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Research on Fatigue Test Method of Car Body for High-speed trains

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2018 International Conference on Civil and Hydraulic Engineering (IConCHE 2018) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 189 (2018)
1234567890 ‘’“” 062002 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/189/6/062002

Research on Fatigue Test Method of Car Body for High-speed

trains

Chao Wang1*, Chengqiang Wang1, Chaotao Liu2, Yongzhi Jiang2

1
CRRC Changchun Railway Co. Ltd., Changchun, Jilin, 130062, China
2
State Key Laboratory of Traction Power, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu,
Sichuan, 610031, China
*Corresponding author’s e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. The car body of high-speed train bears all the static and dynamic loads. An accurate
strength analysis of critical point is crucial for its fatigue design. Since a fatigue analysis is
dependent on the load amplitude and its application point on car body, the loads applied in the
fatigue test is studied by using the strength test bench. A comparative study was performed
among the relevant standards concerns the car body fatigue. In addition, a specific test scheme
is promoted, and the applied loads on vertical, lateral, longitudinal and torsional directions on
car body under various spectrums are thoroughly determined. This study provides a basic
fatigue test bench of car body for high-speed trains with the specific loads application and test
schemes. This allows the body to be subjected to random loads and provides a basis for the
specifications of follow-up fatigue tests on the car body and its components.

1. Introduction
With the increase of commercial speeds of high-speed trains on conventional tracks in China, the car
body structures of these vehicles are subject to serious fatigue problems. A general strength evaluation
method of car body is to perform a static load test and finite element analysis (FEA). However, the
evaluation of fatigue strength of railway vehicle components could not be performed well due to the
fact that the structural failure is mainly caused by the dynamic random loads. It is particularly
important to find out the weak parts of car body. However, the research on the car body fatigue test is
very limited.
The FEA and tests on rig are two essential techniques used during the car body strength design. The
simulation has the advantages of high efficiency and low cost, whereas the test can verify the accuracy
of simulation, but also consider others factors. Since the fatigue analysis of car body is dependent on
the load and its application position, a comparative study was performed among the relevant standards
in the loads definition. In addition, a specific fatigue test scheme for the car body of high-speed trains
is promoted and verified on a newly designed test rig.
A quasi-static stress analysis method is a commonly used time domain approaches to analyze the
dynamic stress for fatigue assessment [1]. A linear elastic analysis is that the external load history
acting on the structure can be replaced by a static unit load acting on the same location in the same
direction as the load history. The quasi-static stress analysis is then performed for each individual unit
loads. A multi-disciplinary analysis method is proposed for evaluating the fatigue life and durability of
car body under random dynamic loads [2]. The necessity of evaluating aluminum alloy car body
fatigue strength with a large dynamic load test method in introduced in reference [3]. The car body

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2018 International Conference on Civil and Hydraulic Engineering (IConCHE 2018) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 189 (2018)
1234567890 ‘’“” 062002 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/189/6/062002

material's Goodman curve according to the mechanical properties of aluminum alloy and specification
was declared in EN 12663 as well as the related car body fatigue assessment [4]. in the fatigue
analysis of the aluminum alloy car body, the influence of aerodynamic loads was also considered [5].
Lab tests for the fatigue strength testing of the underframe of car body are proposed for railway
vehicles [6], in which the basic process of reproducing the load spectrum is analyzed. The vibrational
state of the car body is accurately simulated on the test rig, which allows the body to be subjected to
random loads. This investigation provides a basis for the specifications of follow-up fatigue tests on
the car body and its components.

2. Background
At present, there are not detailed rules for the specific implementation of the fatigue test of car body.
Use fatigue tests on car body, fruitful studies can be achieved. Figure 1 depicts the test rig in Korea,
and the Association of American Railway (AAR) has established a car body fatigue test rig, which has
carried out a large number of fatigue tests for freight wagons, as shown in Fig.2. The rig uses an
inertia loading method to carry out the fatigue life test. The acceleration signal on car body and the
nodal stress or force on coupler are used to accelerate the test, and the accelerated load spectrum is
reproduced.

Figure 1. Fatigue test rig in Korea Figure 2. Fatigue test rig in AAR

Figure 3. Fatigue test rig in QRS Figure 4. Fatigue test rig in SWJTU
Qiqihar Rolling Stock Co., Ltd. (QRS) in China built a car body fatigue test rig and a vibration test
rig for relevant experiments for freight wagons. The input signal is used from actuators for loading is
adjusted in real time according to the back feed of target signal. The time history of strain and
acceleration of car body was measured and processed. The fatigue test rig in Southwest Jiaotong
University (SWJTU) in China is a multi-channel, multi loading mode and multi-function test rig. The
vibration load can be provided by two six degree-of-freedoms (DOFs) excitation platforms, then loads
can be applied in three directions simultaneously. The rig also has the ability for the airtight loading,
and the air tightness of the car body can be detected with the car body sealed and air filled. Using
those car body fatigue test rigs, the fatigue life for freight wagons and high-speed trains can be
verified.

