International Journal of Automotive Technology, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp.

95101 (2008)
DOI 10.1007/s122390080012y

Copyright 2008 KSAE

12299138/2008/03812

FATIGUE LIFE PREDICTION BASED ON THE RAINFLOW CYCLE

COUNTING METHOD FOR THE END BEAM OF A FREIGHT CAR BOGIE
S. H. BAEK1), S. S. CHO2) and W. S. JOO3)*
1)
School of Mechanical Engineering, Dong-A University, Busan 604-714, Korea
Department of Vehicle Engineering, Kangwon National University, Gangwon 245-711, Korea
3)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dong-A University, Busan 604-714, Korea

2)

(Received 17 May 2007; Revised 15 December 2007)

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a system for treating of the actual measured data for load histories. The approach consists
of two steps: stress analysis and fatigue damage prediction. Finite element analysis is conducted for the component in question
to obtain detailed stress-strain responses. A significant number of failures occurred in a brake end beam which led to economic
losses and disruption of service. The cracks appeared to be fatigue cracks caused by the dynamic load produced in the loaded
bogie frame. Strain gauge data were analyzed, and fatigue cycles were calculated from this data. Rainflow cycle counting was
used to estimate cumulative damage of the end beam under in-service loading conditions. The fatigue life calculated with the
rainflow cycle counting method, the P-S-N curve, and the modified Miners rule agreed well with actual fatigue life within
an error range of 2.7%~31%.
KEY WORDS : Fatigue life prediction, Rainflow cycle counting, Cumulative damage, Miners rule, P-S-N curve, Censored
strain data

1998; Barboza et al., 2005; Kang et al., 2007) are used to

estimate the fatigue service life. The bogie frame of freight
cars has been evaluated by endurance test standards.
However, because the South Korean railway has many
more curved tracks than railways abroad, there is a high
braking load during operation. A design specification that
reflects the domestic track in the existing endurance test
standard must be developed.
In the present paper, the load history was obtained from
strain measurements on a bogie frame. A three-dimensional finite element model of a simplified bogie frame was
developed for static stress analysis. Miners rule was combined with a probabilistic S-N curve (Murty et al., 1995;
Zheng and Wei, 2005) and stress results to develop a stressbased fatigue life prediction for the brake end beam of the
bogie frame.

1. INTRODUCTION
In the beginning of 2001, cracks were found in the brake
end beam of the bogie frame of freight cars in a particular
running section of the South Korean railway. The end beam
of a freight car is a structural element that supports the
bogie frame and braking system. The location and connection method of the end beam should be considered in view
of structural design, because the end beam is built into the
lower part of the side frame of the bogie.
Usually, important parts such as the bogie frame and car
body etc. are designed to last more than 25 years (Goo and
Seo, 2003; Baek et al., 2005). In the case of a fractured
bogie frame, service life can be affected because the
maximum stress is lower than the fatigue limit. However,
two-thirds of the total number of end beams failed in
service via fatigue cracking in this particular running section.
The cracked end beams had either two years (240,000 km)
or three years (360,000 km) of service. The cracks appear
to be fatigue cracks caused by the dynamic load produced
in the loaded bogie frame.
In the time-domain analysis of structures subjected to
random loading, an appropriate cycle counting technique
(Matsuishi and Endo, 1968; Downing and Socie, 1982;
Nagpal and Kuo, 1996; Wang et al., 2006; Haq et al., 2007)
and a fatigue cumulative damage rule (Fatemi and Yang,

2. FATIGUE DAMAGE APPROACH FOR

FATIGUE LIFE PREDICTION
A general method for fatigue life estimation of railway
vehicles is required, as evidenced by cracking that occurred
in the end beams of freight cars. As illustrated in Figure 1,
by collecting different load amplitudes using the rainflow
cycle counting method, the fatigue damage is linearly
accumulated, as is proposed by Miners rule.

