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Potential for external reinforcement of insulated rail joints

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journal contribution
posted on 2017-02-16, 14:31 authored by Maria Gallou, Barnaby Temple, Chris Hardwick, Matthew FrostMatthew Frost, Ashraf El-HamalawiAshraf El-Hamalawi
This paper aims to investigate alternative ways of reducing the deterioration and failure of railway track insulated rail joints (IRJs). Joints deteriorate faster than rail initially due to the structural discontinuity present. This weakness results in both extra displacement as a consequence of applied load and the dynamic force that results as a consequence. Over time this situation worsens as the impacts and applied stresses both damage and soften the ballast and supporting subgrade under the joint. This study initially presents a static finite element model designed to simulate the mechanics of IRJs and a comparison between plain rail and a suspended insulated rail joint under various support stiffnesses. Product design options of reinforced IRJs are then chosen as input variables of the model. Results of the model are compared with field and laboratory data acquired via the Video Gauge, which is a new high-resolution optical measurement technique. Results show that the use of strap rails or more robust I-beam sections in the vicinity of the IRJ to stiffen the support structure can significantly reduce the displacement and the subsequent dip angle seen at an IRJ. This potentially presents a means of improving the IRJ behaviour. Their impact becomes more significant for soft support conditions. Although these results are indicative for new IRJ conditions, field measurements indicate that the magnitude of deflection of IRJs is a result of the structural discontinuity of the rail, the dynamic P2 force, the wheel condition, the degraded ballast and it significantly increases with time under repeated load. Thus, it is recommended that careful field implementation and testing will indicate the effect of an external enhancement on the timely degradation of insulated rail joints.

Funding

This work was supported by EPSRC through the Centre for Innovative Construction Engineering (CICE) at Loughborough University and LB Foster Rail Technologies (UK) Limited.

History

School

  • Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering

Published in

Proc IMechE Part F: J Rail and Rapid Transit

Citation

GALLOU, M. ... et al., 2018. Potential for external reinforcement of insulated rail joints. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit, 232(3), pp. 697-708.

Publisher

© IMechE. Published by Sage.

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Acceptance date

2016-12-13

Publication date

2016-12-22

Notes

This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1177/0954409716684278

Language

  • en