Fracture toughness, fatigue crack resistance and wear resistance of two railroad steels

Abstract

This research evaluated the microstructure and compared important mechanical properties of two steels for use in the railway sector. The main objective of the work was to verify the possibility of replacing a traditional C-Mn-Si pearlitic steel widely used in the world for application on rails, here called CS (common steel), by an also pearlitic steel with Nb and V micro-additions, rarely applied on rails, here called MS (microalloyed steel). The microstructures were characterized by means of pearlite colony size and pearlitic interlamellar spacing measurements, using light optical microscopy (LOM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The mechanical properties were evaluated by tensile tests, hardness tests, fracture toughness tests, force controlled axial fatigue tests, fatigue crack growth rate tests and microabrasion wear tests. CS presented a more refined microstructure than MS, due to differences in the thermomechanical industrial procedures. However, hardness, yield and tensile strength, and fracture toughness were similar for both steels. The main differences in the mechanical behavior were verified in the tensile ductility, fatigue crack growth resistance and wear resistance; the value for these three properties was higher for MS. Considering the main metallurgical requirements for an adequate selection of materials to be applied in the railway sector, these results show that the use of a Nb-V microalloyed steel is therefore a good option to ensure the best performance in service of the rail.