Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Delft
..
~.
I
'
" ,.",
ISBN 90-800324-3-3
SI80 696.3 UDC 625.1
:.
.......
.... ~
!..
PREFACE
Acknowledgement
i
r-l
With the preparation of t h ~ sSecond Edlt~onmany experts have assisted to provide and check existing
materral and to wrrte addrtronal sectrons. In the first place I would like to thank my staff of the railway
engrneerrng group of Delft Unrversity of Technology: Jan van 't Zand, Peter Scheepmaker, Gerard van
der Werf, Anton Kok, Valerl Markine, Ivan Shevtsov, Pedja Joksimovic and the secretarres Jacqueline
Barnhoorn and Sonja van den 90s. I am most rndebted to my Ph.D. students: Akke Suiker, Amy de
Man, Arjen Zoeteman, S ~ r e nRasmussen, Stanrslav Jovanovic and Jan Zwarthoed for thelr invaluable Ideas, suggestrons and contributions. Those who have drafted signrficant parts have been mentimed explicitly in the outset of the book. From TU Delft I would like to mention in particular Jan van 't
Zand who made the entire layout of the book in Framemaker.
I would also like to express my gratitude to my colleagues of the management team of the Sectron for
Road and Railway Engineering at the Crvil Engineering Department of TU Delft: Andre Molenaar.
Peter Scheepmaker, Lambert Houben, Martin van der
and Abdol Miradr for their support in produclng thrs Second Edltion.
en
For the high-speed section I would llke to thank the Korean High Speed Rail Corporation for contributing informatron of the high-speed project between Seoul and Pusan. In this respect I would also like
to refer to the many interesting discussions ~nthe Special lnternatronal Track Advisory Committee
(SITAC), comprrsed of Dr Kee-Dong Kang, Dr Yoshihiko Sato, Mr. Serge Montagne, Prof. Klaus
Riessberger, Mr. Gerhard Kaess and myself, with the active assistance of Mr. Arne Svensov. Mr. Bertold Pferfer and Mr. Ki-Jun Son.
1-.
k,
l"i
Lit4
Valuable rnformatron was received from my Japanese colleaaues Dr. Yoshihiko Sato from the Rarlwav
Track System Institute. Dr. Katsutoshi ~ n d oand Mr. ~ o r y t s u ~Abe
u from the Rarlway ~echnical
Research Institute (RTRI) and Mr Tetsuhisa Kobayashi from the Japan Railway Construction Publrc
Corporatron (JRCPC) for whrch I would like to express my gratrtude.
I very much apprec~atedthe Indirect contr~butionsby the companies and members partlcrpatrng In the
Coordrnatrng Committee for Railway Engineerrng of the Information and Technology Centre for Transport and Infrastructure (CROW) in The Netherlands.
I also owe much gratrtude to Mr. Rainer Wenty from Plasser and Theurer for rev~singthe section on
track maintenance and renewal, and providing informatron on various other related subjects.
I hrghly apprec~atedthe lnput on stone blowing from Mr. Peter McMrchael of Ralltrack and Mr. Davrd
Hill-Smlth of AMEC Rail.
r
lrP3
P?
i
9
Y
For the sectlon on rails I am very grateful for the contrrbutlon of Dr Norbert Frank from Voest Alprne
Schienen, who revrsed large parts of the orrginal text.
I very much appreciated the assistance of Mr. Paul Godart of NMBSISNCB for providing the informatlon on the work of CEN and UIC concerning new rail standards.
I would lrke to express my gratitude to Mr. Hugo Goossens of TUC Rarl for the many interesting discussrons on track marntenance
I owe much grat~tudeto Mr. Rarner Oswald from VAE, for his suggestrons on reusing the section on
swrtches and crossings.
1 would lrke to thank Dr. Frank Kusters of Elektro-Thermrt for checking the sectron on ET weldrng.
L
I
rpsti
-- -
blodern /?allway T r x k
PREFACE
ri
PREFACE
r
I
After the success of Modern Railway Track this Second Editlon is an extension and complete revision
of the original book, in which the developments of the last ten years have been incorporated. The
research projects carrled out at the Railway Engineering Group of Delft University of Technology have
played a central role The theory of railway track and vehicle track interaction has been substantially
enhanced and much more attention has been given to dynamics. Undoubtedly one of the most important extensions was the part on slab track structures. But also track management systems have been
glven much more attentron. Numerical optimization and testing, as well as acceptance are new chapters.
When revising the lecture notes for the railway course at the Civ~lEngineering Department of TU Delft
In the period 1994 - 2000 the first edition of this book was taken as a starting polnt. The first editlon
and the TU Delft lecture notes, together with various publications and research reports, malnly of the
rarlway engineering group of TU Delft, were then forming the base for the second ed~tion.
I
fTl
1-
F"1
%I
I
The staff of the railway englneering group at TU Delft has made a great contribution to the compositron and revlslon of the various chapters. Also the Industry prov~dedsome important contr~butions,
specrfically on the chapters dealing with rall manufacturing, track components, maintenance and
renewal, as well as lnspectron systems.
The first seven chapters are deallng with the basic theory of the wheel rail interface and track design.
In the des~gnattention IS glven to both statrc and dynamic aspects, whereby a number of examples IS
given of results obtalned from computer models like RAIL, GEOTRACK and ANSYS In the part on
stability and longitudinal forces the CWERRI program is extensively discussed
The d~scussronof track structures has been split up ~ n t oa chapter on ballasted track and one on slab
track The first one is deallng with the conventional structures and modern ballasted designs,
whereas the slab track chapter focuses on developments of the last decades. Both continuous slabs
and prefabricated solutions are addressed in combinatron wlth discretely supported and continuously
supported ralls.
The chapter on rails has been brought to the state of the art, with introducing the new EN standards
and discussing the latest lnspectron systems. Also the latest information on baln~ticrall steels has
been ~ncor~orated.
For switches and crossings high-speed turnouts are discussed, together w ~ t hthe geometrical deslgn
crlterla, and also modern inspection systems for controlling switch malntenance.
In railway englneering practrce track malntenance and renewal forms a key factor The latest track
maintenance methods and the associated machrnes are presented, be~nga major extensron compared to the first edition of this book The part on track deterioration has now been incorporated in thls
chapter
Optimization was one of the Issues very much underestimated in railway englneering. Such techniques are not only applicable to components and structures, but also to decision support systems
and resource optim~zation.A separate chapter has been added called numerical optrm~zationwlth the
main emphasis on structural components
From the outset railway engineering has always had a strong component in experimental work.
Therefore a new sectlon has been added on testing and acceptance, in which also the Issue of
acceptance criteria for new rallway components is addressed
The chapter on noise and vibrat~onIS describing the fundamentals and has been taken over from the
first edition wlth only a few modrficat~ons.
Flu
&
hp
F""1k
p
id
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
TABLE OF CONTEAITS
('iL
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Historic development .......................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Railways ............................................................................................................................................. 1
1 .3 Tramways and metro .......................................................................................................................... 3
1.4 Operational aspects ............................................................................................................................ 4
1.4.1 Functions of a railway company .................................................................................................... 4
1.4.2 Infrastructure ................................................................................................................................. 4
1.4.3 Rolling stock .................................................................................................................................. 5
1.4.4 Personnel ...................................................................................................................................... 5
. . .
1.4.5 Electnflcat~on
................................................................................................................................. 6
1.4.6 Catenary systems ......................................................................................................................... 7
1.4.7 Road crossings .............................................................................................................................8
1.4.8 Major rail infrastructure projects .................................................................................................... 9
1.4.9 Developing countries ....................................................................................................................9
1.5 Geometry of a railway line ................................................................................................................I0
1.5.1 Clearances .................................................................................................................................I0
1.5.2 Alignment ....................................................................................................................................13
1.6 General track considerations ............................................................................................................ 13
1.6.1 Track requirements ..................................................................................................................... 13
1.6.2 Load-bearing function of the track ..............................................................................................14
I .6.3 Indication of rail forces and displacements .................................................................................15
1.6.4 Track geometry components ......................................................................................................15
r1
- 1
r"
I,
kb
bi
F
P
hj
2 WHEEL-RAIL INTERFACE
.
2.1 Wheel-ra~lgu~dance.......................................................................................................................... 17
2.2 Wheelset and track dimensions .......................................................................................................17
. .