*Corresponding author. e-mail: wsjoo@dau.ac.kr

95

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S. H. BAEK, S. S. CHO and W. S. JOO

ing environment is needed for improving the safety of railway vehicles. The extracted cycle produces stress amplitude and mean stress. Cumulative damage D and number
of fractures to cycle N are determined using a histogram of
cycle ranges and Miners rule.
For infinite life design for very high mean stresses, the
Buch mean stress correction is selected. Miners rule is
expressed as follows. Failure is expected to occur if:
n n n
D= -----1- + -----2- + -----3- + } =
N f1 N f2 N f3

n-i
----t1
N fi

(1)

where ni is the number of applied cycles and Nfi is the

number of cycles to failure at a specified stress amplitude
Vi, respectively. In this study, the critical cumulative damage value of D is chosen to be 1 in Eq. (1). The fatigue life
in the repeated signal is expressed as follows:

Figure 1. Flow chart for fatigue life prediction.

2.1. Rainflow Cycle Counting Method
The end beam of a freight car bogie is subjected to variable
amplitude service loading. To predict the fatigue life of the
end beam in a freight car bogie, service stress (or strain)
history is measured by a uniaxial strain gauge.
Signal processing uses a cycle counting algorithm to
extract stress-strain hysteresis loops quickly and accurately.
In this study, rainflow cycle counting was used as a signal
processing method for fatigue analysis.
Figure 2 shows the procedure for the cycle counting
method as demonstrated by Downing and Socie (1982).
(i) Consider the following sequence of peaks/valleys.
The notation uses point A as the most recent data point,
point B as the previous point, and so on.
Range A to B > Range B to C
(ii) Because the range from A to B is greater than the
range from B to C, a cycle is closed, and is represented by
the range from B to C.
(iii) Figure 2 (b) shows a new cycle. As before, the range
from A to B is greater than that from B to C, so B to C is
one cycle. This procedure is repeated until no more cycles
are closed by this point.
The fatigue cumulative damage rule for the actual runn-

Figure 2. Rainflow cycle counting procedure.

1
Life= -------------------- ni /Nfi

(2)

Since, in many cases, the Palmgren-Miner theory (Singh,

2002) leads to non-conservative life predictions, the linear
damage rule associated with a critical damage sum D,
different from one, has been proposed in many design codes
for fatigue damage assessment of structures subjected to
variable amplitude loading.
2.2. P-S-N Curve
Because of the scatter in fatigue life data at any given stress
level, it must be recognized that there is not only one S-N

Figure 3. Photograph of a fractured end beam.

Figure 4. Bogie frame model with coupled effect, load, and

boundary conditions.

FATIGUE LIFE PREDICTION BASED ON THE RAINFLOW CYCLE COUNTING METHOD

97

Figure 6. Distribution of stresses of the end beam with

braking load.
Figure 5. Distribution of stresses in the bogie frame.
curve for a given material, but instead, a family of S-N
curves with probability of failure as the variable parameter.
These curves are called the P-S-N curves (Zheng and Wei,
2005). A P-S-N curve can be obtained from JSME S002.
Fatigue data displayed on a log-log plot of stress versus life
for finite life can be expressed as follows for an end beam:
logN= D + E log'S1.64 V  logN 
8

1
V  logN = --- logN i   D + E logS 
6

(3)
Figure 7. Strain gauge layout for the end beam.

1/2

(4)

where V  logN  is the standard deviation of the number of

cycle to fracture obtained by the staircase test. S-N curves
with failure probability 5% or 95% are determined by
translating the S-N curve with failure probability of 50% to
the coordinate axis (1.64V).

3. FATIGUE LIFE PREDICTION FOR A BRAKE

END BEAM OF A FREIGHT CAR BOGIE
3.1. Visual Examination of the End Beam
The fractured end beam was first subjected to visual examination. The failure location of the end beam is presented in
Figure 3. As seen from this figure, the end beam first
fractured in the welding zone between the C shape beam
and the gusset plate.
3.2. Finite Element Analysis
A geometric model of the freight car bogie was developed
using CATIA and ANSYS. The finite element model of the
bogie frame presented in Figure 4 consists of a 10-node
tetrahedral element and a 2-node beam element. The coupling element was selected to model the load applied to the
bracket hinge of the end beam. Since geometrical shape,
load, and boundary conditions are symmetrical, we use the
half-model as the effective model. The load condition was
determined through JIS E4207 (1984). The end beam and
side frame are manufactured out of SS400 and SM490A,
respectively. In this analysis, a vertical load of 17,000 kg
and a braking load of 2,875 kg were applied to the center

pivot and end beam, respectively.

