Full scale accelerated fatigue test on a rail car
Fatigue testing to predict the life of a railcar requires a previous structural analysis, instrumentation and an Over the Road (OTR) test to collect all the necessary information needed for the generation of the signals used to drive the fatigue test rig (shaker). In some instances, the railcar to be placed on the shaker is not the same car used to develop the fatigue input data and therefore requires an alternate approach.