Abstract
AbstractFlash-butt welding is used in the manufacture of continuously-welded rails. Finished welds typically exhibit high tensile residual stresses in the rail web and at the upper surface of the rail foot, which may increase the risk of fatigue failure in service. An understanding of the influence of the welding process, including post-weld cooling, on the residual stress distribution is necessary to improve the performance of flash-butt welds by post-weld heat treatment (PWHT), since incorrect treatment may have adverse effects on both residual stress and weld material characteristics. A finite element model has been developed to simulate post-weld cooling in flash-butt welded AS60 kg m–1 rail. Computed thermal histories for normal (air) cooling, rapid PWHT, and accelerated cooling (water spray) were used as inputs to calculate sequentially coupled stress–time histories, including phase transformations. In addition, the localised influence of the initiation time for rapid PWHT, after final upset, on the...
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