OPTIMIZATION OF THE STATE OF RESIDUAL-STR ESSES IN TREATED HIGH-RESISTANCE RAILS

The improvement in the quality of rolled products such as rails requir es taking simultaneously into account phenomena of thermal, metallurgi cal and mechanical origin. The development of a finite elements code ( REFPROF), taking into account the coupling between these three types o f phenomena, has allowed us to better describe the influence of phase transformations on the behaviour and the mechanical properties of the product. Using calculations realized with REFPROF, a new rail heat tre atment line was designed. The new machine makes it possible to deliver high performance rails in an optimal state of residual stress with an increased productivity.