis has been produced which provides a
possible explanation for the fact that when fatigue cracks
OCCUT in railway-axle wheel seats they are usually encountered just inside the press fit; it postulates that the
effect of a press fit upon the nominal alternating stress to
which an assembly is subjected is to increase the range of
alternating stress within the fretting zone.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance and

encouragement received from members of the staff of the
Departments of the Chief Mechanical Engineer (Railways)
and the Director of Research, London Transport, and of
the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nottingham
University.
The authors are grateful to the London Transport
Board for permission to publish this paper.
APPENDIX 1
I N F L U E N C E OF P R E S S - F I T STRESSES U P O N
FATIGUE S T R E N E T H
It is known that press-fits have a deleterious effect upon the

fatigue strength of a plain shaft for the following reasons.
There is frerting corrosion berween the hub and the shaft.
The edge of thehub face produces a stress-concentration effect
on the surface of the shaft.
Tensile stresses are produced under the hub by the pressingon process.
Of the three, fretting probably has the greatest influence on the
Vol182 Pt 1 No 4
initiation of fatigue cracks, but once the crack has initiated it

is the stress distribution in the assembly that affects the remainder
of the life of the assembly.
T o test the effect of the stress concentration Kuhnel (3), and
others, tested solid assemblies to determine whether the fatigue
strength was similar to that for a press-fit assembly, and showed
that there was reasonable agreement between the results. However,
Fret zone
+
-d
A,,,,,
I
I
1
(L
when axial stress due t o bending
.-.-
,? --- when
is
when axial stress due t o bending
compressive
is
zero
axial stress due t o bending is tensile
Fie. 7. Changes produced, under the action of tensile or

compressive stress in bending, in ( a ) the theoretical
axial-stress distribution in the wheel seat due to radial
pressure of the hub, (b) the observed axial-stress distribution in the wheel seat after pressing-on of the hub
97
in practice fatigue cracks do not start from the intersection of

the hub face with the wheel seat, as they would if the stress-concentration effect of rhe corner were dominant, but inside the hub
face, It is of interest, therefore, to examine the stresses produced
by radial pressure and to estimate the effect of alternating bending
on their magnitudes and distribution. Barton (IS) has calculated
that for a pure radial pressure p , acting over a finite length of a
cylindrical surface, the axial stress at the surface is - p / 2 (compressive) just within the pressure region and + p / 2 (tensile) just outside
the pressure band; a shear stress also exists, of intensity 0-32p
just below the surface, decreasing to zero at the axis.
With reference to Fig. 7a, during cyclic bending the area within
the hub may be thought to consist of three regions. The first is the
region not in contact with the shaft at any time in the cycle, from
the hub face to the point A; the second is the zone that extends
between the points A and B, and the third is the region beyond B
inside the hub. Point A is the limit of contact between hub and
shaft that is reached when the local axial stress due to bending is
compressive. When the local axial stress due to bending is tensile
it is not unreasonable to suppose that by the distortion due to
bending the pressure is not only relieved but, for a short distance,
is completely removed, so that the limit of contact is withdrawn to
B. Hence the zone AB is subjected to continual radial pressure
changes under rotating bending. These pressure changes, and the
alternating straining of the surface fibres by bending which
extends even further into the hub, give rise to relative movements
between the surface and to fretting in the zone ABC. According
to Bartons theoretical results the radial pressure between the hub
and the shaft causes compressive axial stress in the shaft within the
hub with a discontinuity at the hub edge. Observation shows that
the contact edge is ill-defined and it may be presumed that a
pressure gradient exists over a short distance. The cyclic variation
in contact line between A and B due to bending causes a corresponding axial displacement of the pressure distribution. This means
that at any section between A and B a range of axial stress due to
the radial pressure is superimposed on the bending stress and
increases the resultant range of alternating stress. This arises
from the negative average gradient of axial stress due to radial
pressure in the region A-B as shown in Fig. 7 ~Practical
.
axle-wheel
assemblies differ from the idealized conditions assumed by Barton,
and are assembled by press fitting. Wise and Burdon (19) have
shown by strain-gauge measurements that under these conditions
Fig. 8. Radial section, approximately twice full-size, of plain press-fit specimen tested at
39 000 Ibf/in2 bending stress, showing direction of crack propagation
Vol I82 Pt 1 No 4
98
the axial stresses existing in the shaft within the hub are tensile,
not compressive, with a distribution shown diagrammatically in
Fig. 7b. However, this too has a region of negative stress gradient
from E to F, so that under cyclic bending conditions this negative
stress gradient could still increase the range of alternating stresses
as described in the previous paragraph. For this hypothesis to be
valid it is necessary to assume that an axial-stress pattern due to
radial pressure of the general form shown in Fig. 7b persists under
cyclic conditions, and that the position of the peak E is related to
the end of the contact zone and in fact moves cyclically with the
bending distortion. It would also follow that in the vicinity of A,
where the axial-stress gradient is positive for most of the cycle, the
resultant range of alternating stress is less than the applied bending
stress.
Whatever assembly method is employed it appears that at some
region within the hub the range of alternating stress is greater than
that due to bending alone; this may be a contributory factor in
reducing the fatigue strength of the assembly, and it may also
explain why the fatigue cracks tend to occur at some distance
inside the hub.
Table 1. Chemical composition and mechanical properties of

steel used for fatigue test specimens
The test specimens employed were from two casts, designated A
and B, and the chemical composition and mechanical properties
are as quoted by the manufacturer.
I
Cast B
Cast A
Yield stress, tonf/in2

.
Tensile strength, tonf/in2
.
Elongation, per cent on 2 in .
Reduction of area, per cent
0.29
0.25
0.68
0.05
0.031
29.5
42.0
27.0
51.0
0.27
0.22
0.72
0.038
0.032
23.0
37.2
293
56.0
Table 2. Chemical composition and mechanical properties of

