The blending of theory and practice in modern rail grinding

摘要

Modern rail grinding practices have developed largely through a combination of field experience and intuitive speculation. Many theories related to crack initiation and growth have been proposed through the decades, and those concepts have been cleverly extended to the field of rail grinding to form the basis of the practice known as 'preventive grinding'. But only recently have practical models emerged from the laboratory and theoretical environment and been applied to the process of rail grinding. These models are substantiating the past practices and providing a pathway towards the development of improved predictive tools for rail fatigue and profile deterioration.