Lightweight axle
AssigneeAmsted Rail Company, Inc.
InventorsJason Taylor, Kevin Young
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An improved railway car axle has a generally hollow cylindrical elongated body. The axle includes a journal near either end adapted to receive a bearing, and a dust guard adjacent the journals. A wheel seat is adjacent the dust guard and is adapted to receive a railway wheel thereon. The axial center interior portion of the railway axle is generally hollow. The railway axle is comprised of a steel with specified alloy range, mechanical properties and is of specified internal and external dimensions to allow the axle to be formed in a forging operation and to be utilized in heavy haul railway freight car service.
Claims22
A railway car axle forming an elongated cylindrical body, the axle comprising:
- a central section;
- and
- a pair of journal sections positioned on opposite sides of the central section;
- wherein the elongated cylindrical body comprises a material having a minimum ultimate tensile strength of about 136 ksi, a minimum yield strength of about 96 ksi, a minimum elongation of about 16 percent, a minimum reduction of area of about 35 percent, a grain size of about 6-9 per ASTM E112, and a minimum rotating beam test sample endurance limit (Se′) of about 68 ksi.
A method of forming a railway car truck axle comprising:
- selecting a hollow cylindrical tube having a length of about 80 to about 95 inches and a thickness of about 1.5 to about 2.5 inches;
- forging the hollow cylindrical tube into a seamless tube having a central section, two wheel set sections adjacent each end of the central section, two dust guard sections adjacent each wheel set section, and two journal sections adjacent each dust guard section, the forging including:
- heating the tube to about 2100° F.;
- reducing the outer diameter of the tube with forging hammers to form a near net shape of the central section, wheel set sections, dust guard sections, and journal sections;
- heat treating the forged hollow cylindrical tube,
- cutting the heat treated tube to a desired length, and
- boring the journal sections;
- wherein the selected hollow cylindrical tube comprises an alloy, the alloy comprising primarily iron and about 0.43-0.75 percent by weight carbon, about 0.6-2.2 percent by weight manganese, about 0.0-0.045 percent by weight phosphorus, about 0.01-0.03 percent by weight sulfur, about 0.15-0.7 percent by weight silicon, about 0.02-0.1 percent by weight vanadium, about 0.0-0.1 percent by weight niobium, about 0.0-2 ppm hydrogen, about 0.0-0.3 percent by weight nickel, about 0.0-0.2 percent by weight chromium, about 0.0-0.15 percent by weight molybdenum, about 0.0-0.25 percent by weight copper, and about 0.01-0.02 percent by weight aluminum.
A railway car axle forming an elongated cylindrical body, the axle comprising:
- a central section;
- and
- a pair of journal sections positioned on opposite sides of the central section;
- wherein the elongated cylindrical body comprises a material having a minimum ultimate tensile strength of 152 ksi, a minimum yield strength of 132 ksi, a minimum elongation of 16 percent, a minimum reduction of area of 42 percent, a grain size of about to 6-9 per ASTM E112, a minimum Rockwell C hardness of Rc 30, and a minimum rotating beam test sample endurance limit (Se′) of about 76 ksi.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.