Crack growth in a press fit
steel used for service tests
Fig. 8 shows a section through a specimen which had cracked under
a bending stress of &39 000 lbf/in2, and in which the crack had
Plain axles
propagated at an angle other than normal to the surface. A similar
section through another plain press fit tested at high alternating
stress shows the same crack features. If the shear stress, just below
the surface and near the hub face, is taken as approximately 0 . 3 ~ ~
where p is about 13 500 Ibf/in2, it may be calculated that rhe plane
0.33
0.29 I 0.29
0.34
Carbon, per cent
of principal stress would be at approximately 77 to the surface.
0.22
0.26
0.26
0.29
Silicon, per cent .
Under tensile bending the relief of radial pressure leading to
0.85
0.88
Manganese, per cent
. 0.77
reduction of the tensile stresses induced by the press fit would
0.050
0.046
Sulphur, per cent .
. 0.050 0::O
increase this angle.
0.037
0.038
0.038
0.039
Phosphorus, per cent
.
The angle of the plane of the crack was measured and found to be
24.2
244
25.8
24.8
Yield stress, t o n f h 2
.
about 80. Barton (IS) shows that the shear stress falls to zero at the
37.0
1 38.0
37.8
Tensile strength, tonf;in* 38.0
centre of the shaft, so it would be expected that as the shear
Elongation, per cent on .
2in.
stress decreased the plane of principal stress would become more
Reduction of area, per cent
nearly normal to the surface. Hence, a crack propagating along a
principal plane under the action of tensile stresses should gradually
become more nearly normal to the surface, as shown by Fig. 8.
Because the radial distribution of the axial stress is a maximum at
enough, however, to produce a hardened and tempered structure,
the surface and decreases to zero at 0-85RJcracks would be expected
and all axles have a ferrite-pearlite microstructure, even at the
to grow circumferentially rather than to develop the fish-eye type
surface.
of fatigue fracture associated with plain bars in rotating bending.
No correlation has been observed between the chemical composition, tensile strength or microstructure, and the tendency for
fatigue cracks to form.
APPENDIX 2
1
~
I
~
M E T A L L U R G I C A L C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S O F AXLE STEEL
Railway axles for London Transport are manufactured in accordance with B.S. Report No. 24, Part 1, Section 2. This places
maximum limits of 0.05 per cent on sulphur and phosphorus
contents, but does not specify the content of the other elements.
The mechanical properties of a testpiece machined from the prolongation of an axle, heat-treated with the batch of axles, must be
as follows.
35-40 tonf/ina
Tensile strength
20-25 per cent minimum
Elongation
(Tensile strength+ elongation) 60 minimum
Most of the axles received prove to have carbon contents of between
about 0.26 per cent and 0.38 per cent and manganese contents of
between about 0-55 and 0.75 per cent. One of the main suppliers
appears to work towards the lower end of the carbon range and the
higher end of the manganese range and the other main supplier
to do the reverse. Almost all axles supplied, however, meet the
specified requirements for mechanical properties, the tempering
temperatures being presumably adjusted slightly, as necessary, to
obtain these properties. The heat treatment normally employed
consists of oil quenching from 850C and tempering at 600C.
The hardenability of steels in this range of composition is not high
APPENDIX 3
REFERENCES
(I) MOORE,
H. F . A study of fatigue cracks in car axles, University of Illinois. Bulletin No. 165, June 1927.
(2) FOWL, 0, Das Driicken der Oberflache von Bauteilen aus
Stahl (Compression of the surface of steel machine parts),
Stahl Eisen 1929 49, 575.
(3) KUHNEL, R. Axles breakages and their causes, Glasers
Annln, Gewevbe Bauw. 1932 110,39.
(4) HORGER,
0. J. and CANTLEY,
W. I. Design of crankpins for
locomotives, J . appl. Mech., Trans. Am. SOC.mech.
Engrs 1946 68, A-17.
(5) HORGER,
0.J. Fatigue of large shafts by fretting corrosion,
Proc. Znt. Conf. Fatigue Metals 1956, 352 (Institution
of Mechanical Engineers, London).
(6) Association of American Railroads Reports Nos 2 (November 1938), 3 (June 1939), 4 (April 1940), 5 (May 1941),
and 6 (September 1942).
(7) HORGER,
0. J. and NEIFERT,
H. R. Correlation of residual
stresses in the fatigue strength of axles, J. appl. Mech.,
Trans. Am. SOC.mech. Engrs 1942 64, A-85.
Vol182 Pt I No 4
MEASURES T O COUNTER FATIGUE FAILURE IN RAILWAY AXLES
(8) HORGER,
0. J. Wheel, axle and rail stress problems related
to higher capacity cars-Part I A.S.M.E. Panel Symposium, November 1963.
(9)British Railways Research Department The effect of
various surface coatings on the fatigue strength of pressfitted model wheel and axle assemblies, Report No.
E448.
(10)PETERSON,
R. E. Fatigue tests on small specimens with
particular reference to size effect, Trans. Am . SOC.Steel
Treat. 1930 18, 1041.
(11) MOORE,
H. E. A study of size effect and notch sensitivity
in fatigue tests of metals, Proc. Am. SOC.Test. Mater.
1945 45,507.
(12) PHILLIPS,
C. E. and HEYWOOD,
R. 3. The size effect of
plain and notched steel specimens loaded under reversed
direct stress, Proc. Instn mech. Engrs 1951 165, 113.
(13) HORGER,
0. J. Fatigue characteristics of large sections,
Fatigue (ed. Dolan, T. J.) 1954 (American Society of
Metals).
99
(14) FENNER,
A. J., TAIT,J. and MORLEY,
J. On the fatigue
strength of railway wagon unmachined axle middles,
Int. Wheel-Sets Cong., Bergamo 1963 (Associazione
Italiana di Metallurgia).
(15) BROADBENT,
H. R. and RICIURDS,
J. Bending stresses in a
motored axle on electric rolling stock, Rly Gaz. 1956
104, 510,543, 579 and 1962 117,481.
(16)DUDLEY,B. R. A rotating bending resonant fatigue
machine for 64 in diameter steel specimens, Proc. Zristn
mech. Engrs 1965-66 180 (Pt 3A), 184.
(17)WATERHOUSE,
R. Influence of local temperature increases
on the fretting corrosion of mild steel, J. Iron Steel Inst.
1961 197,301.
(IS) BARTON,M. V. Circular cylinder with a band of uniform
pressure on a finite length of the surface,J. appl. Mech.,
Trans. Am. SOL.mech. Engrs 1941 63, A-97.
(19) WISE,S. and BURDON,
E. S. The dual roles of design and
surface treatment in combating fatigue failures, 3. Instn
Loco. Engrs 1964-65 54, 142.
Discussion
Mr H.E. Styles,B.Sc.-I have been asked by Mr Manser,
who has unfortunately been prevented from attending
through a sudden indisposition, to bring to the attention
of this meeting the fact that the work outlined in the
paper, so ably presented to you by Mr Richards on behalf
of its joint authors, stemmed from discussions which Mr
Manser had in July 1954 with Professor Pope who at that
time was at Nottingham University and was also a member
of the British Transport Commissions Research Advisory
Council.
These discussions led, initially, to a decision to ask
Nottingham University to undertake research into the
distribution of residual stresses in an axle which had been
subjected to cold rolling and, subsequently, following a
two-day symposium on the subject of axle fatigue held at
Nottingham University in June 1955, to proposals that a
machine capable of fatigue testing full-sized specimens of
railway-axle steel should be designed and constructed for
the primary purpose of establishing optimum conditions
for cold rolling such axles.
A model of such a machine was produced in August
1957 and a contract for the construction of a full-sized
machine was placed with Nottingham University. This
machine was first operated in November 1959 and transferred to London Transports Research Laboratory in
December 1960.
Early results indicated that the effects of cold rolling
upon the fatigue properties of the bodies of axles were
vastly greater than past experience had shown to be true
for wheel-seat areas under press-fit conditions for which
reason it was decided to modify the original programme so
as to enable the work described in the paper to be undertaken on press fits and stress-relieving grooves.
Proc Instn Mech Engrs 196768
If, now, I may turn to one or two points of my own, I

