Fatigue crack growth and damage characteristics of high-speed rail at low ambient temperature

Abstract

Abstract Low temperature can be a significant problem affecting safety and maintenance of railway. In this study, the fatigue crack growth rate and rolling contact fatigue damage behaviors of high-speed rail material under different temperature conditions were investigated by a series of experiments. The results indicate that the stress and strength of rail material increase with the decrease of ambient temperature. The crack growth rate at 0 °C and − 20 °C is similar with that at 20 °C. While, when the temperature decreases to − 60 °C, the growth rate of crack increases sharply. The promotion of rail embrittlement at low temperature accompanied with the action of high stress causes the rapid failure and increase of surface crack length and subsurface crack damage. Meanwhile, three crack growth mechanism models at different temperatures can be inferred. The brittle fracture mode is increasingly apparent with the temperature decreasing.