The wear and fatigue resistance of railway rails depends on the microstructure of the rail head. Per EN 13674-1, a specimen taken from the rail head is polished and etched, and the microstructure is checked to be pearlitic, free of martensite, bainite or grain boundary cementite.
The test is performed with a method accredited by TÜRKAK under TS EN ISO/IEC 17025 (EN 13674-1 cl. 9.1.4); results are issued as an accredited test report.
Assessed Features
- Rail head microstructure (pearlite)
- Presence of martensite, bainite and grain boundary cementite
- Decarburization depth on request (EN 13674-1 cl. 9.1.5)
Applied Standard
- EN 13674-1 – Railway applications, track, rail: Vignole railway rails 46 kg/m and above
Specimens and Reporting
The specimen is cut, mounted, ground, polished and, where needed, etched with a suitable reagent in our laboratory (ASTM E3). Examination is done with a metallurgical microscope and image analysis software; results are reported with scaled micrographs.