Analysis of the Influence of Cracked Sleepers under Static Loading on Ballasted Railway Tracks
The principal causes of cracking in prestressed concrete sleepers are the dynamic loads induced by track irregularities and imperfections in the wheel-rail contact and the in-phase and out-of-phase track resonances. The most affected points are the mid-span and rail-seat sections of the sleepers. Ce...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2014-01-01
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| Series: | The Scientific World Journal |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/363547 |
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| author | Laura Montalbán Domingo Clara Zamorano Martín Cristina Palenzuela Avilés Julia I. Real Herráiz |
| author_facet | Laura Montalbán Domingo Clara Zamorano Martín Cristina Palenzuela Avilés Julia I. Real Herráiz |
| author_sort | Laura Montalbán Domingo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The principal causes of cracking in prestressed concrete sleepers are the dynamic loads induced by track irregularities and imperfections in the wheel-rail contact and the in-phase and out-of-phase track resonances. The most affected points are the mid-span and rail-seat sections of the sleepers. Central and rail-seat crack detection require visual inspections, as legislation establishes, and involve sleepers’ renewal even though European Normative considers that thicknesses up to 0.5 mm do not imply an inadequate behaviour of the sleepers. For a better understanding of the phenomenon, the finite element method constitutes a useful tool to assess the effects of cracking from the point of view of structural behaviour in railway track structures. This paper intends to study how the cracks at central or rail-seat section in prestressed concrete sleepers influence the track behaviour under static loading. The track model considers three different sleeper models: uncracked, cracked at central section, and cracked at rail-seat section. These models were calibrated and validated using the frequencies of vibration of the first three bending modes obtained from an experimental modal analysis. The results show the insignificant influence of the central cracks and the notable effects of the rail-seat cracks regarding deflections and stresses. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f2b1401284124e0b83c2c58a8eb488b7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2356-6140 1537-744X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Scientific World Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-f2b1401284124e0b83c2c58a8eb488b72025-02-03T01:03:08ZengWileyThe Scientific World Journal2356-61401537-744X2014-01-01201410.1155/2014/363547363547Analysis of the Influence of Cracked Sleepers under Static Loading on Ballasted Railway TracksLaura Montalbán Domingo0Clara Zamorano Martín1Cristina Palenzuela Avilés2Julia I. Real Herráiz3Institute for Multidisciplinary Mathematics, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, SpainFoundation for the Research and Engineering in Railways, 160 Serrano, 28002 Madrid, SpainInstitute for Multidisciplinary Mathematics, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, SpainInstitute for Multidisciplinary Mathematics, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, SpainThe principal causes of cracking in prestressed concrete sleepers are the dynamic loads induced by track irregularities and imperfections in the wheel-rail contact and the in-phase and out-of-phase track resonances. The most affected points are the mid-span and rail-seat sections of the sleepers. Central and rail-seat crack detection require visual inspections, as legislation establishes, and involve sleepers’ renewal even though European Normative considers that thicknesses up to 0.5 mm do not imply an inadequate behaviour of the sleepers. For a better understanding of the phenomenon, the finite element method constitutes a useful tool to assess the effects of cracking from the point of view of structural behaviour in railway track structures. This paper intends to study how the cracks at central or rail-seat section in prestressed concrete sleepers influence the track behaviour under static loading. The track model considers three different sleeper models: uncracked, cracked at central section, and cracked at rail-seat section. These models were calibrated and validated using the frequencies of vibration of the first three bending modes obtained from an experimental modal analysis. The results show the insignificant influence of the central cracks and the notable effects of the rail-seat cracks regarding deflections and stresses.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/363547 |
| spellingShingle | Laura Montalbán Domingo Clara Zamorano Martín Cristina Palenzuela Avilés Julia I. Real Herráiz Analysis of the Influence of Cracked Sleepers under Static Loading on Ballasted Railway Tracks The Scientific World Journal |
| title | Analysis of the Influence of Cracked Sleepers under Static Loading on Ballasted Railway Tracks |
| title_full | Analysis of the Influence of Cracked Sleepers under Static Loading on Ballasted Railway Tracks |
| title_fullStr | Analysis of the Influence of Cracked Sleepers under Static Loading on Ballasted Railway Tracks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analysis of the Influence of Cracked Sleepers under Static Loading on Ballasted Railway Tracks |
| title_short | Analysis of the Influence of Cracked Sleepers under Static Loading on Ballasted Railway Tracks |
| title_sort | analysis of the influence of cracked sleepers under static loading on ballasted railway tracks |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/363547 |
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