Figure 5 shows that the von-Mises stress for the bogie
frame (243.5 MPa) is located on the center pivot. Figure 6
shows that the maximum von-Mises stress for the end
beam (75.4 MPa) is located on the corner of the welded
gusset plate. These results are particularly interesting from
the viewpoint of the fatigue strength, because tensile stresses
alone contribute the most to the fatigue crack initiation and
propagation. The location of the stress peak in Figure 6
overlaps the fracture region presented in Figure 3. However, the location of the stress peak in Figure 6 does not
overlap with the fracture region.
The high level of stress in the end beam area was the
main cause of crack initiation. The fatigue load (a combination of the self weight and braking load) caused the
successive propagation of the crack to critical size and then
resulted in rupture at the welded gusset plate. A considerably lower stress value in the region of the side frame can
be observed in Figure 5. The center frame, except for the
center pivot, isnt as highly loaded as the end beam. The
maximum von-Mises stress in the region of the center
frame is only 243.5 MPa, whereas in the side frame the
stresses are around 112.2 MPa (Figure 5).
3.3. Estimation of Load History
To determine whether the fatigue life is accurately predicted by the measured stress, it is necessary to compare the
fatigue life as calculated by the rainflow cycle counting
method with that observed in experimental fatigue data
attained under in-service loading.
Figure 7 shows attachment locations of six strain gauges

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S. H. BAEK, S. S. CHO and W. S. JOO

Figure 8. Blocks of strain-time history.

Figure 10. Apparatus for the Scenk type fatigue test.

Figure 9. Comparison of measured stress and FEA result.
with direction perpendicular to the fatigue crack. In this
study, we assumed that the direction perpendicular to crack
propagation is the principal stress direction. A one axis
strain gauge (KFG-5-128) was installed on the end beam
before loading, and the test track was the Donghae-Jecheon
section. The load history in the test track was measured
through 60 km/hr over 25 min, from starting to braking.
Figure 8 shows the results of the test series with the load
history based on six strain gauges. The stresses resulting
from the strain measurement are 48.3 MPa and 72 MPa,
respectively. The stress ratios at the region are 0.75.
Figure 9 shows maximum principal stresses plotted as experimental data and finite element analysis (FEA) results.
Compared to the FEA results, the experimental stresses at
locations of G2 and G5 are measured within an error range
of 12% as compared with analytical stresses. However,
experimental stress at location G4 is lower than the analytical stress. The measured stress at this location is very high
due to track vibration and braking load.
3.4. Fatigue Life Prediction
Knowledge of the material properties at the most critical
point of the end beam is needed for correct evaluation of
the integrity of the bogie frame. For this reason, 10 mm
thick flat specimens were taken from a broken end beam of
SS400 steel and investigated under alternating bending
stresses (R = 1). Test results for fatigue life given in Baek
et al. (2005) were obtained by flat specimens on a Scenk

Figure 11. P-S-N curve for SS400 steel.

type twisting and bending fatigue testing machine (Figure
10), and then plotted on the S-N curves with 5%, 50%, and
95% failure probabilities.
Figure 11 shows a P-S-N curve for SS400 steel. The
expression of the P-S-N curve with 50% failure probability
can be given as follows.
logN = 6.7280.0094'S/2 0.405

(5)

The mean of the fatigue limit by the JSME statistical SN testing method is 52.8 MPa.
A commercial fatigue analysis program, Fe-safe (2003),
is used to calculate fatigue life of the end beam. Miners
rule was used as the fatigue cumulative damage rule. The
first counting data for stress level was determined within

FATIGUE LIFE PREDICTION BASED ON THE RAINFLOW CYCLE COUNTING METHOD

99

Figure 12. Rainflow cycle counting histogram.

