Increasing rail life by forecasting fatigue failure

Rails in track are subjected to various forms of wear, which significantly reduce the period of their effective operation. The paper presents results of research on increasing rail durability. The research included various phenomena occurring in track in specified operational conditions and factors influencing rail replacement. Documentation from several sections on various railway lines in Poland has been analysed. The research of fatigue failures allows forecasting durability of rails. It is performed by extrapolation of function describing failure phenomenon. The research of rail corrugations makes possible to identify track locations for grinding. Intervention level for grinding has been set and the first draft of grinding plan for PKP main lines has been elaborated: (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.