2.3 Con~clty.........................................................................................................:...................................18
2.4 Lateral movement of a wheelset on straight track ............................................................................19
2.4.1 Theory according to Klingel ........................................................................................................ 19
2.4.2 Hunting movement ......................................................................................................................20
. .
2.5 Equivalent conlclty ............................................................................................................................21
2.6 Worn wheel profiles ..........................................................................................................................22
2.7 Wheel-rail contact stresses ..............................................................................................................23
2.7.1 Hertz theory ................................................................................................................................ 23
2.7.2 Hertz spring constant .................................................................................................................. 24
2.7.3 Single and two-point contact between wheel and rail .................................................................25
2.7.4 Spreading forces .........................................................................................................................26
2.7.5 Wheel-rail creep .......................................................................................................................... 27
2.7.6 Spin ............................................................................................................................................. 28
2.7.7 Creepage coefficients .................................................................................................................29
2.8 Train resistances ..............................................................................................................................30
2.8.1 Types of resistances ................................................................................................................... 30
2.8.2 Required pulling force ................................................................................................................ 31
2.8.3 Adhesion force ............................................................................................................................
32
P!
..-
. . . .. .
i"
TABLEOFCONTENTS
M o d e ~ nRailway Track
35
3 2 Curvature and superelevat~onIn horizontal curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3 2 1 Curve radiuslcurvature
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3 2 2 Curve effects . . . . . . . . . . . .
......................................................................................................................
3.3 Superelevation .......
.
36
1
-A
7
id
'i
I
r1"4
I
Ld
I
1 IJ"i
Yli
' I
Ld
5
I
I T
'
3.3.1
3.3.2
3.3.3
3.3.4
3.3.5
i*8
A
4 TRACK LOADS
,,
/
hill
*/?I
U
IT
&/
lnrl
Ij
57
4.7.2 Tilting risk ....................................................................................................................................
58
4.8 Lateral forces on the a ...................................................................................................................59
4.8.1 Total lateral wheel load ...............................................................................................................59
4.8.2 Derailment risk ............................................................................................................................ 59
4.8.3 Lateral force on the track ......................................................................................................... 60
.
.
4.9 Longltud~nalforces ........................................................................................................................... 61
4.9.1 Causes ........................................................................................................................................
61
4.7.1 Total vertical wheel load ...........................................................................................................
61
n
r..4
1
1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
TABLE OF CONTENTS
7L
69
L-
71
71
71
71
72
....................................................................................................... ....... 73
5.2.4 Continuous
C;ontlnuous rail support ...............................................................................................................
6 7 6 Annrnv;-mt;mm
-6
--.I
......................................................................................... 73
5.2.5 Approximation of discrete.. rail
support
5.3 Beam on elastic foundation model ................................................................................................... 74
5.3.1 Solution of the differential equation ............................................................................................. 74
5.3.2 Several wheel loads .................................................................................................................... 76
L
1Pmb;
hi/
.-
VVILI
I I
--a
1.2 t mite
_I.,.
'
-8
176
180
- 183
I 84
184
k
f""
i
P
F
I
t.Ii
O
>
A -
Y b lL
75 8
S t 1
U J IL ~ U I I I L Y
p29D.
Qtghilit,,
rn19
nf t r ? m t r - - 1 ,
8 BALLASTED TRACK
......................I ........... 203
8.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................
8.2 Formation ....................................................................................................................................... 204
8.3 Ballast bed ...................................................................................................................................... 205
8.4Rails ...............................................................................................................................................206
8.4.1Functions .................................................................................................................................. 206
8.4.2Profile types .............................................................................................................................. 206
Geometry of flat-bottom rail ......................................................................................................
. . 3.4.3
207
2, ;8.5Rail joints and welds ....................................................................................................................
208
8.5.1introduction ................................................................................................................................. 208
8.5.2Fishplated joints ........................................................................................................................208
85.3 Expansion joints and expansion devices ................................................................................... 209
8.5.4Bridge transition structures ....................................................................................................... 210
. .
8.5.5hIsulated jo~nt............................................................................................................................ 210
8.6 Sleepers ......................................................................................................................................... 212
8.6.1introduction ...............................................................................................................................212
8.6.2Timber sleepers ........................................................................................................................213
8.6.3Concrete sleepers ................................................................................................................... 214
8.6.4Steel sleepers ...........................................................................................................................216
8.7Improvements in ballasted tracks ..................................................................................................
216
8.7.1Introduction ...............................................................................................................................
216
8.7.2Wide sleeper .......................................................................................................................... 217
8.7.3Frame sleeper ................................. ..: ...................................................................................... 218
pi
L
i
F
P
! 1
_J
Modern Ra~iwayTrack
TABLE OF CONTENTS
.
.
-
lak
w
7
id
8.9 Track on structures with a continuous ballast bed and sleepers .................................................... 223
8.9.1 Ballast mats ..............................................................................................................................
223
8.10 Reinforcing layers
.. 225
8.1 1 Level crossings
226
8.1 2 Tramway T r a c k . ...........................................................................................................................
227
812.1 Tramway track characteristics... ............................ ..........................................................227
. 229
8.1 2.2 Examples of paved-in tramway track
8.1 3 Crane Track ..................................................................................................................................
230
9 SLAB TRACK
"1
ksri
r;
I
P9
, .
?I
'
mi
..
2
I/
iJ/
i:
i
d
I
r"ls
.-
.........................................................................................................
...................
,
261
..
.......................
9.11.1 Introduction
265
9.11.2 Slab track structures with an EPS subbase ............................................................................265
9.11 3 Static periormance ................................................................................................................. 265
9.11.4 Dynamic performance .
266
. .
...........................................................................................................................
9.11 .5 Appli~atlons
267
9.1 2 Track resilience ............................................................................................................................ 267
9.1 3 System r e q r ~ i r e m e n t s................................................................................................................. 268
9.1 3.1 Requirements for the substructure .......................................................................................... 269
271
9.1 3.2 Requirements for slab track in tunnels
P"'
1
TABLE OF CONTEAITS
.J
i
~
-7
!
Ld
C
!?
&
~ !Aw
I
r"l
2fl
i
...............................................................................
'n
F
I
17
iJ
,
.....................................386
12.17.2Track possession .............................................................................
386
12.77.3Gantry crane method
.....................................
12.17.4Track section method ............................................................................................................ 386
12.17.5Continuous method ...............................................................................................................388
........................................ 392
12.17.6Track renewal trains ......................................................
12:l 8 Switch renewal ...........................................................................................................................393
12.19 Track laying ........................................................................................................ ........................ 396
12.19.1General considerations .........................................
. - 396
dj.q
!
.
..................................................
12.5.1STRAIT principle ...................................................................
356
.......................................................................
357
.....................................
12.5.2Mobile weld correction
357
12.6 Tamping machines ........................................................................................................................
12.6.1 General considerations ...............
357
...................................."".'
12.6.2Tamping principle .......................................................................................................
359
363
12.6.3Levelling and lining . ................................................................................................
126.3.
1 smoothing principle of modern tamping machines -........................ -................... 363
366
.............................................................................
12.6.4ALC ............................................................
367
........................................................
12.6.5EM-SAT ...........................................................................
369
12.7Stone blowing ............................................................................................................................
369
12.7.1General principle .
- .................................................
12.7.2~ ~ a ~philosophy
~ ~ i used
n g for the stone blower ...................................... ...........................370
127.3 Stone blowing applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .371
.........................
ki
340
and
11 5 ~
~
Used
t
~for t
i
~ crossings
~
~ .....................................................
..............................................340
1 1 .6 Types of turnouts and crossings ..........................................
11.7 Cross-overs ........................................................................................... .......................................341
11 . 8 SwitcIl calculation .........................................................................................................................344
11 .8.
1 ~ ~ on
l between
~ t , cume radius and crossing angle .................................................................344
345
..............................
11 2 Calculation of main dimensions .................;.. ...................................'
...................................................................... 347
11 .8.
3 ~ ~ ~ design
~ ~ oft switches
~ i and
~ cr0ssings
a l
11 .9 Production, transpofl and laying of switches ................................................................................347
id
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.....
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I!!
iii
m
Fn
t
r"i
?
hm
.- ...
