EnginSoft International Conference 2011 |
Fatigue Assessment of a Magnetic Component for Railway Application
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De Mercato Luigi - Trasfor (Switzerland) |
Abstract |
Magnetic components for railway applications such as line filter reactors are subject to random fatigue loads when mounted on vehicles car bodies. This paper shows a procedure for the structural assessment of such equipment by numerical simulation of the fatigue test described in the EN-61373 standard, in which the loads are applied at mounting points as Acceleration Spectral Densities (ASD). The ANSYS and nCode-Designlife finite element codes have been used for the numerical analyses. The Steinberg and Dirlik methods for the estimation of cumulative damage have been used and results have been compared. A detailed analysis has also been made on the most stressed seam-welds for which the effective notch method has been followed and compared with the analytic solution based on nominal stresses. After a first design loop, the structure has been then optimised for reducing weight keeping at the same time a good fatigue safety margin. This weight reduction resulted in a material cost saving and in more competitive operative costs of the equipment. |
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