Strain Stress Model of the Rail with Crack in its Head and Estimation of its Operational Lifetime

Abstract

The most common reason of the fatigue crack appearance is the presence of stresses in the rail. The process of stress strain state simulation for the R65 rail is presented in the paper. Values of residual stresses were modeled and chosen to be maximum allowed by GOST (State Standard): -77 MPa in the rail head, -125 MPa in the web and 106 MPa in rail foot. These stresses match the value-77 MPa measured by the acoustoelastic method from the center of the rolling surface of the rail. The influence of the crack at the highest level of the stress strain state was studied in cases of the maximum train load and its absence. According to results of modeling, stresses in the sharp edge of the crack can exceed the lowest acceptable by GOST (State Standard) value of the yield strength by more than 5 times in case of the presence of the train load. In case of the absence of the train load, the crack does not have a significant influence on the stress strain state. The modelling process was also used to study the influence of the installation temperature difference on the operational lifetime of the rail. The paper presents the description of the influence between the installation temperature difference and the crack initiation. According to modeling results and the rail defect catalogue, rails with the lowest acceptable mechanical characteristics are prohibited to be used after 300∙109 kg and higher tonnage.