www.tjprc.org editor@tjprc.org RAIL ROAD WHEEL: DESIGN, PERFORMANCE AND MANUFACTURING ASPECTS ASHWANI SHARMA 1 & M. A. MURTAZA 2 1 Assistant Professor, ASET, Amity University, Lucknow Campus, Uttar Pradesh, India 2 Professor, ASET, Amity University, Lucknow Campus, Uttar Pradesh, India ABSTRACT Railroad wheels do the toughest job. Design of wheel web and material used are the most important. Online performance specifies the material properties required. Wheel manufacturing process using upward pressure poured casting and the quality assurance system, which makes it reliable has been explained. Initially these wheels were used for freight stock only and subsequently based on their reliable performance, they are also used on locomotives and coaching stock. KEYWORDS: Railroad Wheels, Pressure Poured Casting, Thermal Load, Fatigue Strength, Web-Offset & Rail-Wheel Interaction Received: Jan 24, 2017; Accepted: Mar 12, 2017; Published: Mar 16, 2017; Paper Id.: IJMPERDAPR201713 INTRODUCTION The wheel is probably (1) the most important mechanical invention of all time and were used in chariot for transportation in 3200 BC. Wheels have to do the toughest job in a loaded rail road car. That is it supports the weight of a heavily loaded car, thermal load of braking and impacts of railway track irregularities. As shown in figure 1(a), a typical rail road wheel consists of three parts, a hub, a rim and a web that unites the two parts. The outer circumferential surface of the rim, which contacts the rail, is tread, and the projected part is flange. Earlier tyred wheels were used and now they are solid or mono-block wheels. Wise (2) has given a brief history of the evolution of rail road wheel sets. The satisfactory performance of a railroad wheel depends (3,4) on its ability to withstand repeated stresses imposed on it by normal loads and braking conditions, and also the occasional high stresses that develop under abnormal operating conditions. The rim width and thickness, hub diameter and length and position of rim relative to the hub are wheel parameters dictated by service requirements and leave little room for manoeuvre. The web shape, however can take on many forms. WEB Kinds of Mechanical Loads There are two kinds of mechanical load exerted onto a wheel: vertical load and lateral load. As shown in Original Article International Journal of Mechanical and Production Engineering Research and Development (IJMPERD) ISSN (P): 2249-6890; ISSN (E): 2249-8001 Vol. 7, Issue 2, Apr 2017, 135-144 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.