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Fracture Mechanics Determinations of Allowable Crack Size in Railroad Rails

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Abstract

An evaluation of fatigue behavior of rail steel is necessary to ensure rail transportation safety. Fatigue in these steels was studied with fracture mechanics techniques. The goal of these studies was to find out the appropriate way of preventing a crack from reaching its critical size in the rail. Tests were conducted on rail head, and transverse head cracks were analyzed through damage tolerance concepts. Critical crack size and crack growth characteristics for the rail were determined, and the residual service life was calculated for defective segments of the rails. Additionally, the allowable crack size for different nondestructive testing intervals was determined.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran

    R. Ravaee & A. Hassani

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  1. R. Ravaee
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  2. A. Hassani
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Correspondence to R. Ravaee.

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Ravaee, R., Hassani, A. Fracture Mechanics Determinations of Allowable Crack Size in Railroad Rails. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 7, 305–310 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-007-9068-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-007-9068-7

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