Railway Wheel, Bearing and Brake Facility

The National Research Council’s (NRC) Railway Wheel, Bearing and Brake Facility enables research and testing focused on the reduction of wear and associated maintenance costs. The facility can also assist researchers to identify component concerns, limitations and failure potential before they become realities. Used by some of North America's largest railway companies, the facility is a unique and invaluable tool in the study and pursuit of reductions in premature wheel wear and failure due to bearing and brake overheating.

Railway running gear components are the most highly stressed parts of the car and they are the number one cost item in most railways' rolling stock maintenance programs. Axles, wheels, wheel bearings, bearing adapter pads and braking components of the highly stressed running gear system can be mounted on the facility and run up to a wide range of speeds. The entire array of forces and stresses are imposed on the components and held, or swept, to reproduce the operating environment. Under these conditions, their limitations and failure modes begin to appear.