RAIL-END DEFECTS

Of all steel rail defects, probably the most difficult to detect are those which occur at the rail-ends and are concealed by the fishplates. The major cause is the pounding and vibration to which rail-ends are subject because of the gap between the rails over which the rolling load must pass. This may encourage the development of corrosion fatigue cracks from any sharp edges, such as those of the fishbold holes or in the fishing angles of the rails, which stresses are concentrated. In the course of ordinary inspection, the only way to discover whether or not a rail is cracked at the end is to take off the fishplates but this is a costly operation from the labour point of view. In the United States certain railways are now supplementing the regular patrolling of their tracks with Sperry or other detector cars by supersonic testing of rail-ends. One of the problems arising from such inspections has been to decide at what stage of development a crack becomes sufficiently serious to demand the removal of the rail from the track. To remove all rails in which small cracks are found would appear to be an unjustifiable costly proceeding. The present practice of classifying the cracks and removing from the track only rails that have cracks of over a certain length, would appear to be reasonably safe, and far less costly than the indiscriminate removal of all rails show ing the slightest sign of cracking.

• Corporate Authors:

  Temple Press Limited

  161-166 Fleet Street
  Longon EC4,   England 
• Publication Date: 1952-8-22

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 199-200
• Serial:
  • RAILWAY GAZETTE
  • Volume: 97

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Acoustic emission tests; Cracking; Defects; Failure; Inspection; Inspection cars; Maintenance of way; Nondestructive tests; Rail (Railroads); Railroad tracks; Technology
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Old TRIS Terms: End breaks; Fissures (Rails); Rail failure; Rail inspection; Track maintenance equipment
• Subject Areas: Maintenance and Preservation; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00039614
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 8 1994 12:00AM