Rail integrity is a current application of engineering fracture mechanics at a practical level. Although railroad rails have been manufactured and used for more than a century, it is only in the last ten years that the effects of their crack propagation and fracture characteristics have been considered from a rational viewpoint. The J, Jractical objectives are to develop damage tolerance delines for rail inspection and to improve the fracture resistance of new rail productiOn. Rail fatigue crack propagation rates and fracture resistance are strongly influenced by residual stresses, which are...

Rail integrity is a current application of engineering fracture mechanics at a practical level. Although railroad rails have been manufactured and used for more than a century, it is only in the last ten years that the effects of their crack propagation and fracture characteristics have been considered from a rational viewpoint. The J, Jractical objectives are to develop damage tolerance delines for rail inspection and to improve the fracture resistance of new rail productiOn. Rail fatigue crack propagation rates and fracture resistance are strongly influenced by residual stresses, which are...