should like to ask the authors whether in fact all the
grooved test specimens were cold-rolled throughout their
length, as is indicated in Fig. 4, or whether in some cases,
at least, cold rolling was confined to the areas beneath the
press-fitted sleeves ?
Mr Richards, during his presentation, has made clear
the fact that in all the grooved specimens referred to in the
paper the press-fitted sleeves were positioned so as to provide an overhang of the sleeve over the groove. It would be
helpful if the extent of this overhang could be recorded
because, conceivably, this may eventually be proved to be
of importance. Moreover, in the light of what has been
said about subsequent tests with grooved specimens with
sleeves having no overhang, the third paragraph of the
papers Conclusions should perhaps make it clear that
the marked reduction in fretting derived from the combination of stress-relieving groove and overhang of the
press-fitted component.
Finally, I would emphasize that although the term
fatigue is freely used throughout the paper, the phenomenon of major interest to London Transport is not, in
fact, fatigue in the sense of fracture resulting from dynamic
stressing but crack initiation which may be by no means
the same thing in view of the possibility of formation of
non-propagating cracks.
The facts that under press fits such crack initiation
seems always to be preceded or accompanied by evidence
of fretting, and that it occurs at stress levels far below
normally accepted values of fatigue strength, have led me to
believe, for a long time, that the real problem with press
fits is the occurrence of fretting. I should be the last to
claim that this tentative hypothesis has yet been in any
Vol182 Pt I No 4
100
DISCUSSION
way fully confirmed but such evidence as has been

obtained seems not to be contradictory and suggests that
any steps likely to reduce fretting are likely also to retard
the onset of crack initiation. The combination of a stressrelieving groove, overhang of the adjacent press-fitted
component, and an adequate degree of interference seems
to be one way of achieving this desirable objective. There
may well be other ways of avoiding fretting which might
yield equivalent benefits in respect of crack initiation.
*In reply to Mr Turners remarks regarding the association between fretting and corrosion, this is something of
which we have, of course, been conscious and the possible
merit of various surface treatments was the subject of
investigations undertaken by British Railways Research
Department. London Transport has employed, as a
pressing-on lubricant, a mixture of white lead and boiled
oil, which may perhaps be regarded as a kind of anticorrosive treatment, but I am very doubtful whether any
such paint-like material can be expected to withstand for
long periods the severe conditions which must prevail in
the fretting area of a wheel-and-axle assembly.
Mr T. Henry Turner, M.Sc., C.Eng., M.I.Mech.E.,
M.1.Loco.E.-For
30 years it was part of my responsibilities to investigate in the L.N.E.R. laboratories and
later for British Railways all the very few axles that failed
in service. It was a great help to me that I had visited all
our suppliers and seen axles forged, heat treated, machined,
press-fitted into wheel-sets, and painted; and studied them
on the track.
In a paper to the Institution of Locomotive Engineers
(20) I showed the appearance of an axle that gave long
service before it failed by fatigue. Some of these old
wrought-iron and steel axles lasted 40 to 50 years in outdoor service. That one would not have failed but for the
excessive corrosion caused by drip from the coal in the
tender, of which this was the leading axle, when the fireman frequently slaked his dusty coal. A fundamental fact
like that cannot be learnt in the laboratory but comes to
one from walking the track and riding on the footplate.
Generally speaking, freight-wagon axles used to rust
without fatigue fractures because of their very small milage
and slow speeds. Their surfaces were not machined
between the wheels.
Carriage axles were machined all over and cases of
their serious corrosion were noted near carriage lavatories.
I have seen a multiplicity of small corrosion fatigue cracks
similar to those shown in the lower part of Fig. 2 under a
large dynamo-driving pulley that was clamped to a diningcar carriage axle in such a way that moisture was retained
in the slight gap between pulley and machined axle surface. Fortunately these cracks were found by routine
inspection before failure and so caused no accident.
I should stress the fact that the surface of the machined
and oil-painted axle on either side of that pulley was free
from the corrosion fatigue cracking. Normally fractures of
This paragraph has beeii added since the meeting took place.
the carriage axles of The Flying Scotsman were unheard of,

and they were well protected from corrosion by several
coats of oil paint. But because of wartime scarcities some
of the axles were given a mere black lacquer coating and
within months an axle failed by corrosion fatigue.
Corrosion is therefore to be constantly remembered by
engineers as a great accelerator of the fatigue effect produced by repeated tensile stresses in the surface of the
steel. So I should like to ask the five authors what they
mean by Insulating painting, mentioned on their second
page; does it mean electrically insulating ? It can scarcely
prevent the access of oxygen and moisture from the atmosphere. Perhaps a zinc-rich paint under the glass cloth
would help to eliminate the corrosion element in the
fatigue cracking.
In Appendix 2, no mention of corrosion suggests that
the engineering approach has been as though the hubwheel seat press fit were in a vacuum and entirely free
from chemical effects. There is much evidence that
chemical action, in the two steel surfaces of the hub-wheel
seat fit, contributes to the fatigue failures.
Measures taken to counter fatigue failure in railway
axles must be based on facts known to corrosionists as well
as to engineer designers and maintenance men.
With the exception of those cases in which the journal
is screwed off red-hot after a bearing failure all other
failures of axles in railway service must include an element
of corrosion, it may be between the wheels, at the edge of
the wheel seat, or under the wheel. It is worth noting,
therefore, that since 1947 there has been a not previously
experienced decrease in the corrosive influence of the
London atmosphere, consequent upon many changes
encouraged by the Clean Air Act of 1956. But extension
of the London Transport system has added milage in the
humid open air, which is more corrosive than the dry air
of the tube tunnels.
The stress-relieving groove must help to prevent the
bending of the axle that results from the application of the
vehicle load outside the rail reaction and pumps moist
corrosive air into the inner end of the hub-wheel seat
press fit. It would seem, however, that the stress-relieving
groove, after cold rolling should receive a coating of zincrich paint or other effective anti-corrosion treatment.
The use of mathematical formulae based on the usual
assumptions may deflect our eyes from seeing that (1) the
axle circumference is reduced under the press fit; (2) the
axle circumference between the wheel seats is not reduced
by the neighbouring circumferential compression. Hence
the surface layer of the axle between (1) and (2) must
always be prestressed in longitudinal tension, just where
geometrical concentration of external stresses will occur
from jerky acceleration and braking and from the vertical
bumps from rail joints.
Because the paper lacks line drawings of the London
Transport axles, that lack raised wheel seats, it is not easy
to follow by those having experience only of steamlocomotive and normal carriage and wagon axles. When
wheels are pressed on and off in London Transport
Vol182 Pt 1 No 4
101
practice, are the surfaces of wheel hub and axle scored

equally 3 In Fig. 2 is the scoring of the axle because the
hub was harder, or because the two surfaces welded under
pressure ?
The minute cracks shown by the authors were not produced in a vacuum but where moist air penetrated. The
extreme example of this phenomenon could be seen years
ago on the cast-iron chair seat and the underside of the
rail in contact with it. It was best seen near water pick-up
troughs where, because of the constant spillage, the track
permitted much movement and water was pumped into
and from the chair rail seating. The multiple cracks were
coarser on the cast iron than on the steel it contacted.
Fatigue failure of railway axles is caused by various
combinations of internal and external longitudinal stresses
in the outer surface of the steel, always accelerated in
practice by corrosion of the surface.
T o counter this fatigue-failure risk one must first start
with precautions in machining because for every chip
machined away there are open minute cracks left in the
surface which permit penetration of moist air that aids
corrosion fatigue.
Cold working of the surface by die pressing, shot peening,
or rolling helps to convert torn open steel surfaces into
compressed sealed ones less prone to corrosion and fatigue.
Where the design includes a stress-relieving groove the
longitudinal tensile stress left by the press fit is eased and
the later repeated bending stresses are less closely concentrated near the edge of the wheel seat. The surface of
the groove benefits in the same way from compacting by
cold rolling and protecting from corrosion by zinc.
Wherever possible corrosion should be countered by
smearing the surface with sacrificial zinc, especially where
repeated tensile stresses are likely to pump moist air in
and out of minute cracks.
Minimize the external stresses by abolishing fish-plated
rail joints and overcoming the present jerkiness of electricdrive acceleration and harsh braking.
REFERENCE
(20)
TURNER,
T. H. Prevention of corrosion and corrosion
fatigueJ. h t l z loco. Engrs 1945 35, 153.
Mr S . J. Watson, B.Sc.(Eng.), Wh.Sch., C.Eng.,

