PEARLITIC RAIL HAVING EXCELLENT WEAR RESISTANCE AND INTERNAL FATIGUE DAMAGE RESISTANCE

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the wear resistance of the surface part of the rail head in a steel rail used in a heavy load railway, simultaneously to suppress the formation of a coarse pro-eutectoid cementite structure on the inside of the rail head, to improve the internal fatigue damage resistance of the rail, and to elongate the service life thereof by controlling the content of carbon in the componential range of the surface part in the rail head and in the componential range of the inside in the rail head. SOLUTION: In the steel rail with a pearlitic structure, the content of carbon at least in the region to a depth of 10 mm with the surfaces of the corner parts and the top part of a head as the starting points lies within a range of >1.00 to 1.40 mass%, and the content of carbon in the region to a depth of 25 to 50 mm with the surfaces of the corner parts and the top part in the head as the starting points lies within a range of 0.75 to 1.00 mass%. COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO