Process for producing pearlitic rail excellent in wearing resistance and ductility

摘要

The invention provides a method for producing a pearlitic rail by subjecting to at least rough hot rolling and finish hot rolling a billet comprising, in mass%, C: 0.65-1.20%, Si: 0.05-2.00%, Mn: 0.05-2.00%, and a remainder of iron an unavoidable impurities, wherein the finish hot rolling is conducted by rolling at a rail head surface temperature in a range of not higher than 900 °C to not lower than Ar 3 transformation point or Ar cm transformation point to produce a head cumulative reduction of area of not less than 20% and a reaction force ratio of not less than 1.25, and the finish hot rolled rail head surface is subjected to accelerated cooling or spontaneous cooling to at least 550 °C at a cooling rate of 2 to 30 °C/sec, thereby refining the rail head structure to attain a hardness within a predetermined range and improving rail wear resistance and ductility.