Railway car truck fatigue detector
AssigneeAMSTED Industries Incorporated
InventorRobert P. Radwill
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fatigue detector for detecting potential fatigue failure of a bolster and/or side frames of a railway car truck. The fatigue detector comprises one or more redundant designed members located in areas of critical stress loadings of the truck, wherein the fatigue detectors are structured to fail under a stress loading less than that causing the failure of the bolster and/or side frames in which they are located. The fatigue detector is located in an opening so as to be easily inspected visually to determine its condition and particularly whether or not it has failed.
Claims21
A railway car truck comprising a bolster means and a side frame means at the ends of said bolster means, a fatigue detector means located in an area in said truck wherein said bolster means and side frame means are subject to critical stresses, said fatigue detector means being constructed to assume a normal stress loading which may be assumed by said bolster means and said side frame means without fatigue failure but to fail by fracture under a stress loading less than that causing the failure of said bolster means and side frame means upon the application of said critical stress thereby to warn of potential failure of said truck.
A railway truck comprising a bolster means and a side frame means at the ends of said bolster means, a fatigue detector means located in an area in said truck wherein said bolster means and side frame means are subject to critical stresses, said fatigue detector means including a body of which at least a length thereof is of substantially smaller cross-sectional area than that of said area of said truck means whereby said detector serves as a redundant member and simultaneously when fractured serves as a warning of the possibility of failure of said truck means in said area subject to critical stresses.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.