Review article

The article presents a quantitative assessment of the body boundaries influence on the strength of the rail with an internal transverse crack. As an approximate model, a circular cylinder with a coaxial circular crack is used. The results of calculating the stress intensity factor (SIF) using various techniques known in the literature are submitted. For an approximate calculation of the SIF, the method of plane sections has turned out to be simple and effective. The effect of the correction factor on the maximum value of the SIF is shown. For comparison, the results of the SIF calculations in a similar 2D plane problem are presented. The residual lifetime of the structure estimated according to the number of permissible loading cycles is regarded.