Vol.14, No.2, 2014, pp.115–120
UDC  629.467.083

Mechanized construction, maintenance and repair operation of the railway require a wide range of equipment, heavy railway machines for achieving quality, productivity and acceptable costs.

The necessity of performing maintenance operation of the railway infrastructure, such as the cutting of vegetation, the loading and unloading of materials and heavy pieces (rail, sleepers, assembly parts, crushed stone etc.), replacing of rails and sleepers, cleaning of ditches, the tamping of replaced sleepers etc., have solicited from the railway industry machine engineering a multifunctional machine. Another important function that this multifunctional machine had to fulfil was the ability to travel self-propelled both on rail and road, so that the machine can reach the operation site or the parking site without affecting railway traffic.

The fracture of a railway axle on a multifunctional machine is one of the major dangers for traffic safety, with possible major property damage and human casualties in the railway transport of goods and people, as well as in the maintenance and repair of the railway infrastructure. The study and detailed analysis of the causes and factors that led to fracture, through various methods (analytical, laboratory or using FEM), provide important information and conclusions that lead to the prevention of similar cases, and also to improving the solutions for design, manufacturing or technological, testing, control, diagnosis and evaluation for operating in complete safety.

Keywords: multifunctional railway machine, railway axle, fracture, analysis