IMPROVING THE SERVICE LIFE AND RELIABILITY OF RAILROAD RAILS

The microstructure of the rails in the zone influenced by contact stresses is considered in this paper. Current metallurgical practices associated with the production of high-tensile-strength rail steels are reviewed. These include rails with high carbon (0.69 to 0.82%) and manganese (0.70 to 1.05%) contents and tensile strengths averaging between 97 and 100 kg/sq mm and wear resistance of between 0.4 to 0.5 mm per million tons of gross traffic. Practical tests on experimentally hardened rails laid in sections of high-density traffic with an outside rail curvature showed no tear-out or pitting after 120 to 140 million gross tons of traffic. It was concluded that the endurance of rails is influenced not only by the strength and other mechanical properties but also by the microstructure, and, in fact, this may often be decisive.

• Corporate Authors:

  Scientific Information Consultants, Limited

  661 Finchley Road
  London NW2 2HN,   England 
• Authors:
  • Lempitskiy, V V
  • Kazarnovskiy, D S
• Publication Date: 1973

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: p. 111-117
• Serial:
  • Russian Metallurgy
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Scientific Information Consultants, Limited

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Heat treated rail; Rail steel; Railroad rails; Reliability; Service life; Stresses
• Uncontrolled Terms: Contact stress
• Old TRIS Terms: Rail life; Rail steel metallurgy
• Subject Areas: Design; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00172599
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 29 1978 12:00AM