Assesment of the fatigue behavior of repaired aluminium carbody structure

Abstract

Aluminum carbody structures vs. steel structures have an increasing share in rail vehicle passenger fleet. New trams for Belgrade city transport with aluminum carbody structure after approximately three years of service, suffered from cracks. The first repair made by manufacturer was only partially successful. Two years after repair some cracks reappeared. This paper deals with some specificity of the aluminum structures repair process. The issue of the aluminum structures fatigue is compared with the fatigue of common carbody steel structures. Stress measurements in the repaired welding zone after second repair and reinforcement are presented. The test was performed with fully loaded tram under typical service conditions. Assessment of the future fatigue behavior is made based on the analysis of measured data.