. . . . . . . . .
e
P
TAGLE OF CObITENTS
I
,i
a
J
9
1-4
'7
id
I
ti44
ud
""i
!d
453
454
15 NOISE A N D VSBRN1ON
15 1 lntroduct~on
. .
15 2 Some defin~tions
15.3 Ground v~brat~ons
15.31 Introduction . .
..
15 3 2 Wave propagation In soils
15 3 3 Human perception .
.
15.34 Measured v~brations
..
15 3 5 Vlbrat~onreduction
15 3 6 Measures for ballasted tracks
15 3 7 Measures for slab tracks
15 3 8 Measures for tracks In the open
15 4 Rallway noise
. 459
..
459
.. . .. . 460
. ...
.
.
..
.
.
. .
460
462
464
.466
468
469
469
.470
470
..
kid
=a
w
I'm
I
4rsl
p".l
LW
M
iay
7
lvri
7
Y
fm
hi
v
Y
A7
I
irU
... .
475
475
476
477
. 478
479
480
484
484
485
486
486
487
488
489
,494
495
495
496
497
498
500
501
..
501
503
.
504
506
506
. 506
508
509
510
I-
TABLE O F CONTENTS
TENTS
\-
r4-
r
I
F1-
r-
i-
'
h,
/?
ir i
..
17 HIGH-SPEED TRACKS
fl
I
rh
8
p
bl
E
I
F"
i
w
rn
1J
h
F
k
.:
prn
hi
FA"I
PFP
~
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
'
rnI
%td
fiI
ilsYli
Inu(
d
ns(
I
"I
17 2 2 CIVIIWorks
17 2 3 Track Characterrstrcs
17 2 4 Track Laying
.
. .
17 2 5 Track Installation
...
...
17 2 6 Catenary and Systems
.
.
.. .
..
.
17.3 Dimensrons of rarlway tunnels
.
. . .
17 3 1 lntroductron
.
..
.. ..
..
. .
..
.
.
17.32 Arr resistance in the open f ~ e l dsituation . . ... . .
.
17 3.3 Tunnel sltuatron
..
. . .. .
.
. .
17 3 4 Basic desrgn cnteria for tunnels
.. . ..
.
. .
. .
17 3 5 Calculations of external air pressures on the tram
17 3 6 Modeling of the tunnel
.
. .
17.37 Calculatron of air-pressure var~at~ons
~ntrains . .
. .
. . .
7 7 3 8 Crrterra
. ..
17 3 9 Results of calculatrons for tunnels ~nthe HSL in The Netherlands . .
. ..
17 4 Maglev Applrcatrons
17 4 1 lntroductron
17 4 2 The Japanese system
17 4 3 The German Transrapid system
.574
575
575
. . 575
576
.. . ,577
. ... .. 577
.. . . .. . 577
..
578
. . . . 579
. .
580
..
.. .
.
580
. 581
.
.
583
584
584
. 584
584
586
. .
591
592
..
593
593
594
596
596
596
596
597
598
602
km
I
i&
7
hi
I r"i
~
I
hi
7b
20 3 Recent studies
..
.
.. .
7
d
W1
604
604
605
,605
606
607
610
611
612
XXlV
615
615
620
625
Modern Ra~iwayTrack
I INTRODlJCTiON
INTRODUCTION
1.I
Historic development
The rall as supporting and guiding element was first utilised in the s~xteenthcentury. In those t~mes
the mines In England used wooden roadways to reduce the resistance of the minrng vehicles. The
running surface was provlded with an uprising edge in order to keep the vehicles on the track.
During a crises as a result of overproductron In the iron industry In England in 1760, the wooden rails
were covered with cast iron plates w h ~ c hcaused the runnlng resistance to diminish to such an extent
that the application of such plates soon proliferated About 1800 the first free bearrng rarls were
applied (Outtram), which were supported at the ends by cast iron sockets on wooden sleepers.
Flanged iron wheels took care of the guiding, as we strll practice now. In the begrnnlng the vehicles
were moved forward by manpower or by horses
The rnvention of the steam englne led to the first steam locomotrve, constructed in 1804 by the Englrshman Trev~thick.George Stephenson built the first steam locomotive with tubular boiler in 1814 In
1825 the first railway for passengers was opened between Stockton and Darlington. On the mainland
of Europe Belgium was the first country to open a railway (Mechelen - Brussels). Belg~umwas qurck
to create a connection with the German hinterland bypassing the Dutch waterways. The first railway
In The Netherlands (Amsterdam - Haarlem) came ~ n t oexistence much later: only in 1839. Here the
railway was regarded as a big rlval of the rnland waterways
-4
Bwi
b.i
T
hd
@!
hrvl
I
The rarlways formed a brand new means of transportatron with up till then unknown capacity, speed,
and reliabil~ty.Large areas were opened which could not be developed earher because of the primitive road and water connections. The railways formed an enormous stimulus to the polrtlcal, economlcal and soclal development In the nrneteenth century. Countries like the United States and Canada
were opened thanks to the rallways and became a polrtical unity. In countries llke Russia and Chrna
the railway st111plays a crucial roll
The trade unions originated when the rarlways were a major employer (railway strrkes in England rn
1900 and 1911 and in The Netherlands ~n 1903). The rarlway companies were also the first l ~ n eof
buslness which developed careful planning, organisatron and control systems to enable efficrent management. Moreover, they gave the rmpulse to b ~ g
developments In the area of civrl engineering (rarlway track bullding, bridges, tunnels, station roofing)
ba4
1.2
Railways
Whrle the rarlways found themselves in a monopoly pos~tionup to the twentieth-century, w ~ t hthe
advent of the combustion engine and the jet englne they had to face strong competition in the form of
buses, cars and aeroplanes.
Mass motorization after World War II expressed by the growing prosperity brought about many problems, especially in densely populated areas lack of space, congestion, lack of safety, emission of
harmful substances and noise pollution. Exactly In these cases rarlways can be advantageous as they
are characterized by the following.
3
'
I
"I
d
""i
Moderate env~ronmentalimpact
bi
id
1 INTRODUCTION
I
L
Moreover, railways have a comfort level comparable with automobiles and have the possib~l~ty
of
attaining high speeds which can compete with planes on the middle range distance Regard~ngpassenger transport, this potentla1 should be translated into.
r-
f- 1
1500 km;
Furthermore, in case of freight transport, high-grade connections exist on the medium-range and
long-range distance.
fl
&I
P
&I
m
W
Table 1 1 Length of fallway track network anno 1990
4
m
iuJ
The railway systems are the proper means for massive passenger transport over short distances to
and in with~nbig conurbations. The quality of the railway system has been substantially increased in
the last years by implementing large star-shaped networks around the big c~tiesw h ~ c hare run fiequently by quickly accelerating and decelerating stopp~ngtrains. If necessary, trains can enter the cities via special tunnel routes, which open up the city centres and enable connections to be made
Examples are commuter services like the S-Bahn (Munch, Hamburg) and the RER (Paris). A good
~ntegrationwith other means of pre- and post- transport (metro, tramway, bus, car, and bicycle) is very
~mportant.
Railway companies are unprofitable and governments have to support them financially to enable the
companies to operate trains This will be the case as long as the railways - contrary to road traffic and
inland waterway shipping - have to carry the full costs of the infrastructure. Infrastructure is expensive. One kilometre of rail track costs about EUR 7 - I0 million: big structures not included
In an increasing number of countries. however, the property and management of the railway infrastructure is taken over by the government while (private) railway companies pay for its u s e T h ~ sw ~ l l
also be the case in The Netherlands where the government demands the operating expenses to be
fully covered by the profits
C
f?
uui
r"i
P!
kist
F""
1 INTRODUCTION
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
l
i d
I
1.3
The railways, developed as a fast Interurban means of transport, are less suitable for local transport
functlons. They do not fit Into the scale of the city (curve radi~,clearances) wh~lethe capaclty of a tra~n
IS too b ~ g
to suit the local traffic needs with a d~ffusepattern of drsplacements Therefore, In the second half of the n~neteenth-centurylow-scale forms of rail traffic were developed which can also use
the public road. At first horse power was used for traction and sometimes steam power; in the per~od
1890 - 1920 these traction forms were almost completely replaced by electr~ctraction. In Table 1.2 an
estimate IS glven of the number of global metro and tramways, whlle Table 1.3 and Table 1.4show
some train and transport characteristics. Other character~sticslike loads, tonnage, and speeds are
dealt wtth later In the chapter 'Tra~nLoads'.
