Railway infrastructure in the United States operates under severe cyclic wheel–rail contact conditions that promote subsurface crack initiation and propagation within railhead steel. While traditional fatigue life assessments rely on macroscale fracture mechanics, the influence of microstructural features—such as grain size, morphology, and anisotropy—remains insufficiently quantified. This project integrates microstructural characterization and computational fracture modeling…
Experimental Assessment of Fracture in Rails Due to Cyclic Loading
Fatigue-related internal cracking in rail heads remains one of the primary threats to heavy-haul railway safety and reliability. Subsurface cracks can grow undetected under repeated wheel–rail loading, eventually leading to rail fracture, service interruptions, and costly maintenance interventions. To improve predictive capabilities and inspection strategies, reliable experimental data are required to calibrate physics-based fracture models.…
Experimental Determination of Crack Growth in Rails Subjected to Long-Term Cyclic Fatigue Loading
It is well known that one of the most significant causes of train derailments within the U.S. is due to rail fracture. Despite this fact, a reliable model for predicting fatigue fracture in rails has not yet been deployed within the U.S. We have recently been developing a multiscale computational algorithm for predicting crack evolution…
Computational Modeling of Fracture in Rails
It is well known that one of the most significant causes of train derailments within the U.S. is due to rail fracture. Despite this fact, a reliable model for predicting fatigue fracture in rails has not yet been deployed within the U.S. We have recently been developing an advanced computational algorithm for predicting crack evolution…
Computer Prediction of Buckling in Rails
It is well-known that track buckling is one of the most commonplace causes of train derailments [FRA 2022]. Accordingly, with partial funding provided by our previous USDOT UTC and the Technology Transportation Center, Inc. (TTCI, now MxV Rail), we are continuing to develop a track buckling model for deployment by MxV Rail as a tool…