Which steel is used to make locomotive tires?

Thanks,
Ray

Hello Ray,
From the "AAR Locomotive Tire Manual", December,1937:
Specification M-106-34
Tire, Steel, Locomotives and Cars
Adopted,1913 ; Revised,1920,1934

It has a chemical make up of: per cent
Carbon- Class A............................0.50-0.65
Class B............................0.60-0.75
Class C............................0.50-0.85
Manganese....................................0.50-0.75
Phosphorus...........................not over 0.05
Sulphur................................not over 0.05
Silicon..........................................0.15-0.35
Chromium........................... not over 0.15
Nickel..................................not over 0.25

Tensile Strength.........Class A................105,000psi
Class B...............115,000psi
Class C...............125,000psi
Hope this helps.
Respectfully,
Dave Griner
wasatch-rr-contractors.com

Thanks, Dave. It sounds to be very close to C 1054 cold bar in a 1954 data book form Republic Steel. It must the Manganese that carries the day in addition to the carbon in that alloy.

I have always wondered how steel that is worked the way it is - heated to cherry red and shrink fitted - and then takes the beating of daily trips over the road.

Ray

We have been using the following:

ASTM A551 Class DHT Grade 1080.

Our supplier has been Ajax Rolled Ring and Machine. Ajax does superior work, and they will figure the shrinkages for you given your driver center OD and will work out the amount of heating over ambient that is required per industry spec:

http://www.ajaxring.com/

Chris Allan

The AAR dropped M-106 many years ago. Tires are now covered in ASTM specification A551, "Standard Specification for Steel Tires". My former employer purchased tires made from 1070 steel cut from blooms. Steel cut from hot rolled bar would have made a slightly better tire. A 30 inch diameter tire was cut from a 14 inch diameter bar. The blank then has a hole punched into the center and it is rolled into a tire on a ring mill. I have never heard of a tire made from cold rolled. The class of tire was changed from AAR to ASTM specification. The AAR class C tire is an ASTM class D tire. Tires are heat treated to achieve the mechanical properties specified for the various classes of tires. When the tire is installed it should not be heated over 800 degrees F to avoid changing the properties achieved in the heat treatment.

Do you know of a web address that could lead us to the standard?

Thsnks,

Robby

Here ya go:

http://www.astm.org/DATABASE.CART/REDLINE_PAGES/A551A551M.htm

Thanks.

Robby