Abstract
The mechanical behavior of materials plays a vital role in the structural performance of designed structures. Therefore, significant resources are devoted globally towards experimental characterization of material behavior, especially for the experiments requiring particular protocols. Contrary, finite element analysis tools have made a substantial contribution to the design of structural elements, which could conserve a significant amount of resources and material wastage. Evaluation of fatigue life of materials is necessary to predict the life expectancy of the structures precisely, and opening stress levels under fatigue loading contributes towards this evaluation. Railways serve as freight and passenger carrier transportation modes. The railway axles contribute as the primary load-carrying element; therefore, the design of railway axles and the study of their mechanical behavior under repeated loading is vital. In this study, the authors present a finite element simulation technique to evaluate the opening stress levels for two structural steels subjected to low cycle fatigue. The finite element analysis (FEA) model was designed and validated following the simulation of fatigue crack propagation under high plasticity conditions. Numerical simulation results were compared with the experimental results obtained earlier through the digital image correlation (DIC) technique. To conclude, FEA could be a useful tool to predict crack closure phenomena and, ultimately, the fatigue life of components. However, researchers need to establish more sophisticated numerical tools for more precise results in case of high plasticity conditions near the crack tip.
Mechanical behavior of ballasted railway track stabilized with polyurethane: A finite element analysis
