Tensile residual stresses can remain in the web of as-manufactured railroad rail as a result of production processes. These stresses can result in unstable propagation of longitudinal cracks in the webs, separating the rail head from the base. As these failures can occur without warning, the consequences can be serious. A fracture mechanics based method is presented for evaluating the level of residual stress in rail and assessing the rail's susceptibility to unstable fracture. This approach was applied experimentally to over 50 rails from two different manufacturers to evaluate the possibility of failure. A simplified procedure has been developed to allow non-technical plant personnel to screen future incoming rail based on the web-cracking criterion.
展开▼