M.1.Mech.E.-I have been particularly interested in this
paper because, about five years ago, Mr Coyle and I presented a paper on the fatigue strength of turbine shafts (21),
and there are many points of similarity between the two
papers.
We were concerned with shafts of 13 inch diameter and
more, but most of our testpieces were about 4 inches in
diameter, not very different from the 64 inches used by the
authors. With such large shafts it must be assumed that
the full theoretical stress concentration factor, as derived
from Peterson (22) for example, is realized as a fatiguestrength reduction factor.
With our turbine-shaft testpieces, we found that a collar
shrunk on to a plain shaft caused considerable fretting at
the end of the fit. This fretting was reduced but not
elinlinated by the provision of a relief groove with only a
partial fillet, but could be eliminated by the provision of a
complete quarter-round fillet, and the stress concentration
factor and hence fatigue-strength reduction factor could
then be estimated by assuming the collar to behave as
though iategral with the shaft. When two collars were
shrunk on in close proximity the highest fatigue strength
was obtained with the complete quarter-round fillet as
follows.
Plain shaft f4.5-6-8ton/in2, depending on spacing
of collars.
Partial fillet, f7.5 ton/in2.
Quarter-round fillets, f8-1 tons/in2.
These stresses are based on bending moment at the wheelseat diameter, although the specimens with quarter-round
fillets always failed at the root of the fillet where the stress
was actually f9 ton/in2 because of the reduced shaft
diameter.
Railway axles differ from turbine shafts in two respects
which may be important:
wheels are press fitted on railway axles but shrunk on
to turbine shafts;
the bending moment in a railway axle arises from side
thrusts on the wheels which are transmitted through the
press fit whereas in a turbine shaft the bending moment
arises simply from gravitational bending of the shaft.
Nevertheless, if quarter-round fillets could be provided
at press-fit terminations it is likely that fretting and
associated cracking of the wheel seat would be eliminated.
It is, of course, essential that press fits should terminate
abruptly and the wheel must therefore overhang the fillet.
With this arrangement adequate fatigue strength can
readily be achieved where a raised seat can be provided or
diameters can be freely chosen, but is more difficult to
achieve with existing axles where no increase in diameter
is permissible. If, for example, the shallow groove 0.205 in
deep used by the authors were replaced by a flat-bottom
groove of the same depth but with a quarter-round fillet
0.205 in rad. adjacent to the wheel seat the stress concentration factor Kt = 2.73. This factor depends on the ratio
of wheel or wheel-hub diameter to shaft diameter and I
have arbit,rarily assumed a ratio of 6. I should expect the
plain fatigue limit for the 1ower:strengt.h material of cast B
to be not less than 0-4xultimate tensile strength, i.e.
f33 000 lb/in2, so for the grooved shaft Se = f12000 lb/
in2 at the root of the fillet, or f 10000 lb/in2 at the wheelseat diameter.
A higher fatigue strength, &16300 lb/in2 can be
achieved by increasing the radius to 0.45 in, but this
involves further reduction in shaft diameter at the bottom
of the fillet and means that stress at the wheel-seat
diameter would only be increased to f10400 lb/in2.
This compares with the maximum stress of f 12000 lb/
in2 measured by the authors in service and presumably is
not quite good enough. It is not quite as good as the
Vol182 Pt
I No 4
102
DISCUSSION
f12000 lb/in2 crack limit achieved on test with rolled

seats and a relief groove (presumably with cast B material).
However, cold rolling or other surface treatment of the
fillet or the use of elliptical fillets would probably increase
fatigue strength sufficiently to provide the required
strength and this would be obtained without rolling the
wheel seats. I suggest therefore that the use of quarterround fillets is worth further consideration since it appears
to be the only way to achieve the desired object of entirely eliminating fretting at wheel seats.
In our tests on turbine shafts we were aware that shrink
fits set up tensile axial stresses just outside the fit, just as
press fits do, and we measured stresses of about 7000 lb/in2
at the centre of a groove of 1$ in wide in a 5-inch-diameter
shaft. However, fatigue tests showed that these axial
stresses were of minor importance, the fatigue strength of
shafts with integral collars being only marginally greater
than that of geometrically similar shafts with two collars
shrunk on in close proximity.
The authors say that the press fit induced a tensile stress
of 6000 lb/in2 at the bottom of their relief groove as compared with 5000 lb/in2 at a similar position when no groove
was used. The additional mean stress of 1000 lb/in2 would
have a negligible effect on fatigue strength and I cannot
think this is sufficient justification for the additional expense of rolling the surface of the groove. Fatigue strength
Pros Instn M e c h Engrs 1967-68
at the bottom of the groove will already be comfortably

above the maximum cracking limit of f12000 lb/in2
achieved at the wheel-seat termination.
I should like to ask the following questions about the
authors tests.
What was the position of failure of plain specimens-in
the shaft body or adjacent to a fillet ? If it was adjacent to a
fillet, it should be remembered that the stress concentration at that position depends on the ratio of weight to
axle diameter as well as on fillet radius.
Presumably when testing press fits, a weight was shrunk
on top of the press-fit sleeve; Whether this is an adequate
simulation of service conditions depends on the sequence
of assembly used, since shrink fitting and press fitting may
produce different results. I should like to know what
sequence was used.
What is the depth of surface layer of material which is
affected by cold rolling? Is it 0.050 in, i.e. the depth of
cracks found in cold-rolled wheel seats ?
REFERENCES
(21)
(22)
COYLE,M. B. and WATSON,

