Abstract:Traditionally, railroad track is installed so that rails that are welded together into strings longer than 400 feet experience no longitudinal thermal force at rail temperatures of 90 to 115 degrees °F. This rail temperature at which the thermal force is zero is commonly referred to as the rail’s neutral temperature. Rail at temperatures higher than the neutral temperature are in a state of compression, and in cooler temperatures are in tension. Except for the textbook case of a perfectly straight rail, these … Show more
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