Railway wheels and axles are the most critical parts of the railway rolling stock. The wheel carry axle loads and guide the vehicles on the track. Therefore, the contact surface of wheel are subjected to wear and fatigue process. The wheel damage can be divided into three types; wear, contact fatigue failure and thermal crack due to braking. Therefore, in the contact surface between the wheel and the rail, the materials are heat treated to have a specific hardness. The manufacturing quality of the wheel have a considerable influence on the formation of tread wear and damage. Also, the residual stress on wheel is formed during the manufacturing process is one of the main sources of the damage. In this paper, the mechanical characteristic and the residual stress according to wheel material have been evaluated by applying finite element analysis and conducting mechanical tests.
