Figure 3: Train approaching a grade crossing that is constructed with a “fail-safe“ activation circuit.
TIMEOUT FOR TECH
WHEEL AND RAIL
FATIGUE PREVENTION STRATEGIES Three approaches are available.
elcome to “Timeout for Tech with Gary T. Fry, Ph.D., P.E.” Each month, we examine a technology topic that professionals in the railway industry have asked
42 Railway Age // April 2022
to learn more about. This month, we discuss strategies to prevent fatigue failures of steel railway wheels and rails. We begin by defining “failure” of an engineered system. In a very general sense, an engineered system fails whenever the demand placed on the system
exceeds its capacity. Alternatively, we could define failure as occurring whenever the capacity of a system falls below the demand placed on it. Figures 1 (p. 43) and 2 (p. 44) are different illustrations of these ideas. The system considered in Figure 1 railwayage.com
Gary Fry
W
By Gary T. Fry, Ph.D., P.E., Vice President, Fry Technical Services, Inc.