Method of making a hypereutectoid, head-hardened steel rail

1. A method of making a hypereutectoid, head-hardened steel rail comprising head hardening a steel rail having a composition comprising 0.86-1.00 wt % carbon, 0.40-0.75 wt % manganese, 0.40-1.00 wt % silicon, 0.05-0.15 wt % vanadium, 0.015-0.030 wt % titanium, and sufficient nitrogen to react with the titanium to form titanium nitride, said head hardening conducted at a cooling rate that, if plotted on a graph with xy-coordinates with the x-axis representing cooling time in seconds and the y-axis representing temperature in Celsius of the surface of the head of the steel rail, is maintained in a region between an upper cooling rate boundary plot defined by an upper line connecting xy-coordinates (0 s, 775° C.), (20 s, 670° C.), and (110 s, 550° C.) and a lower cooling rate boundary plot defined by a lower line connecting xy-coordinates (0 s, 750° C.), (20 s, 610° C.), and (110 s, 500° C.).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises 0.20-0.30 wt % chromium.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the nitrogen is present in the composition in an amount of 0.0050 to 0.0150 wt %.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steel rail has a head portion that has a fully pearlitic microstructure.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steel rail composition has 0.90-1.00 wt % carbon.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the steel rail has a head portion that has a fully pearlitic microstructure.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the head of the steel rail has a Brinell hardness of at least 380 HB at a depth of 10 mm from every point on the surface of the head of the steel rail.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the head of the steel rail has a Brinell hardness of at least 370 HB at a depth of 25 mm from a center surface point of the head of the steel rail.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the head of the steel rail has Brinell hardness values in a range of 370-410 HB throughout a depth range of 0-25 mm from every point on the vertical centerline of the running surface of the head of the steel rail.

10. A method of making a hypereutectoid, head-hardened steel rail comprising head hardening a steel rail having a composition comprising 0.86-1.00 wt % carbon, 0.40-0.75 wt % manganese, 0.40-1.00 wt % silicon, 0.05-0.15 wt % vanadium, 0.015-0.030 wt % titanium, and sufficient nitrogen to react with the titanium to form titanium nitride, said head hardening conducted at a cooling rate that, if plotted on a graph with xy-coordinates with the x-axis representing cooling time in seconds and the y-axis representing temperature in Celsius of the surface of the head of the steel rail, is maintained in a region between an upper cooling rate boundary plot defined by an upper line connecting xy-coordinates (0 s, 775° C.), (20 s, 670° C.), and (110 s, 550° C.) and a lower cooling rate boundary plot defined by a lower line connecting xy-coordinates (0 s, 750° C.), (20 s, 610° C.), and (110 s, 500° C.), wherein the cooling rate from 0 second to 20 seconds plotted on the graph has an average within a range of 5-10° C./s, and wherein the cooling rate from 20 seconds to 110 seconds plotted on the graph is greater than a comparable air cooling rate.

11. A method of making a hypereutectoid, head-hardened steel rail comprising:

forming a steel rail at a temperature of about 1600° C. to about 1650° C. by sequentially adding manganese, silicon, carbon, aluminum, followed by titanium and vanadium in any order or in combination to form a steel rail composition comprising 0.86-1.00 wt % carbon, 0.40-0.75 wt % manganese, 0.40-1.00 wt % silicon, 0.05-0.15 wt % vanadium, 0.015-0.030 wt % titanium, and sufficient nitrogen to react with the titanium to form titanium nitride; and

head hardening the steel rail at a cooling rate that, if plotted on a graph with xy-coordinates with the x-axis representing cooling time in seconds and the y-axis representing temperature in Celsius of the surface of the head of the steel rail, is maintained in a region between an upper cooling rate boundary plot defined by an upper line connecting xy-coordinates (0 s, 775° C.), (20 s, 670° C.), and (110 s, 550° C.) and a lower cooling rate boundary plot defined by a lower line connecting xy-coordinates (0 s, 750° C.), (20 s, 610° C.), and (110 s, 500° C.).

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the composition further comprises 0.20-0.30 wt % chromium.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the nitrogen is present in the composition in an amount of 0.0050 to 0.0150 wt %.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the steel rail has a head portion that has a fully pearlitic microstructure.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the steel rail composition has 0.90-1.00 wt % carbon.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the steel rail has a head portion that has a fully pearlitic microstructure.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the head of the steel rail has a Brinell hardness of at least 380 HB at a depth of 10 mm from every point on the surface of the head of the steel rail.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the head of the steel rail has a Brinell hardness of at least 370 HB at a depth of 25 mm along the centerline from the running surface of the head of the steel rail.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the head of the steel rail has Brinell hardness values in a range of 370-410 HB throughout a depth range of 0-25 mm from every point on the surface of the head of the steel rail.

20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the cooling rate from 0 second to 20 seconds plotted on the graph has an average within a range of 5-10° C./s, and wherein the cooling rate from 20 seconds to 110 seconds plotted on the graph is greater than a comparable air cooling rate.