*1
I
uW
2
rn
r:
iru
m
1
LENGTH fml
30
100
200 - 300
30 - 100
Tram
Ir*
Metro
F"i
Suburb train
i*r3
Regional tram
500
600
lnterc~tytrain
Fre~ghttram
CAPACITY
[persons]
175
1000
2000
100 - 300
1000
40.000kN
F4
d
modal split
9
h
The Netherlands
Western Europe
' is"l
'id
9
ipipi
?
hi
1:
f@l
USA
Japan
7%
8%
1%
38%
paskml
inhabit
mio paskml
km track
mio tonkml
km track
650
800
100
2700
1
0.07
10
1.5
4.4
07
The tram IS also used for minor suburban and rural transport, but here the bus has taken over for the
greater part as IS the case In little and medium large c~ties.Only in the big clt~es(above ca. 300.000
~nhab~tants)
the tram has survived, thanks to its large transport capacity and the possibility to operate
on closed track Independent of road traffic Subsequently, the tramway has more and more acqu~red
the character of a low-scale rallway, although interact~onw ~ t hroad traffic by no means resembles the
y ra~lwayhas. Thls demands spec~alrequ~rementswlth regards to the braking
absolute p r ~ o r ~ tthe
power of thls vehicle and the layout of the track.
grri
'2
I INTRODUCTION
ri-
In cites where millions of people live, urban railway systems (metro's) have been developed w t h a
complete infrastructure of their own which, by necessrty, are built underground or on viaducts. The
high expense of this infrastructure is justified by the heavy traffic, which is dealt with quickly and reliably using long metro trains, much longer than the tram (100 to 150 m against 30 to 50 m)
To achieve the same large advantages of the metro In cities wrth fewer Inhabitants, one tries nowadays to real~sein-between forms of metro and tram. This form, ~ndlcatedas light r a p ~ dtransit, IS built
partly at street level (as much as possible on closed track, but sometimes rn the street with level
crossings) and partly in tunnels and on vraducts. Examples of this development are for instance to be
found in Rotterdam, Brussels, Cologne and Calgary (Canada).
1.4
Operational aspects
1.4.1
A railway company no doubt belongs to the category of most complicated enterprises Not only the
product (the seat kilometre) cannot be delivered from stock, but it also must be produced on the very
moment of acceptance. Moreover, a railway company must generally supply, administer, and malntarn the means of production (infrastructure, safety equipment, rolling stock, and personnel). Finally,
the connect~onbetween the different means of production is very firm, so all elements need to match
each other very accurately.
In aid of the operatron, meaning the use of the means in favour of the customer, a good preparation is
necessary, not only for the dally processes, but also in the long term in order to make sure that the
necessary production means will be available on time. These means, such as rolling stock and especially infrastructure, demand a long perrod of preparation a new ra~lwayline will sometimes take up to
20 years.
1.4.2
n'
1L-
dL
r""1
11-
rr
&dl
C
I
&hw!
I
Infrastructure
k
b
i
ble costs.
m
i=
4w
The layout determines the maximum speeds and hence the minrmal possible travel times. The speed
can be restricted by:
kF
r*
b
- Catenary voltage (decline of voltage may lead to speed loss),
- Signal system (locatron of signs sho~ildnot cause speed loss)
-.
rF
I
I"
- -
'm
-1
A specral traffic engineering aspect of layouts are the crossrngs with roadways and waterways Level
crossings with roads (level crossings) should be prevented as much as possible. Although the train
has prrorrty under all circumstances, collisions can hardly be prevented when a train approaches a
vehlcle on the crossrng. The brakrng distance of the train is mostly too long.
In principle fly-overs are applied to motorways and to railways with an admissible speed of 160 km/h
and more or w ~ t hmore than two tracks. The loss of time for the road traffic would be unacceptably
high In these cases.
I
J
I
"Y"1
kl
Crossings with waterways take place via tunnels or movable or unmovable bridges Movable bridges
mean a loss of capac~tyfor the rallway Irne. The bridge should be opened according to a fixed regime
and at these moments trains cannot use the railway. Nevertheless, the advantage of a movable
br~dgeIS that the train has to overcome less difference in height.
This can be financially or operatronally attractive, for ~tprevents a long gradient (saving of space and
costs) or a steep gradient (an undisturbed passage of a freight train on the spot also leads to loss of
capacity) Therefore, one may be forced to build more tracks (profit rn alignment and loss in cross
sectron).
b
1.4.3
Rolling stock
1
9
kui
F*i
1113
Generally electric rolling stock can make a faster start and reach a higher speed Some cons~deratrons related to the chorce of hauled or powered rolling stock are:
2
ri
Ys
"I
kd
D
I
- Simple change of directron (is also possible wrth so-called pull-and-push trains; these are pulled or
pushed by a reversible train set at the other end of the train);
-
Multrple use of rolling stock (one locomotive may pull passenger trarns in the daytime and freight
trains at nrght)
A relatively new development is the tilting coach train. This train w ~ l adjust
l
itself regardrng curves in
such an angle wrth respect to the vertrcal axrs that the centrifugal force is completely cancelled. This
means that in tight curves with a maximum cant and limited speed, the tilting train can nevertheless
pass with higher speed In this way a fast train servlce can be operated without adaptrng the infrastructure (burlding of spacious curves).
Fni
I
iuJ
1.4.4
Personne!
The personnel can be subdiv~dedInto the categories: management, execution, and marntenance
The operatronal department consists mainly of executive personnel subdrvrded Into product~onand
sales The productron personnel consist of drivers, trcket coilectors, and traffic controllers
rn
Id
7 INTRODUCTION
I--
1.
Personnel constitute the most expensive part of the product~on(more than half of the operating
expenses) and also require much attent~onin soc~alrespect. In plann~ngoperat~ons,personnel should
never be considered as a balancing ~tem,on the contrary. The following items should be taken ~ n t o
account In due time.
@"'
1
1-
f*"
bid
L -1
hiodern
Railway Track
P"'
iLlode/t?R31iway nack
1 INTRODUCTION
For road crossings several standard constructions have been developed, amongst others some for
very inTensive road and train n-affic.
3.4.8
In prosperoLis co~intriesw ~ t hsubstantially flourishing economies two problems can be identified which
give rise to the building of high quality railway lines:
-
FRf
wid
Pli
4
rra%
d
I
"1
In order to generate sufficient competition with respect to the use of cars and planes at distances of
some hundreds of kilometres, fast passenger rall ser\/rces are necessary. Trains should be moving at
a maximum speed of about 300 kmlh and an operational speed of 200-250 kmlh. Freight traffic by r a ~ l
may be cornpetitl\/e wrth road traffic at distances of more than 300 km if train services are offered with
speeds in the range 120-160 knilh.
In Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain), Japan, and the Un~tedStates high-speed rail links have
been established d~iringthe last decades and new lines are under construction. Europe and Japan
produce their own systems. The U.S. buys systems from other countries. France and Germany are
leaders rn buildrng hrgh-speed lines, moreover, they are mutual competitors on the world market. Both
try to obtain a position and are involved in projects in the United States and South Korea.
d
A
I?
W
m
kid
P
J
J
I
I
A parallel development is taking place in the case of trains which are made to run faster making use
of existing infrastructure: so-called tilting coaches. These tilting coaches produce an additional higher
cant in curves compared to the track cant. Tilting coach trains are used, amongst others, in Italy and
Sweden.
Railway lines for freight traffic (and more specifically for higher speeds) are an exception. The plans
for the Dutch "Betuweroute" are an example of this. The higher axle load on t h ~ scategory of railways
is more characteristic than h~gherspeed 'Heavy haul' llnes can also be found in South Africa (for ore
transport) There trains run with a weight of 200.000 kN. The world record is 700.000 kN
1.4.9
Devefoping countries
The developing countries cannot be regarded as one with respect to quality. There are countries with
operating systems which work well, although not according to our western standards. Especially in
India and the Peoples Republic of China, a large network of railway lines is available operating substantial (overburdened) t r a ~ nservices.