S. J. Fatigue strength of turbine shafts with shrunk-on discs, Proc. Instn mech. Engrs
1963-64 178 (Pt l), 147.
PETERSEN,
R. E. Stress concentration design factors (John
Wiley and Sons Inc., New York).
Vol I82 Pt I hTo 4
103
Communications
Dr B. H. Baines, B.Sc., C.Eng., A.M.1.Mech.E.-The
authors attempt to explain the circumstances under which
fretting arises is not very helpful. On present evidence it
seems probable that fretting is a rubbing action arising
when T,, at the interface is greater than some function of the
normal stress ur and other factors which might be lumped
together as a coefficient of friction. Now T , . ~is zero at the
end of the interface and will climb rapidly to a maximum
just along the interface and will then decrease through
zero and back to zero at the other end of the interface so as
to satisfy equilibrium. Any geometrical changes which
reduce the values of T~~ (but do not significantly reduce or)
at the interface are therefore beneficial and this is precisely the effect produced by the insertion of the groove
used by the authors. Until fretting occurs it is highly
probable that the press-fitted assembly behaves as a single
body in bending, A preliminary photoelastic investigation
of the size and site effect of the groove on the shear stress
rr2 in the region of the interface would have given the
authors something tangible to which to relate their results.
A computational and photoelastic analysis of shrinkfitted assemblies (23) has shown that, for an assembly
without bending, small geometrical changes near the ends
of the interface in either the shaft or the disc (including
variable interference) can significantly influence the stress
distribution along the interface-for good or ill! This work
is continuing with bending and torsion effects included in
the analysis. This investigation covers one aspect of shrinkfitted assemblies, but the ability to vary the geometry to
give any desired pattern of normal stress at the interface
will only be useful when we know what pattern is desirable,
or undesirable. I n this context the authors have presented
a very useful contribution. It is hoped that analyses of the
authors results (and those of others) may eventually lead
to some understanding of the combinations of a, and r r z
at which fretting can be expected and also check the
validity of such laboratory results as those of Field and
Waters (24) in more practical situations,
REFERENCES
(23) MATHER,
J. The computation of stresxes in axially-symmetrical
shrink-& assemblies 1967 Thesis presented to the University of Manchester for the degree of Ph.D.
(24) FIELD,
J. E. and WATERS,
D. M. Fretting-fatigue strength
of En 26 steel, NEL Rep. No. 275, 1967.
Mr R. Howard, C.Eng., A.M.1.Mech.E.-Measures

to counter fatigue failures in railway axles in this paper
involve cold rolling the wheel-seats, provision of stressrelieving grooves, and cold rolling the groove profile. It
may be helpful to include in this communication some
edited extracts from a publication which appeared in
America in 1946 dealing with the same subjects.
The research laboratories of the Timken Roller Bearing
Company inaugurated a programme of research in 1931
on the design of railway axles. This was because of the
increasing number of axle fatigue failures under railway
equipment.
The number of axle failures in comparison with the
total number of axles in service was very small, because of
periodic examination or renewal. Generally speaking,
there was a known remedy for correcting these failures
except for fatigue fractures which developed in the axle
under the pressed-on wheel. Therefore this type of fracture is the one discussed here.
Another factor was that the life of the friction bearing
axle was usually limited by wear and the condition of the
plain bearing journals. The increasing use of roller bearings removed this limitation on axle life. Axle life could be
greatly extended if the axle fatigue resistance in the wheel
fit could be improved.
The object of this research was to determine how the
influence of press-fitted wheels influenced axle fatigue
resistance as well as to find means of improving this condition. The programme included photoelastic analysis and
fatigue tests. The manner in which various axle shapes or
geometry influenced the stress distribution in axles was
studied by making photoelastic examinations of bakelite
models of press-fitted axle assemblies. Photoelastic studies
permitted a better choice to be made of the different axle
designs chosen for the fatigue tests which involve considerable time and expense.
Findings from these early investigations led to a better
understanding and suggestions as to possible means of
finding a solution. Some fundamentals are briefly reviewed
so that an appreciation may be had of the full-size tests on
fatigue machines, the first of which was built in 1936.
The mere press fit of a member on an axle submitted
to alternating stresses predents a considerable weakening
effect which is almost as severe as though the axle were
severely notched. It has been found that an axle will break
Vol I82 Pt I No 4
104
COMMUNICATIONS
off in the wheel fit at a bending stress which is only onethird to one-half of the stress at which the axle will break
off without a press-fitted member being applied.
Three principal factors contribute to this weakness. The
press-fitted assembly presents a shape somewhat similar to
that obtained by machining the axle and wheel from one
piece of steel in that a small fillet radius introduces a high
stress concentration in the transition between the axle and
wheel. The press-fit pressure between the two members
reaches a peak value at the end faces of the hub owing to
the end restraint of the protruding axle which, under
certain conditions of bending in the axle, may be aggravated by impingement of the ends of the hub under heavy
pressure against the compression side of the axle. The
minute sliding action of the end face of the hub on the axle
surface due to the alternate elongation and contraction of
the axle fibres produces corrosion of these rubbing parts
with a resultant weakening. In practice this corrosion is
noticeable by the rust formation found in particularly
large amounts near the ends of the press fit.
Photoelasticity provides a photographic method of
showing the distribution and magnitude of stresses present
in structural and machine parts under load. Failure of
design members usually occurs in a region of localized
stresses and in this respect the photoelastic method often
enables the designer to locate quickly the regions of stress
concentration. At the same time improvements in design
become apparent which lead to a lower maximum stress
and a more uniform distribution.
A process has been developed for rolling the surface of
axles in the region over which the fitted member is applied.
This rolling process is an old art and is better known in the
shop as burnishing. The reason for its use has usually
been to produce a smooth and hard surface resistant to
wear as obtained in the burnishing of journals of railwaycar axles. In this new application rolling is employed to
increase the endurance limit by at least two times against
the axle breaking off in the wheel fit. This rolling is equally
effective for other fitted members such as gears and
pulleys.
The manual operation of rolling consists in rotating the
axle slowly on lathe centres with the rolling device attached to the lathe carriage. The rolling device consists of
three rollers equally spaced circumferentially about the
axle and arranged so that they roll the surface of the axle
as the lathe carriage is moved longitudinally along the axle.
Sufficient roller pressure is applied to deform the surface
layers of the axle plastically. Vickers hardness measurements indicate that the metal hardness is influenced for a
depth of f to 1in.
Axles with rolled wheel seats as large as 12-inch diameter have been tested in fatigue in the machine. The
fatigue resistance of such large axles after surface rolling
is about double that of unrolled axles. There is no other
known means of doubling the factor of safety against road
failures at so small a cost.
This same type of surface rolling operation has been
applied to axles to improve their fatigue resistance. The
results of these tests show that the fatigue resistance of

