A study on evaluation of fatigue strength of a GFRP composite bogie frame for urban subway vehicles

The fatigue strength and life of a GFRP composite bogie frame for urban subway trains were evaluated in this study. The GEP224 glass fabric/epoxy was selected as the structural material of a composite bogie frame to save its weight. In order to obtain the fatigue characteristics of the GEP224 glass/epoxy composite material, the tension–compression fatigue test was done with three different stacking sequences of warp direction, fill direction, and warp/fill direction, respectively. A fatigue test was conducted with a stress ratio, R of 0.1 and −1, and up to endurance limit of 107 with frequency of 5 Hz. The fatigue strength of the GFRP composite bogie frame was evaluated on the basis of the S-N curve and Goodman diagrams obtained from GEP224 glass/epoxy composites according to the JIS E 4207 and UIC 515/615-4. The result shows that fatigue strength of the GFRP composite bogie has satisfied the design requirements. Also, the GFRP composite bogie frame had a good fatigue performance in comparison with conventional metal bogie frame, considering its weight.