What is it about?

When free rail ends of rail joints evolve because of contraction of rail in winter, its effects on railhead damage is significant and need an investigation to find the degree of damage of top and sub-surface railhead material. A non-linear 3D finite element analysis is carried out to assess it. It is then verified by laboratory testing. The railhead material of rail joints of 5mm and 10mm endpost is more sensitive to permanent deformation compared to that of the corresponding undamaged rail joints. Therefore, free rail end joints pose an increased potential threat to rail operations in relation to crack initiation, damage and premature failure of railhead material.

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Why is it important?

There is significant interest in research to investigate the mechanical behaviour and failure of rail joints with the aim of increasing their fatigue life.

Perspectives

This is an important paper among a few available in the literature. It gives a deep insight to address the free rail end effect problems to assess load limit and fatigue life.

Dr Nirmal Kumar Mandal
Central Queensland University

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This page is a summary of: Ratchetting damage of railhead material of gapped rail joints with reference to free rail end effects, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part F Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit, February 2017, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0954409715625361.
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