shafts having rolled fillets was 30 per cent better than that
of shafts with unrolled but polished radii.
The beneficial influence of relief grooves in axles has
been discussed under photoelastic studies. Some axles
were tested without a relief groove and others had a relief
groove around the axle adjacent to the wheel-hub face.
Fatigue values obtained show that the relief groove
increases the fatigue resistance by more than 57 per cent.
The function of the groove is to obtain a better flow of
stress between the axle and wheel so as to result in less
stress concentration near the end of the wheel fit. This
groove is rolled with a roller shape and pressure which is
sufficient to deform the surface layers of the groove
plastically. This rolling increases the fatigue resistance of
the metal at the bottom of the groove and counteracts the
detrimental influence that the notch would have in inviting failure to occur near the base of the groove. A large
number of axles have been placed in service and none has
ever failed in the groove when the groove was rolled.
A combination of rolling and relief groove is recommended because it has enabled some railways to obtain
greatly increased axle milage. The present limited practice
of machining out the very shallow fatigue cracks that may
develop in the axle wheel fit made in this manner and then
rerolling is one which could be safely extended in its use.
Extensive research has given us a better knowledge of how
the fatigue cracks initiate and then propagate in the wheel
fit of an axle.
The research work referred to in the preceding paragraphs and carried out between 1931 and 1948 was
applied in three ways. Firstly, photoelastic studies led to
the development of axle forms in which areas of high stress
concentration were avoided. Secondly, three-roller coldrolling devices for wheel seats and single-point rollers for
stress-relieved grooves were developed and used. Thirdly,
instructions were written to cover the correct procedure to
be followed when the equipment was used. Perhaps in this,
as in other matters, we need to be reminded more often
than we need to be instructed, since both the equipment
and the knowledge required to counter fatigue failures in
axles already exist.
It would be useful if the authors could develop from
their present work a code of cold-rolling practice for use in
the United Kingdom which could form the basis of a
standard procedure and would define, for example, roller
pressure and feed rates for different designs of axle. The
S.A.E. Handbook Supplement 3 (25) contains much useful
information on this subject. Do the authors have experience with problems of grinding after cold rolling since
the former operation tends to remove the effect of the
latter ? Furthermore, do they feel that all axles of dieselelectric and electric locomotives and multi-unit stock
should be subjected to the measures which they discuss
in order to prolong the fatigue life of the axles, especially
since cold-rolling equipment already exists in this country.
Perhaps Appendix 3 should also have included references (25) and (26).
Vol182 Pt 1 No 4

REFERENCES
(25) SOCIETY
OF AUTOMOTIVE
ENGINEERS
surface rolling and
other methodl for mechanical presstressing of metals Handbook Supplement 3.

(26) YONTAR,M. Research on operating stresses in PATH
railcar axles, drive systems, wheels and rail joints,
A.S.M.E. Paper 66-RR-6.
M r D. Hughes, C.Eng., A.M.1.Mech.E.-Have

the
authors found in their investigation any results of the effect
of adjacent press fits upon one another ?
Coyle and Watson in their paper (21)showed that wheel
hubs behave as though solid with the shaft and that shafts
with shrunk-on collars showed fatigue strengths similar to
those of shafts with integral collars. Therefore when two
press fits are brought closer together the fillet condition
is transformed into a deep groove condition.
Consider two adjacent press fits on raised seats, e.g.
adjacent roadwheel and gearwheel seats. How close can the
two fits be brought together without increase of the stress
concentration of either ? What percentage increase in stress
concentration can one expect as the distance between the
fits decreases ?
Dr K. L. Johnson, M.A., M.Sc.Tech., C.Eng.,
A.M.1.Mech.E.-The
authors have added another useful
case-study to the literature describing design measures to
counter fatigue failure in shrink- or press-fitted assemblies.
They are no doubt aware of the investigations of Coyle and
Watson (21) following the failure of turbo-alternator
shafts which had shrunk-on discs. The beneficial effect of
a fillet or stress-relieving groove adjacent to the disc or
wheel seat has been established in both investigations.
My contribution is really concerned with the mechanics
of the process, which is discussed in Appendix 1. Here the
authors restrict their discussion to a consideration of the
stresses introduced by the normal interfacial pressures
between the hub and the shaft. They postulate that the
alternating bending moment in the shaft gives rise to an
appreciable variation in the pressure around the mouth of
the hole, even to the extent of its losing contact with the
shaft. Have they any direct evidence for such behaviour ?
I should be very surprised, with an appreciable interference fit, if the hole opened in the manner suggested. I
should expect, rather, that the bending moment in the
shaft (the shear force is zero in a railway axle) was reacted
largely by tangential friction forces between the hub and
the shaft.
A fairly thorough discussion of the stresses arising
through slip and friction in situations similar to that
studied by the authors has been given by Johnson and
OConnor (27). The beneficial effect of a stress-relieving
groove was demonstrated, but it was shown that, to
eliminate fretting, it is necessary for the face of the hub
to be flush with the side of the groove, rather than to overhang the groove. (See the discussion to (21)and (27).) Did
the authors make any tests with a flush fitting hub ?
Finally, the process of push-fitting introduces stresses
105
due to frictional forces which were undoubtedly present in

the strain-gauge tests of Wise and Burdon. Two points
arise here. Firstly, the wheel hubs in service were presumably pushed on; were the test specimens pushed on, or
were they fitted by the oil-injection method, which would
introduce different frictional stresses at the interface ?
Secondly, there are theoretical grounds for thinking that,
when a wheel hub is pushed on to a shaft, the residual
frictional stresses result in tension at the inner mouth of
the hole where the fatigue cracks appear, and compression
at the mouth of the hole facing the end of the shaft. This
undesirable state of affairs could be reversed if the hub
were pushed on a little too far and subsequently withdrawn slightly to its final position. It would be interesting
to know whether such differences of press-fitting procedure significantly affect the fatigue strength.
REFERENCE
(27) JOHNSON,
K. L.
and OCONNOR,J. J. The mechanics of

fretting, Proc. Znstn mech. Engrs 1963-64 178 (Pt 3J), 7,
259.
Dr J. Mather, B.Sc., G.1.Mech.E.-The authors have

presented some very interesting results which leave the
reader in no doubt concerning the beneficial effects of the
presence of a groove beneath an overhanging hub in a
press-fit assembly.
The general deficiency of data relating to the interfacial
stress distribution is, however, again brought to light by the
authors unsureness concerning the effect of the groove on
the interfacial pressure.
They may be interested to hear of work recently carried
out at Manchester University, in which the prime aim was
to ascertain the effect of various geometrical features introduced in close proximity to the interface of shrink-fit
assemblies. Although there are basic differences between
shrink-fit and press-fit assemblies, the problems associated
with each are in many respects identical. This programme
of work was essentially computational, with supporting
photoelastic data, and it is indeed rather surprising that
the authors did not employ even a two-dimensional photoelastic analysis.
Although the configuration comprising the relief groove
in the shaft, with an overhanging hub, was not analysed in
(23), the effect of an overhanging outer component (hub)
was computed to be one giving rise to some increase in the
nominal interfacial radial stress towards the extremity of
the interface. Such an effect could well lead to a reduction
of fretting damage, by virtue of the greater force necessary
to produce relative motion between the mating components,
under the influence of the higher contact pressure.
The work at Manchester was directed at establishing
quantitatively the effects of variable radial interference
along the interface of a shrink-fit assembly. The computer
programme was developed to the extent of being able to
predict the necessary distribution of radial interference
along the interface in order to provide any stipulated interfacial radial-stress distribution. It is hoped that this particular aspect of the computer programme may be used as a
Vol182 Pt 1 No 4
106
COMMUNICATIONS
control tool for establishing some experimental data concerning the optimum radial-stress distribution, primarily
for the purpose of eliminating damage due to fretting in
shrink-fit (and probably press-fit) assemblies.
The computer results obtained so far have shown the
tremendous effect of small variations of radial interference
on the interfacial radial-stress distribution.
Information concerning the whole programme of work
is at present in course of preparation for publication; much
of it is contained in (23).
Dr J. J. OConnor, B.E., M.A., and Mr G. P. Wright,

