2002 Volume 43 Issue 3 Pages 101-106
The service life of jointed rails is governed mainly by the fatigue fracture at the joints. Static loading tests and field tests were carried out to measure the stresses around fish bolt holes. Based on these results and FE analysis, we developed a method to evaluate the stresses at the edges of fish bolt holes when fish bolts were fastened and trains passed. An S-N curve of rails with bolt holes was obtained from the results of bending fatigue tests. As a result of this study, we established a method to evaluate the fatigue life of jointed rails.