| Download | - View final version: Rail failure root cause analysis on North American Railway (PDF, 1.4 MiB)
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| Author | Search for: Szablewski, Daniel1; Search for: Caldwell, Robert1 |
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| Editor | Search for: Abdulrazagh, Parisa Haji; Search for: Hendry, Michael T.; Search for: Pulisci, Renato Macciotta; Search for: Canadian Rail Research Laboratory |
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| Affiliation | - National Research Council of Canada. Automotive and Surface Transportation
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| Format | Text, Article |
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| Conference | Canadian and Cold Regions Rail Research Conference, CCRC 2021, November 9-10, 2021, Virtual Event |
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| Abstract | NRC analyzed a broken rail that occurred on a North American Railway in the springtime. The break took place in 115RE standard rail placed in the high rail position of a 5 degree lubricated curve. Rail inspection focused on verifying mechanical, microstructural and chemistry measurements against current AREMA guidelines for these material properties. In addition, fractography was carried out on the fracture surfaces that led to the critical rail failure. The rail defect took place in heavily curved track territory. To pinpoint the root cause(s) of this failure NRC performed a site inspection on a 30 mile length of track inspecting 29 curves, observing running surface conditions, and recording rail profiles and eddy current measurements to build an understanding of track conditions that might have contributed to the observed critical rail failure.
The paper describes the methodology undertaken in this investigation and details the outcomes at each investigative step, along with conclusions shedding light on the impact of metrics on the critical rail defect that led to the train derailment. Emphasis is placed on overall running track conditions in the investigated subdivision and on factors affecting the derailment. The paper concludes with a list of recommendations on metrics that need to be monitored with greater scrutiny to prevent future derailments. Improved rail material selection and/or more stringent grinding maintenance practices are also suggested to help prevent rail defect occurrences that might lead to critical track failures in the future. |
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| Publication date | 2021-11-09 |
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| Publisher | Uiversity of Alberta. Deptment of Civil & Environmental Engineering |
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| Language | English |
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| Peer reviewed | Yes |
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| Export citation | Export as RIS |
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| Report a correction | Report a correction (opens in a new tab) |
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| Record identifier | d257952e-8745-4d40-ad09-8ddc47083ba0 |
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| Record created | 2022-09-09 |
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| Record modified | 2022-09-13 |
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