Failure of rails

Rails face a range of loading conditions including rolling contact fatigue, bending, vibrations, friction, impact etc. The rails degrade gradually with time resulting in rail fracture. Most of the times these fractures are detected during routine inspection. However, a number of times rail fractures culminate in catastrophic accidents. Designing better detection systems, understanding the mechanisms of rail degradation and designing new alloys for use in rails can decrease the chances of such mishaps. Our lab works on investigating the origins of squats, reverse transfer defects etc. We also aim to understand the microstructural evolution of pearlite and other potential materials for rail applications under the kinds of loads faced by rails.