Influence of welding on microstructure and strength of rail steel

•Significant changes have been investigated in grain size as it ranges 2–8 by ASTM-E112.•Three different zones have been identified with their hardness and tensile properties.•Tensile strength gradually decreases in Zone 2 and parent metals respectively.•FE model has been developed and validated under various loads for stress distributions.•Stress concentrations have observed between Zone 2 and parent metal.