Appropriate method for railway vehicle axle journal bearing capacity evaluation

Appropriate method is proposed for evaluating railway axle journal bearing capacity. Localized rolling contact fatigue (RCF) damage failure mechanism is addressed for well dealing the RCF related bearing capacity evaluation including determination of service loads, calculation on local RCF stresses, and life prediction related capacity evaluation method. Bearing service loads should be determined using the suggested deduction approach from the wheel-rail contact forces inspected by instrumental wheel set. The localized RCF stresses should be properly calculated with the presented finite element approach with two stepped policy from global wheel set to sampled bearing. And bearing capacity is evaluated by the survival probability and confidence based life prediction of the weakest bearing component with 3-parameter Weibull life distribution. The present work enhances development of bearing materials, manufacturing processes, and structural profiles related the localized failure mechanism.