LAUSR

This paper reports about magnetic non-destructive evaluation of the rail surface exposed to long-time cyclic plastic deformation. Long-term severe plastic deformation and superimposing friction heating initiate pearlite matrix defragmentation and the corresponding refinement of magnetic domain structure. This paper discusses potential of the Barkhausen noise as well as tangential magnetic field techniques for such purpose. The paper analyses correlation between the thickness of the near surface white layer and magnetic parameters. This study would contribute to a possible concept for preventing unexpected rails deformation (or cracking) due to their thermal dilatation via non-destructive magnetic techniques.