Continuously Welded Rail Longitudinal Resistance Modeling

Continuously welded rail (CWR) is standard in North American freight railroads despite the common concerns for rail buckling and rail breaks. Rail longitudinal resistance is an important parameter for proper re-establishment of rail neutral temperature (RNT) after rail breaks and reducing longitudinal rail movement under external vertical and longitudinal loads. Existing rail longitudinal resistance values are based on limited rail cut field testing and are not applicable when it comes to special track conditions, such as near fixed assets, and have not been used to evaluate rail movement without a break. In collaboration with MxV Rail engineers who are consulting on this work, the proposed research aims to develop efficient 2D and 3D finite element (FE) rail longitudinal resistance models based on experimental studies and historical data, which can be implemented considering the effect of frozen ballast, frozen structures, vehicle forces, and maintenance disturbance. The FE models will be carried out in ABAQUS, and will consider various rail sizes, multiple material and geometric tie properties, and three critical forms of interactions: rail-to-tie friction, anchor slipping force, and tie-to-ballast restraint. These force-displacement interactions are nonlinear and are represented using springs, with stiffnesses determined based on experimental studies (for anchor slipping force) and historical data (for rail-sleeper friction and sleeper-ballast restraint). The development of FE rail longitudinal resistance models that consider efficient representation of rail-to-tie and tie-to-ballast interactions can have multiple practical applications, including: (1) provide improved RNT re-establishment guidance under special track conditions and (2) evaluate changes in RNT from vehicle and maintenance-induced longitudinal rail movement.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Partners for this project are Texas A&M University and MxV Rail

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $76881
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348340

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

  1201 W. University Dr
  Edinburg, TX  United States  78539
• Managing Organizations:

  University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

  1201 W. University Dr
  Edinburg, TX  United States  78539
• Project Managers:

  Stearns, Amy

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

  1201 W. University Dr
  Edinburg, TX  United States  78539
• Principal Investigators:

  Zhou, Siang

  Tarawneh, Constantine

• Start Date: 20240601
• Expected Completion Date: 20250531
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Buckling; Continuous welded rail; Finite element method; Longitudinal strength; Rail fasteners; Railroad safety; Railroad tracks
• Subject Areas: Maintenance and Preservation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01924827
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: University Transportation Center for Railway Safety
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348340
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jul 21 2024 11:12AM