On the other hand, in many other developing countries the railway network IS underdeveloped. Mostly
there are remnants from a colonial past Lack of maintenance has deteriorated the track condition
which demands urgent renovation R/loreover, the routes should in many cases be adapted. Often
heard w~shesare increasing the permitted axle loads and speeds as well as improving the safety system. The curve radii should therefore be increased and gradients should be less steep.
Besides renovations there is an enormous need for ne\,vly built track. The bad state of the roads plays
a part In this. i\/losr of the new projects are being developed for freight transport, mainly of low value
(orss and okhei ravv maierial)
Especially the h ~ g hoil Frlces have given a ~ u s hto vaking new plans. Sui!ding rail c o n ~ ~ c t i o n s
between the mines in the interior pzrt of ths country and the harbours IS most urgent. But also the
passenger transpoi-t neecis improving The suburban traffic cannot cope with the rush of passengers
and the long distance transport is very defective It is illustrative that a railway journey through Africa,
from Cairo to Cape Town, st111takes four weeks when a part of the journey 1s made by boat.
F
LI
I INTRODUCTION
FC-
The most rmportant problem is of a financral nature. It may be true that modern. gigantrc excavating
machines offer all sorts of possibilrtres for building railway lines in hilly areas, but th, construction is
expensrve Because of this assistance from outside parties is essentral.
Available technical ard is sufficient. Consultants from industrialised countries provide the necessary
completed desrgns. The realisation of the construction and rmprovement of rarlway lines is mostly carried out by European and American firms, whrch mainly rntroduce the technrcal know-how and are
concerned wlth the supply of materials. For the building act~vities,local labour is called in.
r'
i.
Fa
1
P"
1,
Especially India and the Peoples Republic of China are Third World countries which are active in the
railway field. They are - by own experience - well Informed about the important social and cultural
problems. These deal primarily with the transfer of knowledge as well as instructrons and attending
local personnel.
The transport problem In the explodrng cities of the Third World where millions of people live asks for
rail solutions in terms of suburban rail, metro, and light rail lines. Here and there metro or l~ghtrarl
projects have been carried out (mostly South-America, the Mrddle East and Southeast Asia. Mexrco
Crty, Caracas, Cairo, Teheran, Singapore, Hong-Kong, Manila) Elsewhere plans are ready and waiting for financrng (for Instance by means of the World Bank) before they are able to be carried out
(Bangkok, Jakarta)
1.5
1.5.1
Clearances
tu
fl"
i$b
bl
?&'
Above and next to the tracks a certain space should be reserved to ensure the unrestrrcted passage
of vehicles. The dimensions of this structure gauge (or clearance) is also based on the internationally
approved vehicle gauge of railway rolling stock and the loading gauge, wrthrn which the loadrng of the
rarlway vehicles should be kept. In this clearance extra effects are dealt wrth
- deviation of the correct track geom-
P"
1500
6
ioPi
1700
etry,
- Swinging movement;
- Deviation due to w ~ n dloadlng;
- Tiltrng due to cant;
Pid
P"
Figure 1 3 shows the normal clearance; the left side applies to strarght
track, the right srde to curves wrth a
radius greater than 250 m. Height
measures are measured from top of
rail
In a number of cases the clearance
has other measures.
fl
&
Fs
Figure 1 3 No~rnalclearance (structure gauge)
F"i
IT
h
A
F
1
""I
1 INTRODUCTION
3
"7
&d
1
'
1
,
f?
d
m!
id
A"1
U
rn
4
,
"?
d
77
uui
I
I
3
3
fl
Y
0
l
'
-1
a structure gauge
II
o1
bl
I =I
(
(normal clearance)
b veh~clegauge
c loadlng gauge
I
I
,
,
~
A
0
0
P
L
cu
2.85
y>160
7 70
2 8 5 , I 60
4 25
4 25
Exlstlng tracks
- The soil (one should be careful with so11excavat~onnext to a track which has become compact over the years in order to prevent shear);
- 4 2 5 :
600-
4 4
In Figure 1 6 an example
glven of the cross section of a fourfold track.
Especially at the outer
tracks
provisions
are
made to allow a clearance
with a 'red measuring
area'.
IS
'Li
I
'1
1 INTRODUCTIOPI
_d
1'7
'"i
TI
Nolse barrlers may not be installed closer than 4 50 m from the track In order to ensure the safety of
personnel and allow the necessary room for cycle parhs and space to put away mechanical manual
equipment for maintenance purposes In curves thls dlstance is 4 80 m
The height of the barriers should be limited and rnstallrng barriers between tracks IS not allowed.
Moreover, there should be a safety door ~nthe barrier after every 100 m. If the view of the track is less
than 1500 m due to a barrier, the barriers should be made less high or warning llghts should be
installed.
I.5.2
Alignment
bu
""7
'Yuli
9
I
lvri
I
m
I
kid
f-4
iui
-?
I
kmi
@I
4
m
The alignment of a railway llne exlsts of gradients (the steepness is expressed in a permillage) and
vertical round~ngoff curves. With gradients of 5% no drfficulties will arise on the open track. All rolllng
stock in The Netherlands will be able to move off from standstill.
Steeper gradients can be applied, maximum values cannot be given as they depend on.
- The length of the gradient;
I .6
I.6.4
Track requirements
ip*I
I
id
F*I
The term railway track or "permanent way" entails tracks, switches, crossings, and ballast beds The
track is used by locomotives, coaches, and wagons whrch in Europe normally have maximum axle
loads of 22.5 t and whlch, on NS, run at speeds of up to 140 kmlh. The fact that the purpose of the
track IS to transport passengers and frelght and that operatron is required to be as economical as possible, gives rise to a number of requirements to be met by the track. These are formulated as follows:
- Bearing In mind permissible speeds and axle loads, the rails and switches must be safe for vehi-
cles to run on. To ensure this the track components, such as the rarls, must be of such dimensions
that they do not fail under the traffic load. Moreover, the correct geometry must be maintained
whether the track IS under load or not.
a
3
- Tracks and switches must allow comfortable passage at all times. Even if safety is not jeopardised,
the locomotives and coaches may experience such vibrations and oscillations during the journey
that passage becomes unpleasant for the passengers. An unfortunate combination of switches,
curves and reverse curves may, even if the track is very well constructed and has perfect geometry, cause such strong movements in a vehicle that the passengers experience most unpleasant
and sotnetlmes even frightening sensations.
- Track must be electrically Insulated so that ths track circuits required for signalling contrnue to
function even under the least favourable weather conditions. It should also be electrically Insulated
I-
1 INTRODUCT~ON
T-
eXceSSlve envlronmen-
SlS
'm6.*
,
0,
~
~ and
~
ballastbed
Figure 1.8
shows a principle sketch
with the main d~rnensions
~
100000~
~i~,.,'
~
l
~
14
-a
'
iWocle117i?a/Iwa!/ TIack
2 WPEEL-RAIL I N T E ~ ~ F A c E
I
WHEEL-RAIL INTERFACE
?"'
1I
2,1
Ylhea3-rail guidance
A rail vehicle basically consists of a body supported by secondary suspension on bogles in which the
wheelsets are mounted and damped by means of primary suspension. Track guidance of the wheel IS
achieved in pr~ncipleby making the following two provisions:
riip""
- The tires are conical ~nsteadof cylindrical which means that in straight track a centering force is
exerted on the wheelset if there is slight lateral displacement. The centering effect promotes a better radial adjustment of the wheelset in curves. This leads to more rolling. less slipping and hence
less wear.
- The tires have flanges on the ~nsideof the track to prevent derailment. In case of more considerable lateral displacement both in curves and on sw~tches,the lateral clearance between wheelset
and track is often no longer sufficient to restrict lateral displacements adequately by means of the
restor~ngmechanism previously discussed Should the wheel flange touch the rail head face, this
can result In high lateral forces and wear
2.2
I@'
&
Generally the track gauge is used as a distance measured between the two rails. more specifically
the distance between the inslde of the railheads measured 14 mm below the surface of the rail. By
choosing 14 m m the measurement IS less influenced by llpping or lateral wear on the rail head and by
ihe radius r = 1 3 m m of the rail head face. On normal track the gauge is 1435"O-~ mm with a maximum grsdient of 1:300 For new track. however, NS apply the following standards-
F
Figure 2 1 llustrates the definition of the track gaiige as well as some other commonly used dimensions such as.
