One of the most dangerous defects leading to transverse fractures of rails is internal transverse cracks in the rail head. In this work, a fractographic analysis of the cross-sectional surface of a rail with a transverse fatigue crack is carried out. The rail sample was taken out of work after many years of service. Microstructural analysis of the crack surface and the surrounding material shows a significant degradation of the physical and mechanical properties of the rail steel.

During operation, under cyclic force action, various physical and mechanical processes occur over time in the rail metal: plastic deformation of the rolling surface, the formation of internal and surface cracks, a change in residual stresses, etc. As a result, the mechanical characteristics deteriorate and the performance of the rails decreases. In this work, a microstructural analysis of the cross-sectional surface of two rails with internal cracks - longitudinal and transverse. Rail samples were taken out of service after many years of service. Fractographic analysis of the crack surface and the surrounding material indicates a significant degradation of the physical and mechanical properties of rail steel.