Investigations of the Head Check Defects in Rails

Abstract

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Empirical Model of the Rail Head Operational Crack on the Example of a Head Check Defect

“…The defects that arise can subsequently be included in all internal discontinuities of the material, mainly the remains of the shrinkage cavity and large clusters of non-metallic inclusions. The rolling process of the rails may cause surface defects of the rails in the form of scratches, scale indentations on the rail running surface, or the formation of a coarse-grained structure of the material [1,2]. On the other hand, straightening the rails after rolling promotes the formation of internal stress in the rails, which may lead to the curvature of the rails and cracking of the rails in the tracks.…”

“…In particular, the number of visible defects as cracks in the railhead surface has increased. They constitute a huge percentage of recorded rail defects, approximately 10% [1]. All head check defects occurring in the tracks in operation are found based on visual inspection.…”

“…All head check defects occurring in the tracks in operation are found based on visual inspection. Thus, it is impossible to determine their approximate depth [1]. The analysis of many practical cases and literature shows that the approximate depth of the defect may be determined, for example, by the eddy current method [2].…”