B.Sc. (Oxford)-In Appendix 1 the authors suggest three
main reasons for the reduced fatigue strength of pressfitted assemblies :
fretting corrosion between hub and shaft;
the stress concentration produced at the edge of the
hub face;
tensile stresses under the hub resulting :from the
pressing-on. process.
They state that fretting corrosion probably has the
greatest influence on crack initiation. The purpose of this
note is to discuss the relation between stress concentration,
fretting and fatigue failure.
It is known (28) that fretting is caused by alternating
slip between contacting surfaces, and that the surfaces slip
in order to relieve large shear-stress concentrations related
to the distribution of stress within the contacting solids.
The stress distribution, however, is controlled by the
overall geometry of the assembly. Thus, in comparing an
assembly with a solid of the same overall shape, one might
expect that the theoretical stress concentration factors will
be similar, although that of the assembly may be slightly
less because of slip along the interface.
Therefore, in comparing the fatigue behaviour of an
assembly with that of a geometrically similar solid, one
would expect the assembly to be slightly stronger than the
solid. The assembly, however, has the added complication
of fretting damage from which cracks are known to propagate. Since the dimensions of a fretting pit are, typically,
small compared with the volume of material affected by
the geometric stress concentration, one might argue from
the size effect that the additional reduction in fatigue
strength due to fretting will be small. I n the design of
assemblies one would then use the well established techniques for eliminating stress concentrations at changes of
section, incidentally eliminating fretting.
An experimental programme is being conducted to
examine the assertion that both fretting and reduction of
fatigue strength are consequences of the geometric stress
concentration rather than cause and effect. Tests are being
carried out with solid and assembled specimens of the
same geometric shape and, in order to eliminate uncertainties caused by shrinking or pressing processes, plate
specimens are being used with clamping load P applied
through a loading frame. The ratio of the clamping force
to the amplitude of the alternating fatigue load is kept
Proc InFtn Mech Engrs 1967-68
constant in each test to ensure that fretting occurs on

about half the contact area with a maximum slip amplitude
of about 0.001 in. The material is L65 aluminium alloy.
Some preliminary results for sharp-cornered specimens
are shown in Fig. 9. From the results obtained so far, the
solid appears to be weaker than the assembly except at long
lives where, possibly, the relatively lower stresses in the
specimens are not sufficient to propagate the cracks formed
in the sharp notch.
Comparison between the S-N curve for the assembly
and for plain specimens would indicate a strength-reduction factor of about 3. It has been the practice to ascribe
this reduction to fretting fatigue. It is suggested that this
is not a realistic comparison; the assembly is in fact
slightly stronger than the geometrically similar solid and
the strength reduction is in both cases primarily due to the
sharp change in section.
Further tests are in hand to complete the curves of
Fig. 9 and the effect of various geometric stress reliefs will
be studied in the near future.
If these results are applied to the design of shrink-fitted
assemblies, it would appear that a safe working load should
be calculated on the basis of the geometrically similar solid;
it is expected that further evidence will show that complete stress relief at the corners will lead to the assembly
and the solid having identical S-N curves. These experiments, however, will not account for the additional effects
due to push fitting. The fact that under these conditions
fatigue cracks propagate from inside the hub face may well
be associated with the bell mouthing of the hub during
assembly so that the site of the fatigue crack may coincide
with the edge of the actual contact. Can the authors say, in
relation to Fig. 7, where the fatigue cracks occur ?
r-l
i Y
Plain
-_
I
105
Solid
Assembly
105
137
C Y C L E S TO FAILURE (LOG S C A L E )
106
Fig. 9. Fatigue test results with plain assembly and

solid specimens
Vol182 Pt I No 4
107
Authors Reply
Mr W. W. Maxwell, Dr B. R. Dudley, Dr A. B.
Cleary, Mr J. Richards, and Mr J. Shaw-We are
grateful for the many comments and queries submitted,
answers to which have been grouped under a number of
headings.
In reply fmt to questions of specimen and machine
design raised by Mr Styles, Dr Johnson, Mr Watson, and
Mr Howard, the cold-rolled, grooved specimens were
rolled throughout their length before machining of the
grooves. The extent of overhang of the sleeve over the
groove was 0.75 in. The method of assembly of pressfitted specimens was described in detail by Dudley in (16).
Briefly, a cylindrical sleeve with a light interference is
pressed on to the specimen, rape oil beingused as a lubricant (as used in production mounting of wheels; more
recently a band of white-lead-linseed-oil mixture has been
added to the position subject to fretting). This sleeve is
surrounded by a taper sleeve which is assembled into the
weight by the S.K.F. oil-injection method. The dimensions were chosen so that the interface pressure between
the parallel sleeve and the specimen after assembly
approximated to the value obtained in the production
press fit. It is appreciated that this method of assembly
produces surface conditions more akin to those in a shrinkfit than in a press fit, but the method is convenient for
assembly and dismantling and the appearance of fretting
bands and the position of cracks in the laboratory specimens agree well with those observed in service.
In deciding initially to cold-roll the grooves in the
specimens we were seeking to prevent failures from occurring by cracking at the root of the grooves before any
fretting or cracking had had time to develop in the press
fit. In the axles tested in service, on the other hand, it was
regarded as a safety precaution which it was prudent to
adopt until further experience was avilable; this decision
appears to be supported by the American experience
quoted by Mr Howard.
With regard to the position and depth of cracks in
specimens and the depth of the effect of cold rolling mentioned by Mr Watson, Mr Howard, and Dr OConnor and
Mr Wright, the cracks occurring in the bodies of specimens without a press fit were at the position where the
fillet radius joins the parallel portion of the testpiece,
When cracks occur under press fits they are generally
towards the inner edge of the band of fretting, i.e. at a
position closer to C than to A in the fret band marked in
Fig. 7. With regard to the query on the depth of effect of
cold rolling, a significant increase in hardness is produced

to a depth of about 0.25 in and residual stress determinations by the Sachs boring-out method gave results indicating that a compressive residual stress was produced up
to a depth slightly less than this. Mr Howard suggests that
enhanced hardness is found at a rather greater depth than
the figure quoted above, but this may relate todifferent
rolling conditions.
I n reply to Mr Howard, it has not been found necessary
to grind after cold rolling in London Transport practice,
although it is believed that some authorities have found it
necessary to do so when using greater roll loads. We consider it highly undesirable to finish grind, because grinding
introduces tensile residual stresses at the surface and defeats the main purpose of cold rolling.
Dr Johnson asks whether any tests were made with a
hub flush with the edge of the groove rather than overhanging it. Some further work along these lines was mentioned when the paper was presented, and this work is still
in progress. Fretting was found to occur at a very early
stage with the hub flush with the edge of the groove, but
so far no cracking has been observed. As Mr Styles has
pointed out, crack initiation appears to be associated with
fretting so that a flush-fitting hub would not offer the
same degree of protection as an overhanging hub, This
result appears to contradict the design criteria for the
avoidance of fretting proposed by Dr Johnson in (6), and
we would be more inclined to agree with Mr Watson that
the wheel must overhang the fillet.
Some thought was given to the adoption of alternative
groove designs, such as semi-elliptical grooves, or grooves
terminating in a quarter-round fillet as suggested by Mr
Watson. It was felt that these would be more difficult to
machine without the introduction of stress-raising
machine marks and would also be more difficult to coldroll. Consideration was also given at an early stage to a
photoelastic investigation of alternative groove design as
suggested by Dr Baines, Mr Howard, and Dr Mather. At
that time the Nottingham University staff specializing in
this field recommended that a three-dimensional analysis
would be necessary and as this appeared likely to delay the
investigation unduly it was not proceeded with.
I n reply to Mr Hughess query, no tests have been
carried out to determine the effect of two adjacent press
fits on one another. The situation occurs in practice at the
gear end of a motor axle where the press-fitted gear and
road wheel are quite close together. It has been found that
Vol182 Pt 1 No 4
108
AUTHORS REPLY
cracking occurs more readily at the non-gear end of such

