Modeling of Railway Axle Box System for Thermal Analysis

Finite element pre-processing of the railway axle box system is done to analyze heat transfer from the axle to the body. Model geometry which is same with the experimental specimen is designed and cleaned up: connection of adjacent surfaces is repaired; missing surface is created; complex geometry is broken down into simple shapes. Next, the axle box system, which is composed of the axle box, axle box cover, bearing, and axle is meshed with 3D solid element, and then mechanical properties of the materials are added on each components for thermal analysis. The whole model of axle box system has 226,776 nodes and 322,840 elements.