Head hardened rails (HHR) are commonly used to fight wear and corrugation in tight curves. HHR may be subjected to breaks in service as cracks may propagate without being “erased” by wear. The Hatfield accident (UK, 17 October 2000) led to the birth of modern understanding of rolling contact fatigue (RFC) phenomena. This paper reports the author’s experience in a conventional metro that was corrugation free but developed unexpected, unusual and particularly worrying RCF defects after a few years from the beginning of service. An empirical interpretation of the observed phenomena and maintenance strategies are discussed.
"Turtle Shelling", a new type of defect of head-hardened low rails in tight curves / A. Bracciali. - ELETTRONICO. - (2025), pp. 0-0. ( 13th International Conference on Contact Mechanics and Wear of Rail/Wheel Systems (CM2025) Tokyo, Japan 22/09/2025).
"Turtle Shelling", a new type of defect of head-hardened low rails in tight curves
A. Bracciali
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2025
Abstract
Head hardened rails (HHR) are commonly used to fight wear and corrugation in tight curves. HHR may be subjected to breaks in service as cracks may propagate without being “erased” by wear. The Hatfield accident (UK, 17 October 2000) led to the birth of modern understanding of rolling contact fatigue (RFC) phenomena. This paper reports the author’s experience in a conventional metro that was corrugation free but developed unexpected, unusual and particularly worrying RCF defects after a few years from the beginning of service. An empirical interpretation of the observed phenomena and maintenance strategies are discussed.
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