Data underlying the PhD thesis: A numerical and experimental study of ratcheting for head check initiation in rails

This dataset is to supplement the doctoral dissertation of 'A numerical and experimental study of ratcheting for head check initiation in rails'. The dataset contains the multiple simulation and test data that demonstrate the results of the each of the main chapters of this dissertation. The data and coding in Chapter 1 explains the elasto-plastic behaviours of rail steels. Data provided for Chapter 2 demonstrates the simulated ratcheting behaviours in rails with a new FE wheel--rail rolling contact modelling designed for this study. For Chapter 3, the data contains the surface and subsurface contact stress states post-processed from wheel-rail rolling contact with a cylindrical and a conical wheel. In Chapter 4, data from the uniaxial monotonic and cyclic tests and the relevant calibrated constitutive models are summarised and presented accompanied by the Python codes. The final Chapter 5 contains the data of the ratcheting simulation in rails that demonstrate the detailed ratcheting behaviour of the two tested rail steels under wheel--rail rolling contacts.