Modeling Special Cases of Longitudinal Resistance in Continuously Welded Rail (CWR)

Continuously welded rail (CWR) is the standard for North American freight railroads due to its advantages in ride quality, fatigue life, and reduced maintenance costs, despite concerns about rail buckling and breaks. Longitudinal rail resistance is a critical parameter for re-establishing rail neutral temperature (RNT) after rail breaks and for mitigating potential rail failures caused by vehicle loading, temperature changes, and maintenance activities. This proposed research builds upon a previous year project and continues the effort to refine and enhance the Finite Element (FE) modeling of rail longitudinal resistance. Specifically, it aims to improve the representation of realistic rail and anchor conditions by integrating new experimental data into the FE models. The research will develop efficient 2D and 3D FE models in ABAQUS that incorporate rail-to-tie friction, anchor slip forces, and tie-to-ballast restraint, using both experimental results (e.g., anchor slip behavior under varying load conditions) and historical data (e.g., rail-sleeper friction and sleeper-ballast resistance). The models will accommodate various rail profiles, tie materials, and geometric configurations, and will be applicable to a wide range of track conditions including frozen ballast, frozen structures, turnouts, crossings, and loading scenarios from vehicles and maintenance activities. The proposed project will be executed through four key interconnected areas of research: (1) Effects of sleeper-ballast on models larger than 4-ft in length using FE modeling in ABAQUS, (2) experimental testing in the laboratory for anchor slippage with various anchor types, (3) sensitivity analysis, and (4) model analysis with various track conditions.

• Record URL:
  • https://www.utrgv.edu/railwaysafety/research/infrastructure/index.htm
• Supplemental Notes:
  • MxV Rail and Texas A&M University are partners for this project.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $120,637.00
• 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:

  Eleazar, Marquez

  Fuentes, Arturo

  Tarawneh, Constantine

• Start Date: 20250601
• Expected Completion Date: 20260831
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Anchor bolts; Computer models; Continuous welded rail; Rail fasteners; Railroad safety; Railroad ties; Railroad tracks; Track ballast
• Subject Areas: Maintenance and Preservation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01960679
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: University Transportation Center for Railway Safety
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348340
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jul 14 2025 7:49PM