,-
i
B
I
Y
h
Figrire 2 1 Wheeisef and track
1R
1
'
_J
2 WHEEL-RAIL INTERFACE
Modern Ra~iwayTrack
I
I
- Track width: distance between the po~ntsof contact of the mean wheel circles with the rails, having
7
\
a nominal value of 1500 rnm. This d~mensionis important for calculations and should not be confused w ~ t hgauge nor track distance.
- Track distance: distance between lines of adjacent tracks
- Flange gauge: distance across the wheel flanges. measured 10 rnrn below the rail surface (wheel-
- Inside gauge: distance between the insides of the wheels, on standard track is 1360'~.~rnm.
- Flangeway clearance: clearance between wheelset and track, i.e, the distance the wheelset can
w+d
be displaced laterally. This is not the same as the difference between track gauge and flange
gauge.
ri
eori
It should be mentioned that a specific method of design process applies to switches and crossings.
I
The following summary gives some values for narrow gauge, standard gauge, and broad gauge.
- Narrow gauge:
m
d
1067 mm: (3%') (Cape gauge), South Africa, Japan, Indonesia, etc.
- Standard gauge:
F"i
d
9
1435 mm: (4' 8%") Gauge used by George Stephenson in 1825 based on existing mail
coaches. Most commonly used nowadays.
- Broad gauge:
Y
1524 mm: (5'). Russia, Finland
2.3
Conicity
Orig~nallyconical tire profiles w ~ t han inclination of 1:20 were used. Since a centrally applied load on
the railhead is desired, a rail inclination of 1:20, as shown In Figure 2.1, was also selected; this for
lnstance st111applies to NS proflie NP 46. UIC 54 rail usually has an ~nclinationof 1 4 0 . This inclination
matches the S 1002 worn wheel profile which is in general use In Europe. During manufacturing the
tires are given a profile which matches the average shape caused by wear. In contrast to the straight
conical profile this has a hollow form.
I
PRI
r-
iLlodein Railway T a c k
2 WEEEL-RAlL II\lTERFACE
1 iHz]
C
p.il
I
i""!
v
I
sl
PP
bllb
- -
<
' * V
luii
Equivalent conicity
2.5
FSiIk
It IS clear that regarding a worn profile the conic~tydepends on the actual shape of the rail head and
trre, rnclud~ngany wear, track gauge. and rarl rncl~nation,Likewise, elast~cdeformatlon of the wheelset
and rarl iastenlngs plays a role.
Generally, the effectlve or equivalent conlcity
y
Ar
%-Y
1/2-
IS
Fe
defined as:
IT
- f-2
(2 8)
Here r, - r2 IS the Instantaneous difference in rollrng radrus of the wheel treads; generally speaking
this IS a non-lrnear function of the lateral displacement y of the wheelset wlth respect to the central
posrt~onThe difference between conical and worn
profiles IS glven In F~gure2.7. To enable numerrcal
comparisons
IS determined at a certain lateral
displacement y = y .
m
IW
Ar = r, - r2
Worn profile
./,
II
C*ri
IS
constant and
Conic ~ r o f l l e
I
I
7,
I
L
',
1/2&
1/2X(r+YY) - ( r - YY) = y
Y
(2.9)
$e*i
F4
!
~ l a n ~ e w aclearance
;
II
P
irPi
2 WHEEL-RAIL INTERFACE
2.6
Pr Y
Pw-
(2.10)
Pw
tan$-2y
y,2y
(2.11)
P w - Pr
AS
Pr
Y tmml
2
,( Equ~valentcon~c~ty
ye
= 3 75 rnm
nornlnal gauge
excursion
r a ~~nchnat~on
i
1;2,0
1428
1432
1436
1440
1430
1434
1438
gauge
Imml
33
f- -
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
2 WHEEL-RAIL INTERE4 CE
r
e2
O
W a m e a s u r e m e n t result of both n e w a n d w o n w h e e p o l e s
quantified In z o n e s a s s p e c ~ f i e d~2351.
L-
2.7.3
I
In the case of srngle-polnt contact, according to Figure 2.13, heel load and lateral force act on the
same point. This siruation occurs when uslng worn wheel proflles. In the case of two-point contact,
shown in Flgcire 2.14, the applicatron pornts do not coincide.
rL
F
Figure 2 13 Single
contact p o i ~ i t
a
Thrs two-point contact situation arises rn curves where the wheelset lacks the freedom to positron
irself radlally The flrst wheelset of the vehicle that enters the curve makes an ang!e of attack producing a flange force on the high rail This flange force forces both wheels to slip In the drrectron of the
~nsldeof the curve causing fr~ctionforces on the rarls as indicated In Flgure 2.14 and Flgure 2.17
Lu
II
Accord~ngto Sectlon 2.7.1 the contact force is the resultant of a stress distribution whlch acts on the
contact area. Flgure 2 15 and Figure 2.16 show plctures of both contact situations which -were
obtarned by means of photo-elastic measurements. The calculation of the stress distriburion within
the rail head will be drscussed In Section 5.6.4.
n
Y1
r"i
L
--..
,rai
1
a
; ?I
I
'J
2.7.4
'
1
7Y
I
m
I
i
m
I
d
P
d
m
I
1
2 WHEEL-RAIL INTERFACE
Spreading forces
I
I
4 t-yyi
_ -
--
--_.
&L
Thls observation leads to some important effects. First the track components
are loaded by this mechanism It should
be noted that we deal here wlth internal forces.
d
I
I
7
Lid
I
livri
runnrng d~rectron
yng
4@'
t.
,so
\"
'\
\
creep
Secondly, as a result of the
striking angle the flange
contact point is located at
\/?'
,
of attack a
some distance in front of
a
.\ b
the contact point on the
'\, $2,
runnlng
surface.
This
\/
induces a sliding velocity
*c3Lp5/2
,/*'
, /I
/
,
'
-in
the vertical direction
between the flange and
the railhead In combina''On with the
Figure 2 18 Orig,n of spreading forces
this effect creates a friction
force on the wheel which
pushes the wheel upward If t h ~ sforce is high enough to surmount the vertical force on the wheel. the
wheel may climb up the railhead followed by a derailment A simple model for dera~lmentrisk IS discussed In the next section
\'
kf
1
rrra
y
I
I
~3
2 7
\,
vF \/
',
\
-&
--
;P
1
r--
2.7.5
2 WHEEL-RAIL INTERFACE
Wheel-rail creep
IL
far
I
LuL
(nar
--
LL
-----------
F
h
Because the resultant of the pressure is also moved forward, a moment will be created in combination with the
wheel load This moment should be surmounted during
the movement and is called rolling resistance. The small
asymmetry of the pressure distribution, ca 0.5 mm, IS in
practice not taken into consideration.
The tangential force. which must be transmitted in the
contact area. is based on friction and can be quite substantial, e g with driving wheels or a braking operation
7lvrrl
Pr
U1
Alrf
v- wr
v
wheel
++ - - - -
ra~l
slipped
.w
X
*
RT
+ + +
+ 1 - pos /neg
stra~n
normal
prmsure
PY
shear
stress
lociied
region
C
PI
Flgure 2 20 Explanation of creep phenomenon
wheel/rall
(2.14)
The theoretical path of the friction force as a function of the creep or slip is drawn in Figure 2 21
For low values of the creep the behaviour is dominated by elastic deformations and there is an almost
linear relation For larger values, the slip zone expands and the curve becomes more and more flattened unt~lfinally it runs horizontal when slip occurs in t h whole
~
contact area,
lr Yi
hi
n
I
Modern Railway T a c k
2 &HEEL-RAIL 1NTEFFr4CE
t'
T,IQ
a11
71
I
111iJ
Iy
rlu
R
I
Ex
"19
psn
hi
i"k.l,
In the precedrng consideration it was more or less assumed that the frrctron force and slrp act in the
longrtudinal drrectlon. A complete analogue mechanrsm acts in the lateral direction wrth the same
functronal relationship between the force Tyand the slip, the latter defined by:
bid
- "/ate,a/ v e ~ o o t v
EY -
(2.15)
T"li
wr3
1
m
I
dl
I
W
I
1-4
U.
