A. Hassani, R. Ravaee,
Volume 5, Issue 2 (6-2008)
Abstract
Abstract: To ensure the rail transportations safety, evaluation of fatigue behavior of the rail steel
is necessary. High cycle fatigue behaviour of a rail steel was the subject of investigation in this
research using fracture mechanics. Finite element method (FEM) was used for analyzing the
distribution of the stresses on the rail, exerted by the external load. FEM analysis showed that the
maximum longitudinal stresses occurred on the railhead. To find out about the relation of crack
growth with its critical size, and to estimate its lifetime, the behaviour of transverse cracks to rail
direction was studied using damage tolerance concept. It revealed that transverse crack growth
initially occurred slowly, but it accelerated once the crack size became larger. Residual service
life was calculated for defective segments of the rails. In addition, allowable crack size for
different non-destructive testing intervals was determined the allowable crack size decreased as
the NDT intervals increased.
