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Mechanical properties and fracture toughness of rail steels and thermite welds at low temperature

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Abstract

Brittle fracture occurs frequently in rails and thermite welded joints, which intimidates the security and reliability of railway service. Railways in cold regions, such as Qinghai-Tibet Railway, make the problem of brittle fracture in rails even worse. A series of tests such as uniaxial tensile tests, Charpy impact tests, and three-point bending tests were carried out at low temperature to investigate the mechanical properties and fracture toughness of U71Mn and U75V rail steels and their thermite welds. Fracture micromechanisms were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) on the fracture surfaces of the tested specimens. The ductility indices (percentage elongation after fracture and percentage reduction of area) and the toughness indices (Charpy impact energy A k and plane-strain fracture toughness K IC) of the two kinds of rail steels and the corresponding thermite welds all decrease as the temperature decreases. The thermite welds are more critical to fracture than the rail steel base metals, as indicated by a higher yield-to-ultimate ratio and a much lower Charpy impact energy. U71Mn rail steel is relatively higher in toughness than U75V, as demonstrated by larger A k and K IC values. Therefore, U71Mn rail steel and the corresponding thermite weld are recommended in railway construction and maintenance in cold regions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Safety and Durability of China Education Ministry, Beijing, 100084, China

    Yuan-qing Wang & Yong-jiu Shi

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Yuan-qing Wang, Hui Zhou, Yong-jiu Shi & Bao-rui Feng

Authors
  1. Yuan-qing Wang
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  2. Hui Zhou
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  3. Yong-jiu Shi
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  4. Bao-rui Feng
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuan-qing Wang.

Additional information

This work was financially supported by the Research Foundation of the Ministry of Railways and Tsinghua University (No.T200410) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.50778102 and 51178244)

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Wang, Yq., Zhou, H., Shi, Yj. et al. Mechanical properties and fracture toughness of rail steels and thermite welds at low temperature. Int J Miner Metall Mater 19, 409–420 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-012-0572-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-012-0572-8

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