I
7
bit
' m
lu
6'
The displayed functlon of the creeping force IS theoretical. In reality, once full glidrng occurs, the force
will decrease in accordance with the increasrng slip (Figure 2.22). The descendrng part of the curve,
combined \ ~ i t h
the elasticity of the material of wheel and rail and one of the own value mode shapes
of the wheel body, produces a phenomenon called stick-slrp. Thrs mechanism IS the cause of the wellknown squealing of wheels in curves.
Because of the presence of the attack angle of the wheel whlch causes the flange to push agarnst the
inside of the rarlhead, a lateral slip in the running surface exrsts and conseqciently a lateral slip force
wrll be developed. The negatrve relation between thrs force and the slrp wrll not grve a stable equrlibnum, but will instead rnduce a highly frequent jumping to and fro between t \ ~ points
o
on the curve
Spin
2.7.33
Apart from slrp In the longitudrnal and latera1 drrectlon a thlrd quantrty also exlsts:
the so-called spin which also partlclpates
in transmrttrng the frlctron force. Spln or
rotational slip arises if the small contact
area between wheel and rail IS not parallel
to the rctation axrs of the wheelset. The
rotation vector of the wheelset can then be
decomposed rn a component parallel to
the contact area (this is pure rolling), and a
component perpendicular to it, which is the
rotational slip or spin as indicated in
Figure 2.23
The spin
IS
Rotation Vector
3
rs
- slny
lo*:
'7 0
Running direction
(2.16)
Pj
i +
F o r c e on R a ~ l
def~nedas:
( b = - -o- s i n y
v
;~
"
(b
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
\I
I
pna
= in( l 6 g
I,
rn~n(a/'b,b;a),
In4
1 386,
u. Po~sson'sratlo '
i"!
6
I
2.8
Train resistances
2.8.1
Types of resistances
uA
A tram must overcome several traln reslstances to start moving or to continue movlng. Instead of the
t r a ~ nreslstance itself, denoted by W, mostly the relat~vevalue is given with respect to the tram we~ght
as rndlcated by the symbol w. The relat~vevalue 1s ~ndependentof the train weight and ~ t su n ~is
t NIkN
or, more customary, ?ho.The most important train reslstances are:
- R ~ ~ n n l nresistance,
g
consrst~ngprlmarlly of the rolllng res~stancebetween wheel and r a ~and
l
the
journal fr~ction(see F~gure2.25).The order of magn~tudeof the runnlng res~stance1s 1.5 to 2 %o,
w h ~ c his much lower than In the case of road vehrcles (10 to 30 ?Lo);
-
The arr reslstance 1s proport~onalto the square of the speed wh~lea possible headwind should also
be taken ~ n t oaccount;
?!
'i7I
Air resistance, whlch depends on the dimensrons and the cross section shape of the roll~ngstock
c
.
n/Iocle~i~
Railway Track
2 WHEEi-R,IIL INTERFACE
r
i-
As the pullng force is the sum of all adhes~oniorcss. the following result c-n be obtained by using
(2.23)
F
r
I
1T < f 7Q,,,,
i
i f Wad,
where:
fld
I
Wad,, is the total adhesion weight of the traln in case of pulled vehicles, the adhesion weight
we~ghtof the locomotive
IS
the
3 CURVES A N D GRADIEI\ITS
J
!
I . q
3.4
General considerations
.J
1
Longitudinal track alignment consists of the following geometrical elements:
'7
- In a straight direction: straight flat track sections. These are the easiest to make and have the low-
""1
- In the horrzontal direction: curves, cant, transition curves, and transition gradients;
' Id
Id
I
est resistance;
rn
m
mi
In1
The standards presented in this chapter are taken from UIC leaflet 703 R [277]which was revised in
1988 and which takes recent experience on the European railways into account. The values recommended rn these regulatrons relate to modern ballasted track and modern passenger stock which
meet UIC standards In addition to des~rablevalues for accelerations, maximum values are also
given, as are values whrch are only permissible in exceptional cases. Some examples are also grven
from NS regulations for the deslgn of new lines [192].
b
l
2
mI
W
F""I
ui
3.2
3.2.1
Curve radiuslcurvature
The convention in Europe IS to express horizontal curve geometry as the curve radius R or as curvature I I R . Elsewhere
curve radius I S often given as the angle a, In degrees, of a 100
ft-long (30 48m) curve. The relatlonshrp between a and R [m]
IS'
a = -1746
R
(3.1)
3.2.2
I
Pm
Curve effects
Figure 3 1 Relatlonshl~betweenradlusand
CLIN~ angle
mt
li
.-
4
I
1
,J
1
L
The deal cant appears as ad = 0 In ihis case the resultant of a = v2/R and g
track and equals'
IS
perpendicular to the
=
id
sv2
gR
118v2
-
(3.3)
In which:
v
V
R
g
h
s
7
4
7
h#l
Fi
Y
I
Fm
For practical reasons the thus calculated cant is rounded up to the nearest 5 m m If the calculated
cant IS less than 20 mm ~tcan be disregarded.
Cant deficiency
3.3.2
Ideal cant applies to just one speed and therefore in principle can only be used by ra~lwayswith uniform traff~cGenerally speak~ng,ho\~ever,passenger and freight trams run on the same track at d~fferent speeds, whlch means that ideal cant for the top speed \ ~ o u l dresult in considerable excess cant
for the slow-running traffic. This would In turn produce excess wear on the low rall. A compromise is,
therafore, to accept a certain degree of cant deficiency for the fast tralns, producing flanging on the
h ~ g hr a l and thus lateral wear of the rall h e a d This, however, outweighs the disadvantages of speed
I~mits.Cant deficiency hd is the d~fferencebetween Ideal cant and actual cant and must satisfy the
cond~t~on:
I
k
d
hd
gR
"r
'+
!
2
-s -v h
11 8 -Vma
- h <v h d
R
(3.4)
~nwhich V
,, IS the maxlmum speed ~nkmlh. Non-compensated acceleration and cant deficiency are
related as follows.
a,
PT
Sh,
(3.5)
d
Non-compensated acceleration must satisfy the following condition.
AZ
2
ad
Vinax
12.96
153
<id
(3.6)
The non-compensated acceleration causes a quasi-statlc lateral track load of the magnitude of the
mass per axle times the acceleration. With a non-compensated accelerar~onof 1 m/s2,whlch must be
considered as the absolute limit at international level, and a mass per axle of 22.5 t, the lateral load
on the track is 22.5 kP4 per axle. This load must be supplemented by the dynamic load, whlch to a
large exrenr aepends on rne qualiry of the track geometry. The same reasoning applles to the vehicle
body accelerations which determine passenger c o m f o t Both are shown schemat~callyin Figure 3 3
It should be noted that another lim~tis set on the time derivative of the acceleration dad/dt in transition
curves (see also 3.5 2). Thls 'yerk' should generally not exceed 0 2 m/s3
f.*d
37
'I
I
I
I-
Lateral accelerat~on
f-
- Track construction,
Non-compensated
lateral acceleration
/I
- Track alignment;
acceleration
- Type of bogle;
r-I-F
l
L,l
- Axle
loads
masses;
i
I
and
unsprung
-1
ing stock.
_I_
cant
PI
U
max
Equilibrium speed
.,,,
I '
1 /
'
3.3.3
i1
I
4
the veh~clebody and hence the passengers and load are subjected to a higher lateral acceleration of
a,,
?
li
( 1 +&)a,
( 3 7)
The acceleraton a, must in all cases remain below 1.5 rn/s2. and preferably below 1 mis2 The cant
deficiency must be adapted to the suspension factor E . For modern rolling stock this value is of the
order of 0.4 and can be reduced by special measures to 0.2.
I!
3.3.4
fl
To be able, nevertheless. to run on heavily curved sections at high speed. the coaching stock is
sometimes deslgned to tilt art~fic~ally.
By means of such tilting mechanisms the cant deficiency in
curves at high speed can be compensated by h, as a result of whlch speed can be increased by up
to 50% in comparison wlth coaches without body tilt. The remaining lateral acceleration on the passengers and load is then:
~ /I! j
/'
(3.8)
The only ~mprovementis increased passenger comfort and reduced risk of overturnng. the track. on
the other hand, IS more heavily stressed by the higher lateral forces
i
I
I/ !
it
cause an overturn~ngmoment which means that the sprlng system of the vehicle body IS compressed
unevenly and the body tilts somewhat towards the outslde. Since thls cancels out some of the cant,
hih
W t h a non-compensated lateral acceleration, the centrifugal force exerted at the centre of gravity will
'
'
p,
i
L
; 1
F"1
L
43 0
---
Fi
I
Modern Ra~iwayTrack
J
3.3.5
--!
