A Literature Review of Rail Defect Causal Factors

Rail defects are a significant safety concern for the world’s railway systems. Broken rails may lead to the catastrophic derailment of vehicles and have severe consequences including death, injury and economic losses. Precise estimation of the impact of descriptive factors on the occurrence of rail fatigue defects is of great significance for the development of rail defect statistical prediction models. Meanwhile, improvement of prediction models will assist railroads in allocating inspection maintenance resources efficiently. Thus, this paper focuses on reviewing principal risk factors affecting the occurrence of rail defects. A better understanding of the influence of rail defect explanatory factors could aid in model improvement. Previous data collection and analysis in rail defects are highlighted in this review in order to improve the understanding of the impact of potential risk factors. The overview of rail defects aims to aid researchers in improving their understanding of what factors affect the occurrence of rail fatigue defects and how to analyze these factors during the processing of statistical models.