Collection of Freight Car Load Environment Data

Transportation Technology Center, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads, conducted over-the-road tests to collect thousands of miles of revenue service load environment data for two types of railcars. This data can be used by railcar and railcar component manufacturers to more accurately conduct fatigue damage analysis for their products. Structural fatigue is one of the most common failure modes for transportation equipment. In order for predictions of fatigue life to be reasonably accurate, the extended load and stress environment of the equipment must be known. This paper summarizes efforts to record such load environment information.