an axle where the wheel-seat diameter is smaller.
We read with great interest the information on case
histories of axle failures on British Railways a number of
years ago presented by Mr Turner. We consider, however,
that the abnormally corrosive conditions he described are
not experienced in London Transport service and, apart
from the possibility mentioned on p. 90, that in the past
occasional axle failures may have occurred owing to the
development of fatigue cracks from corrosion pits, there is
no reason to believe that corrosion has contributed much
to these troubles. The practice now used to protect axle
centres from corrosion is thoroughly to clean the axle,
coat with red lead primer to B.S. 2523 Type B, wrap with
glass cloth and bind with insulating tape and paint with a
liberal application of non-metallic canvas-covering paint.
This appears to give good results in service. It is undesirable to coat the groove surface with anything which would
make crack detection more difficult; in any case the grooves
are covered with a heavy film of oil in service and no signs
of corrosion have been observed to date. On the question
of scoring of hubs and wheel seats, we agree that the most
likely cause is local welding and this sometimes leads to
quite spectacular damage to wheel seat and hub during
removal of the wheel. The extent of scoring of both wheel
bore and axle varies tremendously from case to case.
We were very interested to hear of the computational
analysis being carried out at Manchester University and
look forward to its publication. We are gratified to learn
that it has been computed that an increase in the nominal
interfacial radial stress occurs towards the extremity of
the interface between an overhanging hub and axle. We
had anticipated that this would be so in the similar case
of an overhanging wheel and groove; and that the in-
Proc Insrn Mech Engrs 1967-68
creased radial stress would tend to prevent relative movement between the hub and axle, thus minimizing fretting,
Dr Johnson asks if we have any evidence for our hypothesis that the alternating bending movement in the shaft
can give rise to variation in the radial pressure round the
mouth of the hole even to the extent of its losing contact
with the shaft. The only direct evidence for this was the
pumping action observed at the edge of the hub when
dye penetrant was applied to the specimen while the
machine was in operation during the early high-stresslevel tests. Support for this view is provided by the fact
that the outer edge of the band of fretting observed on the
specimens does not coincide with the edge of the hub. As
fretting can only occur between two surfaces which remain
in contact while moving relative to one another (24), this
suggests that the hub and axle are out of contact with each
other for part of the cycle.
Dr Johnson refers to the possibility of partially relieving
residual stresses produced in the axle pressing-on process
by pressing too far initially and then pressing back to the
final position. Present practice is to press on the wheels to
their final position during which process a certain minimum load must be exceeded. A back-pressure test is then
applied and the wheel must not move under the application of a specified load. It is clear that, because of the
danger of a wheel moving on an axle in service, the procedure proposed by Dr Johnson would not be acceptable.
Mr Howard asks whether we recommend the application of the measures outlined in the paper to all axles of
hesel, diesel-electric, and electric locomotives and of
multi-unit stock. I t is difficult to generalize on this point
in view of the multitude of different axle designs involved,
but we should certainly like to see them applied wherever
possible.
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89

RAILWAY ENGINEERING GROUP

MEASURES TO COUNTER FATIGUE FAILURE

INCOMMON with other operators of railway rolling stock,

fatigue in car axles and Foppl (2) demonstrated the

Experience in London Transport

W. W. MAXWELL, B. R. DUDLEY, A. B. CLEARY, J. RICHARDS AND J. SHAW

to and including 1947 and the period from 1948 onwards.

Fig. 1. Face of fracture of District Line axle No. 22932

Effect of cold rolling upon the fatigue strength of

MEASURES TO COUNTER FATIGUE FAILURE IN RAILWAY AXLES

W. W. MAXWELL, B. R. DUDLEY, A. B. CLEARY, J. RICHARDS AND J . SHhW

Other methods of improving fatigue strength

Fig. 3. General principle of fatigue-testing machine

MEASURES TO COUNTER FATIGUE FAILURE IN RAILWAY AXLES

'Cold roll body

Fig. 4. Designs of specimen

fretting plays little further part in their growth. On this

W. W. MAXWELL, B. R. DUDLEY, A. B. CLEARY, J. RICHARDS AND J. SHAW

of the groove was presumably also correspondingly lower.

Initial tests were carried out at a bending-stress level of

CYCLES (LOG SCALE) TO CRACK INITIATION

Mech Engrs 1967-68

MEASURES TO COUNTER FATIGUE FAILURE I N RAILWAY AXLES

Press fits (single stress levels) on plain and grooved

less deep than those in the plain specimens. There was

W. W. MAXWELL, B. R. DUDLEY, A. B. CLEARY, J. RICHARDS AND J. SHAW

reason for carrying out tests at even lower stress levels.

SERVICE T E S T OF GROOVED AXLES

In parallel with the laboratory tests in the axle-fatigue

those obtained from the fatigue tests. Up to the present

Cold rolling has a very beneficial effect upon the fatigue

The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance and

It is known that press-fits have a deleterious effect upon the

MEASURES TO COUNTER FATIGUE FAILURE IN RAILWAY AXLES

initiation of fatigue cracks, but once the crack has initiated it

when axial stress due t o bending

when axial stress due t o bending

axial stress due t o bending is tensile

Fie. 7. Changes produced, under the action of tensile or

in practice fatigue cracks do not start from the intersection of

W. W. MAXWELL, B. R. DUDLEY, A. B. CLEARY, J. RICHARDS AND J. SHAW

Table 1. Chemical composition and mechanical properties of

Yield stress, tonf/in2

Table 2. Chemical composition and mechanical properties of

MEASURES T O COUNTER FATIGUE FAILURE IN RAILWAY AXLES

If, now, I may turn to one or two points of my own, I

way fully confirmed but such evidence as has been

Proc Instn Mech Engrs 196748

the carriage axles of The Flying Scotsman were unheard of,

MEASURES TO COUNTER FATIGUE FAILURE IN RAILWAY AXLES

practice, are the surfaces of wheel hub and axle scored

Mr S . J. Watson, B.Sc.(Eng.), Wh.Sch., C.Eng.,

f12000 lb/in2 crack limit achieved on test with rolled

Pros Instn M e c h Engrs 1967-68

at the bottom of the groove will already be comfortably

COYLE,M. B. and WATSON,

Vol I82 Pt I hTo 4

Mr R. Howard, C.Eng., A.M.1.Mech.E.-Measures

results of these tests show that the fatigue resistance of

MEASURES TO COUNTER FATIGUE FAILURE IN RAILWAY AXLES

other methodl for mechanical presstressing of metals Handbook Supplement 3.

M r D. Hughes, C.Eng., A.M.1.Mech.E.-Have