@misc{SchnitzerEdel2006, author = {Schnitzer, Thomas and Edel, Karl-Otto}, title = {Fracture mechanical analysis and assessment of the extension of rolling contact fatigue cracks in railway rails}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:522-opus-69}, year = {2006}, abstract = {Rolling contact fatigue generates cracks on the running surface of high strength railway rails which grow under a small angle into the rail head. These cracks can cause in its last stage the fracturing of the rail. The crack extension behaviour is - as the origin of these cracks too - influenced by the cold working of the rail steel. The crack growth in the first stage is fracture mechanically analyzed by means of two-dimensional modelling. The simulation results are assessed for the use of rail grinding. A criterion for the change of the crack growth direction could not be derived, but the following stages of the crack growth in the transverse direction and the final fracture and the conditions for secondary fractures are considered. Rolling contact fatigue generates cracks on the running surface of high strength railway rails which grow under a small angle into the rail head. These cracks can cause in its last stage the fracturing of the rail. The crack extension behaviour is - as the origin of these cracks too - influenced by the cold working of the rail steel. The crack growth in the first stage is fracture mechanically analyzed by means of two-dimensional modelling. The simulation results are assessed for the use of rail grinding. A criterion for the change of the crack growth direction could not be derived, but the following stages of the crack growth in the transverse direction and the final fracture and the conditions for secondary fractures are considered.}, subject = {Eisenbahnschiene}, language = {en} }