Vol. 5, No. 2, 2010

Download this article
Download this article For screen
For printing
Recent Issues

Volume 19
Issue 5, 747–835
Issue 4, 541–746
Issue 3, 303–540
Issue 2, 157–302
Issue 1, 1–156

Volume 18, 5 issues

Volume 17, 5 issues

Volume 16, 5 issues

Volume 15, 5 issues

Volume 14, 5 issues

Volume 13, 5 issues

Volume 12, 5 issues

Volume 11, 5 issues

Volume 10, 5 issues

Volume 9, 5 issues

Volume 8, 8 issues

Volume 7, 10 issues

Volume 6, 9 issues

Volume 5, 6 issues

Volume 4, 10 issues

Volume 3, 10 issues

Volume 2, 10 issues

Volume 1, 8 issues

The Journal
About the journal
Ethics and policies
Peer-review process
 
Submission guidelines
Submission form
Editorial board
 
Subscriptions
 
ISSN 1559-3959 (online)
ISSN 1559-3959 (print)
 
Author index
To appear
 
Other MSP journals
Mechanical and fracture analysis of welded pearlitic rail steels

Aldinton Allie, Heshmat A. Aglan and Mahmood Fateh

Vol. 5 (2010), No. 2, 263–276
Abstract

Welding rail steels using gas metal arc welding shows promise for repairing railhead defects. Finite element analysis was performed on the rail before and during the welding process. It was revealed that the sizes of the heat affected zone (HAZ) and fusion zone would be approximately 15 mm and 5 mm respectively. Hardness tests showed that the parent material is harder than both the HAZ and the welded region. The parent steel has ultimate strength, yield strength, and elongation to failure of 1114 MPa, 624 MPa, and 11.1% respectively. These values are higher than those of the welded rail steel. The average KI for the parent specimen was 70 MPam0.5, while for the welded steel it was 54 MPam0.5. The pearlitic steel displayed ductile fracture features immediately ahead of the crack tip but approaching the end of the fracture surface the failure mechanism became less ductile. The welded rail steel in contrast consists of ductile features throughout the entire fracture surface.

Keywords
welded rail steels, heat affected zone, welding efficiency, fracture toughness
Milestones
Received: 22 January 2009
Revised: 2 July 2009
Accepted: 7 July 2009
Published: 30 August 2010
Authors
Aldinton Allie
Mechanical Engineering Department
Tuskegee University
Tuskegee, AL 36088
United States
Heshmat A. Aglan
College of Engineering, Architecture and Physical Sciences
218 Foster Hall
Tuskegee University
Tuskegee, AL 36088
United States
Mahmood Fateh
Federal Railroad Administration
1120 Vermont Avenue NW
Mail Stop 20
Washington, DC 20590
United States