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2018 International Conference on Civil and Hydraulic Engineering (IConCHE 2018) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 189 (2018)
1234567890 ‘’“” 062002 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/189/6/062002

3. Car Body Loads Study on the Fatigue Test Rig

3.1 Regulation of fatigue load of car body from standards

TB/T3541 ‘Strength design and test of the body structure of EMU body’ declares that the car body
should be able to bear loads more than 10 million times in three directions which are applied
separately. It is ±0.15g × (𝑚 + 𝑚 ) in x and y directions and 1 ± 0.15g × (𝑚 + 𝑚 ) along z
direction in which 𝑚 is for the mass of the car body under and 𝑚 denotes for the actual load.
EN 12663-1:2010+A1:2014 ‘Railway application - railway vehicle body structure requirements’
defines the same loads in TB/T3541, but their combinations are not specified. In addition, the load
conditions in the interface between the car body and bogie are required to be examined as specified in
EN12663. The loads consider the starting, braking, torsion and shock absorber loads.
EN13749-2011 ‘Railway application-the prescribed method of wheelset and bogie, bogie structure’
provides more specifications for the interface load between the car body and bogie, such as the
operating conditions, the load caused by braking is 1.1 times the rated braking load, and the load of
shock absorber is the unloading of the damper.
The fatigue load of subway and low-floor car body is divided into three types according to
VDV152-2016 ‘Recommendation on the Design for Strength of Urban Rail Rolling Stock according
to BOStrab’, as listed in Tab.1. For tangent and curved tracks and acceleration/deceleration cases, it
works for 6 million times. The load is same as defined in the EN12663. Although the VDV152 aims at
the subway car, the load condition can be used in the fatigue analysis for high-speed vehicles.
JIS E 7106:2006 ‘General requirements for the design of railway locomotives’ specifies the lateral
and vertical loads as that in EN12663, and provides a torsional load of 40 kN.m. While this standard
does not specify the longitudinal load.
Table 1. Loads in VDV152-2016 for subway and low-floor car body
Load condition x-direction y-direction z-direction Cycles
Tangent tracks / ±0.12 g -1 ± 0.19 g 6 million
Curved tracks / ±0.16 g -1 ± 0.1 g 6 million
Acceleration and deceleration ±0.15 g ±0.06 g -1 ± 0.1 g 6 million

3.2 Determination of test loads

3.2.1 Vertical load. Vertical load consists of two parts, the static load and dynamic load. Considering
the operating conditions of high-speed train, the static load is set as (𝑚 + 𝑚 )g in TB/T3541. It is
0.15 g plus the gravity of car body as defined in the European standard and the Japanese standard.

3.2.2 Lateral load. The lateral load includes the lateral loads of air spring and the central pin. Because
the load of air spring is much smaller than that of central pin, only the lateral load of central pin is
considered in the test. So it is 0.15 g plus the mass moment of inertia.

3.2.3 Longitudinal load. The longitudinal load is 0.15 g defined in TB/T3541 and EN12663. If the
inertia load is adopted, the same displacement excitation should be applied on two couplers and two
center-pins to make the body vibrate meet the target level. While this loading mode will not benefit for
the force distribution on components, and the phase relation of the load may also be contrary to the
phase relationship during start or brake. It is suggested to adjust the load when evaluating the sleeper
beam. However, for the fatigue test of the whole structure, a lot of suspended equipment on car body
and the connecting point needs to be considered as well. Only using the force loading mode will make
the stress on the hanging point deviate from the real value. Therefore, after the fatigue test, it is
recommended that the inertia loading is used to supplement the longitudinal load for the suspended
equipment.
The EN13749 specifies the load for starting and braking conditions, which can be converted into

3
2018 International Conference on Civil and Hydraulic Engineering (IConCHE 2018) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 189 (2018)
1234567890 ‘’“” 062002 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/189/6/062002

the acting force of each bogie to the car body by the following equation.
.
𝐹 = 1.1𝑎 (1)
Here，𝑚 is the vehicle mass，𝑎 the starting or braking acceleration，𝑃 the load，𝑛 the number
of bogies，𝑚 the bogie mass. In case of an inertia loading test, 0.15 g is used in EN12663.

3.2.4 Distortion load. The JIS E 7106 specifies the distortion load is 40 kN.m, but the other standards
do not mention it. This is mainly due to the large longitudinal load required in the European standard,
which generally meets the strength requirements and can also meet the stiffness requirements of car
body. It is necessary to limit the body stiffness because of the smaller longitudinal load and the
lightweight structure of the car body in Japan.

