SEDL / STP / STP969-EB / STP33078S

Structural Integrity of Rail in Railroad Track in the United States

Orringer, O
Mechanical engineer, U.S. Department of Transportation, Transportation Systems Center, Cambridge, MA

Steele, RK
Assistant director, Metallurgy, Association of American Railroads Research and Technical Center, Chicago, IL

Pages: 19    Published: Jan 1988

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Abstract

The resistance of rail to fatigue crack propagation and fracture are discussed. Preliminary results of crack growth calculations are presented to illustrate the correlation of an elementary crack growth model with a full-scale experiment. The possible effects of current trends in railroad operations on safe crack growth life and damage tolerance of rail are noted.