Introduction to Rails | Railway Engineering | Part I

Rails:     

• The rails on the track can be considered as steel girders for the purpose of carrying axle load.
• Rails transfer Axle load to the sub-grade through sleepers and ballast.
• Rails convert the moving wheel load of train into point load which acts on the sleepers.
• Rails are made up of high carbon steel, to resist wear and tear.
• On points and crossing rails of medium carbon and high manganese steel is used.
• In India rails are manufactured by open hearth or duplex process.

Requirements of Rails:

• Vertical stiffeners should be high enough to transmit the vertical load, for that height of the rail should be adequate.
• Rails should be capable of withstanding lateral forces, large width of head and foot will result into larger lateral stiffness.
• To allow adequate margin of vertical wear, head of the rail must be sufficiently deep, max. wear of head allowed is 10mm.
• Min. tensile strength of rails should be 72 kg/m³
• In India rails are tested by falling weight test or tup test.

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