Figure 14. Time-correlated fatigue damage.

Figure 13. Result of the damage histogram.

Figure 15. Fatigue life distribution for confidence region.

the confidence interval of the P-S-N curve by a correction

method for the curve that considers stresses under fatigue
limit.
Figure 12 shows the distribution of the stress range and
mean stress at the location of G4. Figure 13 shows fatigue
damage at each stress cycle using Miners rule. It can be
noted that although the high amplitude stress cycle has low
frequency, fatigue damage is relatively large. Figure 14 shows
the damage histories over running time. Damage does not
occur during running but most damage occurs during braking.
Figure 15 shows fatigue life prediction by the S-N curves
with a given failure probability. The fatigue life prediction
by the S-N curves with 50% failure probability agrees well
with actual fatigue life. In contrast, the fatigue life predictions by the S-N curves with 5% or 95% failure probabilities were underestimated or overestimated, respectively.
Figure 16 shows fatigue life prediction at failure location
G2 using Miners and Modified Miners rules. Miners rule
overestimates fatigue life, but the modified Miners rule
which considers the stress state under the fatigue limit
provides an accurate fatigue life prediction within an error
range of 2.7%~31%.

Figure 16. Comparison of experimental fatigue life by

Miners rule and predicted fatigue life.
Table 1 shows the fatigue life and damage at all strain
gauge locations using modified Miners rules. The shortest
fatigue life and damage are expected to occur at 1,410
cycles and 7.1410-5 at the location of G4.
Considering that one cycle of the load history is 25 min,
the fatigue life of end beam is predicted to be 5,837.5 hrs. If

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S. H. BAEK, S. S. CHO and W. S. JOO

Table 1. Fatigue life and damage prediction by Miners and modified Miners rule.
Location number
Mean stress correction

Modified Miners rule

Life

Damage

Year

Life

Damage

Year

None

No damage
2,533,000
1,015,000
545,800
17,190,000
1,100106

0
3.95u107
9.85u107
1.83u106
5.82u108
9.09u1010

Unlimited
120.48
48.28
25.96
817.637
52,321

No damage
983,700
360,400
209,800
5,146,000
170,000,000

0
1.02u106
2.77u106
4.77u106
1.94u107
5.88u109

Unlimited
46.79
17.14
7.98
244.78
8,086

Goodman

120,000,000
81,640
80,900
27,040
113,800
52,130,000

8.33u109
1.22u105
1.24u105
3.7u105
8.79u106
1.92u108

25,000
17
16.85
5.63
23.71
10,860

23,200,000
35,350
36,550
14,010
50,780
11,510,000

4.31u108
2.83u105
2.74u105
7.14u105
1.97u105
8.69u108

4,833
7.36
7.61
2.92
10.58
2,397

G1
G2
G3
G4
G5
G6
G1
G2
G3
G4
G5
G6

Miners rule

a freight car speed is 60 km/hr, its life expectancy is

350,250 km. This corresponds to 2.92 years, assuming the
endurance life of a freight car as 25 years (3106 km). But,
because the location of G4 is fixed at the center beam, and
stress intensity is concentrated at the welded gusset plate,
discussion in regard to twisting shear stress is needed. For
more accurate fatigue life prediction, further research is
required for stress concentration at the welded gusset of the
end beam.

5. CONCLUSIONS
The present work proposed a fatigue life estimation method
for freight cars based on the rainflow cycle counting method,
P-S-N curve, and modified Miners rule. Further improvements may be made to the procedure by incorporating a
more representative hazard function with cumulative failure
probability rather than the cumulative damage rule used in
this paper.
(1) The measured stress at the end beam agrees well with
the FEA result, within a 12% error range.
(2) Fatigue data displayed on a log-log plot of stress versus
life for finite life can be expressed as follows:
logN=6.7280.094'S/20.405
(3) The fatigue damage and life calculated with the stress
spectrum during 25 min are 7.14105, and 2.92 years,
on the basis of rainflow cycle counting method, P-S-N
curve, and modified Miners rule.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTThis paper was supported by DongA university research fund in 2006.

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