Abstract
JFE Steel has developed high performance pearlitic steel rail (SP3) with excellent wear resistance and rolling contact fatigue (RCF) resistance for heavy haul railways. To obtain excellent wear and RCF resistances, SP3 rail was manufactured by the suitable alloy design and optimum production conditions including the thermomechanical controlled process (TMCP). The lamellar spacing of SP3 was extremely fine of 0.07 μm near the rail surface, with the surface hardness of 420 in Brinel scale (HB420) or higher. In addition, SP3 showed high hardness over HB370 even at 1-inch depth (25.4 mmdepth) from the rail head surface. The excellent wear and RCF resistances of SP3 have been demonstrated by the actual performance tests at heavy haul railway in North America. At approximate 100 mgt from the installation, SP3 showed 10% better wear resistance comparing with the conventional HB390 grade heat treatment rail at the test, without showing any fatigue damage on the rail head surface, such as flaking and shelling.
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