Rolling contact fatigue (RCF)
Definition
Surface and subsurface fatigue damage caused by cyclic wheel-rail contact stress. Micro-cracks initiate at the rail surface, typically in the gauge-corner region, and can propagate to cause spalling or transverse rail fracture.
Related terms
- Gauge-corner cracking
- A specific RCF pattern where cracks initiate at the gauge corner of the rail head, the edge most heavily loaded by wheel...
- Press-fit fretting
- Relative micro-motion between a wheel or disc pressed onto an axle at its interference fit, generating fretting fatigue damage and pits that...
- RAIB
- Rail Accident Investigation Branch: the independent UK body that investigates railway accidents with the objective of improving safety, operating under the same...
- Squats
- Flat-bottomed depressions in the rail running surface accompanied by internal crack systems, another manifestation of rolling contact fatigue caused by wheel slip...
- Track geometry measurement
- Systematic recording of gauge, cross-level, twist, alignment, and surface profile along a route using dedicated measurement vehicles, producing a continuously updated map...
Explained in
- Rail and Infrastructure Failure InvestigationSurface and subsurface fatigue damage caused by cyclic wheel-rail contact stress. Micro-cracks initiate at the rail surface, typically in the gauge-corner regi...