Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The upper 3–5 mm of rail becomes severely cold worked with the regular passage of trains. Previous work has shown that the shear wave velocity in this upper layer is actually reduced by ∼ 10%. One of the most likely sources of this velocity reduction is the presence of a material texture in the upper region. In order to investigate the wave propagation properties of this upper region, several wafers of material, ∼ 4 mm thick, were removed from used and new rail. These wafers were removed from positions at different orientations relative to the longitudinal axis of the rail. Each wafer was secured in a device that permitted a 350° rotation of a pair of shear wave transducers propagating through the thickness of the samples. Transducer centre frequencies were above 10 MHz. The observed shear wave velocity change is compared to predicted changes for several textures observed in steel. A pattern exists indicating that a texture does exist in the cold-worked layer. Steel used for rail normally has a carbon content of 0·67–0·82%.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

BRAY

D E.

, EGLE

D. M.

, and REITER

J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 1978, 64, (3), 845–851.

BRAY

D. E.

: ‘Ultrasonic pulse propagation in the cold-worked layer of railroad rail’, FRA/ORD-77/34.11, PB 281166/ 9GA, 1978, Springfield, Va, National Technical Informa-tion Service.

EGLE

D. M.

and BRAY

A E.

: ‘Nondestructive measurement of longitudinal rail stresses’, FRA/ORD-76-270, PB 272061, 1976, Springfield, Va, National Technical Information Service.

GREEN

R. E.

Jr ,: ‘Treatise on materials science and technology: ultrasonic investigation of mechanical properties‘, Vol. 3, 3–72; 1973, New York, Academic Press.

DIETER

G. E.

: ‘Mechanical metallurgy’, 2 ed., 243–246; 1976, New York, McGraw-Hill.

BACKOFEN

W. A.

: ‘Deformation processing’, 57–67, 143 144; 1972, Reading, Mass., Addison-Wesley.

BARRETT

C. S.

and MASSALSKI

T. B.

‘Structure of metals’, 3 ed., 558 561; 1966, New York, McGraw-Hill.

RAVITSKAYA

T. M.

: Strength Mater., 1974, (11), 77–82.

KRAUSE

and DEMIRCI

: Proc. Symp. of International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Enschede, The Netherlands, 342–358; 1975, Delft University Press.

10.

KRAUSE

and SCHOLTEN

: Proc. Fifth Int. Wheelsets Congress, 1–24; 1975, Tokyo.

11.

BLANTER

M. E.

, GASANOU

M. C.

, and GULRAEVA

N. 0.

: Met. Sci. Heat Treat., 1966, (3)—(4), 188–190.

12.

MUSGRAVE

M. J. P.

: ‘Crystal acoustics’, 122, 114; 1970, San Francisco, Holden-Day.

13.

GOLD

: J. Appl. Phys., 1950, 21, 541–546.

14.

SULLIVAN

P. F.

and PAPADAKIS

E. P.

: J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 1961, 33, (1), 1622–1624.

15.

ALERS

G. A.

and LIU

Y. C.

: Trans. _ t. Soc. AIME, 1966, 236, 482–489.

16.

TITTMAN

B. R.

and ALERS

G. A.

: Metall. Trans., 1972, 3, 1307–1308.

17.

MARKHAM

M. F.

: Br. J. Appl. Phys., Suppl. no. 6, 1957, 556–563.

18.

FIRESTONE

F. A.

and FREDERICK

J. R.

: J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 1946, 18, (1), 200–211.

19.

PAPADAKIS

: Metall. Trans., 1971, 2, 575–578.

20.

WATERMAN

: Phys. Rev., 1959, 113, (5), 1240–1253.

21.

‘Behaviour of the metal of rails and wheels in the contact zone, Question C53’, 970–76; Office for Research and Experiments of the International Union of Railways, Utrecht, The Netherlands, (series of reports issued at irregular intervals).

22.

KALOUSEK

and KLEIN

: Am. Rail. Eng. Assoc. Bull., 1976, 77, (656), 429–448.

23.

‘Rail steels — developments, processing, and use’, STP 644; 1978, Philadelphia, Pa, American Society for Testing and Materials.

24.

Meeting on ‘Rail steels'; 1972, London, The Iron and Steel Institute.

25.

HARRISON

and JOHNSON

K. L.

: ‘Final report of investigations into rail corrugations'; 1978, University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering, CUED IC Mech TR 15.

Ultrasonic studies of anisotropy in cold-worked layer of used rail

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References