Wheels with holes in the web (WWW): state-of-the-art and harmonised requirements

The wheels with holes in the web are a solution adopted when is necessary to employ wheel mounted brake discs as for example in low-floor trains, EMUs and DMUs, (for which access is facilitated with low-level entrances without any steps), for locomotives and for high-speed trains.

Today the mechanical behaviour (fatigue) near the holes is still not considered in wheel design standards (EN 13979-1, UIC Leaflet 510-5), consequentially the added values of this project will be:

• The definition of a harmonized methodology to assess wheels with holes in the web,

• A proposal for the revision of the UIC Leaflet 510-5 during its migration in IRS 50510-5.