QUALITY OF RAILS AND MEANS OF GUARANTEEING IT--CONDITIONS OF USE FOR TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION UIC 860-1 CONCERNING: DIMENSIONAL TOLERANCES, FALLING WEIGHT TEST, TENSILS TEST-PIECE, DETECTION OF PIPING

The conditions of application of UIC Specification No. 860-1 were investigated relative to dimensional tolerance, falling weight test, tensile test piece, and detection of piping. Initially, rail tolerance measurements indicated that the majority of mill-produced rails were not acceptable, but if specified tolerances were strictly adhered to, it was felt the price of rail would increase greatly. Since users were reasonably satisfied with currently produced rail, the tolerance applicable to web thickness, inclination, and openings of the fishing angles were relaxed. When UIC Specification No 860-1 was initiated in 1954, it constituted the first step towards the standardization of the falling weight test. The Committee now offers a choice between two methods of carrying out the falling weight test; one method involves two successive blows applied to the test pieces rolled from a certain number of ingots, the other involves one blow and is applied to test pieces rolled from every ingot. Because of the nature of the steel used for wear-resisting rails, the corresponding UIC Specification 860-2 has been drafted to include a tensile test piece of 10 mm diameter. The Committee to propose the standardization of the 10 mm diameter test piece. One result of this decision is that the minimum elongation will have to be raised from 12 to 14% in the case of ordinary rails. This test has been found to be not very accurate and of limited interest, since in reality it only permitted the revelation of piping in the rail without offering the possibility of its true appreciation. The Committee therefore sought another test for inspection purposes which would reveal piping in an indisputable manner. After considerable research, they have decided on a test which consists of the examination of the polished slice of rail intended for the macrographic (sulpher print) test.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Restrictions on the use of this document are contained in the explanatory material.
• Corporate Authors:

  International Union of Railways

  Office of Research and Experiments
  Utrecht,   Netherlands 
• Publication Date: 1962-3

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 37 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Defects; Impact loads; Nondestructive tests; Railroad rails; Size; Specifications; Stresses; Technology; Tension
• Uncontrolled Terms: Tensile stress
• Geographic Terms: Netherlands
• Old TRIS Terms: Impact loading; Question d45; Splitting (Rails)
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00040414
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: D45/RP 2/E
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 8 1994 12:00AM