3.2.5 Load spectrum compilation for fatigue test. Cyclic load is the external cause of fatigue failure, so
the compilation of test load spectrum is particularly important. Except for VDV152, other standards do
not define stipulates on the compilation of load spectrum, and VDV152 is only suitable for subway
and low-floor vehicles. The fatigue life requirement of car body for high-speed trains is 15 million km,
which is much higher than that in Europe and Japan. UIC515-4:1993 ‘Structural strength test of
passenger vehicle-Trailer bogies-walking device-bogie frame’ mentions that the cycles of fatigue test
can fully simulate the conditions of running condition for 200 thousand km and 30 years. Therefore, in
the absence of the measured load spectrum, the method of the load spectrum compilation of this test is
carried out according to the UIC standard.
The load spectrum of this test is divided into main test sand supplementary test. The times of load
cycles for the main body and the supplementary parts are 10 million which is additionally divided into
three phases. The first 6 million times names the first phase, and 6-8 million times is the second phase,
and 8-10 million times means third phase, as shown in Tab.2. In the second and third phases, the
dynamic load is 1.2 times and 1.4 times that of the first phase, respectively.
Table 2. Load spectrum of fatigue test of car body for high-speed trains
Main test Supplementary test
Loads
First Second Third First Second Third
Longitudinal 𝐹 1.2𝐹 1.4𝐹 ±0.15 g ±0.18 g ±0.21 g
Lateral ±0.15 g ±0.18 g ±0.21 g 0
Vertical 1±0.15 g 1±0.18 g 1±0.21 g 0

4. Test Scheme for the Car Body Fatigue Test

According to the load spectrum proposed in Section 3, the car body fatigue test of high-speed trains
was carried out by using the test rig in SWJTU shown in Fig.5. The body was supported on two six
DOFs platforms in Fig.6. Each platform can realize the translational and rotational movements.
Connections between the car body and the platform are set according to the actual loads on car body.
The air-spring seat only bears the vertical load, and the center-pin bears both the lateral and
longitudinal loads.

Figure 5. Loading scheme for the fatigue test of car body

For the vertical loads of the secondary suspension, tools are installed on each six DOFs platform.

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2018 International Conference on Civil and Hydraulic Engineering (IConCHE 2018) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 189 (2018)
1234567890 ‘’“” 062002 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/189/6/062002

The lateral and longitudinal freedoms are released through linear bearings. A load sensor is arranged
between the tools and loading points on car body. Moreover, rubber pads are arranged at connecting
points to avoid rigid impacts in the test, see Fig.7. The center-pin loading tool is installed on the
platform as shown in Fig.8. The tool connects the false center-pin and the test platform through a
spherical joint. Two longitudinal actuators are arranged in the position of two couplers to simulate the
coupler force, as shown at the car body end in Fig.5. The six DOFs platform is equipped with 2
longitudinal actuators at the vertical and horizontal positions to balance the unbalanced longitudinal
from couplers.
Actuators along X

Actuators
Actuators
along Y
control pitch

Actuators along Z

Figure 6. Six DOFS platform for loading Figure 7. Air-spring loading tools
The actuator of each six DOFs platform is orthogonally decoupled, and the longitudinal, lateral and
vertical loads can be loaded at different frequencies. The longitudinal load is controlled by force, and
the lateral and vertical loads are loaded with the inertia of body mass, that is, the actuator is controlled
by displacement. In the test, accelerometers are mounted in the position of the sleeper beam to feed
back the vibration of car body. Figure 9 illustrates the car body fatigue test for a high-speed train.

Figure 8. Center-pin loading tools Figure 9. Car body Fatigue test rig for high-speed trains

5. Summary and Conclusions

In this investigation, the load of the car body fatigue test of the high-speed train is determined by
comparing various standards, and then the test loading scheme is promoted for the fatigue test rig built
in Southwest Jiaotong University in China. A comparative study was performed among the relevant
standards from various authorities used for evaluating the car body strength and fatigue. In addition,
the specific fatigue test scheme is promoted, then a thorough fatigue test for a high-speed train body
was conducted. The applied loads on vertical, lateral, longitudinal and torsional directions on car body
under various spectrums are thoroughly determined according to related criterion. The investigation of
this study provides a basic fatigue test bench of car body for high-speed trains with the specific loads
application and test schemes introduced. This allows the body to be subjected to random loads and
provides a basis for the specifications of follow-up fatigue tests on the car body and its components.

Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the project of National Key R&D Program of China under Grant No.
2016YFB1200506-001.

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2018 International Conference on Civil and Hydraulic Engineering (IConCHE 2018) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 189 (2018)
1234567890 ‘’“” 062002 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/189/6/062002

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