Decision on economical rail grinding interval for controlling rolling contact fatigue

Rail players around the world have been increasing axle loads to improve the productivity of freight and heavy haul operations. This has increased the risk of surface cracks at curves because of rolling contact fatigue. Rail grinding has been considered an effective process for controlling these cracks and reducing risks of rail breaks. The complexity of deciding the optimal rail grinding intervals for improving the reliability and safety of rails is because of insufficient understanding of the various factors involved in the crack initiation and propagation process. This paper focuses on identifying the factors influencing rail degradation, developing models for rail failures and analyzing the costs of various grinding intervals for economic decision making. Various costs involved in rail maintenance, such as rail grinding, downtime, inspection, rail failures and derailment, and replacement of worn-out rails, are incorporated into the total cost model developed in this paper. Field data from the rail industry have been used for illustration.