LJ
IT
3.3.6
'7
Cant excess
In curves wrth rather large radii there is generally a substantial drfference between the maximum
speed,,V
,
of passenger trams and the lowest speed of freight trains V
.,,
At the lowest speed cant
excess is of the order of:
A substantial cant excess produces a h ~ g hload on the low rail in the case of slow-running freight
trains. Frgure 3.1 1 gives the maxlmum values used internationally.
"i
3.3.7
A maximum value IS set for cant because of the following problems which arise rf the train ~fforced to
stop or run slowly in a curve
Maximum cant
ir$
-
Passenger drscomfort;
m
kid
nId
- Possrble breakaway of freight trains from standstill because of the high level of friction of the
Plll
I
BI~
Id
Ld
~
I
P8
id
(3.10)
With just one type of traffic cant values up to 180 mm are used.
Large cant can also result in lateral d~splacementtowards the centre of the curve during tamprng at
low temperatures A smaller cant than in (3.10) IS therefore preferable if possible. The maximum values used lnternatronally are shown In Table 3.1.
3.4
Transition curves
3.4.1
General remarks
Basically, transitron curves are used between straight track and curves or between two adjacent
curves to allcw gradual change In lateral acceleration The centre line of the transtion curve has the
same tangent at the connectlon points as the adjacent part, whereas the curvature changes gradually
from the value of the one connectlon polnt to the value of the other. Transltlon curves also introduce
cant by means of transrtlon gradients and, ~fnecessary, gauge wldenlng
39
A'
P
1.
P"
L1
C
P
L
I,!
Clothoid
3.4.2
r4pn
'
- - ks
(3 11)
Here l l r IS the curvature over a curve length s from the origin, as shown in Figure 3.4. At the origin
the curvature is zero and therefore this is selected as the point of connection wrth the stra~ghttrack
The factor k is a proportionality factor. The equation of the transition curve y is now to be found as a
functron of x The exact form reads
3 =I ds
F;
(3.12)
Using (3.11)
&j
4can be solved.
2
(3.1 3)
C
F1
y =
ks2
j c o s @ d s = lcos-ds
2
(3.14)
s/n$ds=
(3.1 5)
The curve can therefore only be described in parameter form. expressed as Fresnel Integrals. The
curve is known as a clothoid or Cornu spiral (21. Owing to the mathemat~callydifficult formulation and
the need to use a computer, a somewhat srmpler transition curve, known as a cubic parabola, is usually used for manual calculations.
/
Stralght
n n
Trans~t~on
*.
Cunfe
P"
F
f
I
" " D GRADIENTS
I
1
!
i-
3.5
3.5.1
F"
C
High Rall
Cant
FI
-"--l_
ll."_
ll.--m
--'-
Curvaturd
must coincide;
,i
>#".*+*
,,,..**
t l , ~ ~ l l R
h,
Jerk
h
-x
L
j-*C__I
II
7% :
(3.22)
in which:
h = cant ~nthe curve
L = length of the transition curvelgradient.
Stra~ght
- Transltron.j
F
.,A
,
Curve
C U
, .
Non-compensated lateral acceleration In the transltion curve varies linearly according to:
ax
adx
-
P
(3.23)
%r
I
I
F/
~ t schange per unlt of time, and also for reasons of safety This means that at maximum speed the following condition must be met:
dad
- -- ad"max < -dad
df
3.6L
dt
(3 25)
The permissible values are given In Table 3.1. It should be pointed out that safety is related to the difference in cant over the distance between two axles of one bogie. As a result of this distortion the four
wheels are not in one plane and the wheel load is thus unevenly distributed. Comb~nedw ~ t ha horil
derailment
zontal force this can result rn climb~ngof the wheel on the r a ~and
P
ipeu
(I""
lcrPel
A 3
-3,
Most deslgn standards for cant varlatrons in curves specify 1 . 10V (V [kmlh]) as the desirable value.
On NS steeper trans~tiongradients of up to 1 . 8V are allowed wlth a minimum of 1 : 600 at speeds
lower than 80 km/h The requirements concerning non-compensated acceleration w~th,for example,
ad = 0.8 m/s2 and ad = 0.2 m/s3 lead to the condltlon.
"-I\
F-l
1
Wl
L? I IIV
h~i
3.5.2
(3.26)
F"1
The length of a transition curve is normally obtained from the ideal cant according to (3.3) and the
maximum permissible change In acceleration according to (3.25). If ad = 0.2 m/s3this gives:
uj
F"1
1
v3
0.118R
(3.27)
~?I
I
rn
I
3.5.3
Adjacent curves
y,n,,,'F
psri
w
p*s(
ki
srsl
F
M
I
..
a'
Curvature
I**
I IR,
1IR,
*....C~..
P"
lad
3.6
Curve resistance.
C
I
@--Jg!/-
/-+-I
I
II
Figure39Situationw1thadjacentcurveshav1nganopposite
curvature " g n
A?
i
j
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
rI
r
I-
I?
L. I,
71
bIl
11
1
I
i
!
i
3.8
FAI
The alignment (or layout) in mountainous areas differs very much from that in flat or slanting land
Because of the great he~ghtdifferences in mountainous areas, the designer should always seek for a
compromise between on the one hand the desires of.
- Slight gradients,
P
&
- Minimal length-development.
P
b
.,.
P
I I
YI
r"
I
"n(
-J
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
1 _i
7
1 d
fl
I
bd
Durlng the start one IS dependent on the available adhesion force, whrch in turn depends on the slippertness of the track (ra~nfall,leaves). The adhesion force can be enlarged through measures at the
traction vehicle (constant drlving, anti-wheel slip system, and sand sprinkling devices).
I ~q
'
m
BuJ
- Come to a standstlll within a certain distance (on very steep gradients the vehicle's safety brakes
irrri
Concerning the layout design in mountainous areas, important differences in height are concentrated
m
iui
M
Lni
p"l
d
7W
F"r
Crr
on as well as the easlest way to deal wlth the lrght grad~ents.The railway line is mostly built in (river)
valleys to achieve easy access to the villages as well and to establish a connection with posslble trafflc over water As a consequence, many curves are necessary in the alignment and there are rlsks
wlth respect to floods and landslides.
An alternative strategy to cross a mountain range is to follow a mountain ridge at rlght angles to the
ridge. Then simple gradients can be applied with minimal excavation.
Tunnels are expensive constructions in the al~gnment.Moreover, there are special rlsks involved in
construct~onand operation. geologic surprises may be encountered. Nevertheless, tunnels are very
attractive. a shorter route may be realised wlth less curves compared to an alignment where the fleld
IS followed accurately And there IS no hindr'ance of snow or falling rock.
Railway tunnels should have gradlents of at least 3 %O with respect to the highest point in the mlddle
of the tunnel. If the deepest point lies ~nthe mlddle of the tunnel, provisions must be made to collect
the water. If there IS a big helght difference between the two tunnel mouths, the rlsk exlsts of a chimney effect which may cause frost problems. In tunnels provislons should be installed to carry the
mountaln pressure, to secure loose stones, and to enable drainage
.-?
- Detours;
Id
- Terminal loops (inside or outside the tunnel);
iAl
1
- Pushlng up humps;
- Zlgzag track;
- Rack rallway;
l f l
,
I
- Cable railway.
47
a
-3 CURVES A N D G2ADIENTS
An example of the application of helical tunnels is the Flimsbane In Norway A level difference of 200
m was overcome in a straight line w ~ t ha length of 1500 m usrng helical tunnels (wrth a minimal curve
radius of 150 m!), in addition to which the track was lengthened by 4 km (steepest gradient 55 Oleo)
11
In order to overcome local high level differences so-called push up humps can be applied. An extra
locomotrve is added to the trarn on the spot (before or after the train). The advantage is a saving in
construction costs. A drawback IS that extra locomotrves and rnfrastructure are necessary (storage
facil~tiesfor locomotives), which are then used ineffectively Moreo?ler, time-loss occurs when coupling and de-coupling.
Zigzag track, rack, and cable railways are not suitable for an efficient operation of a main line,
because there is too much loss of time
3.9
i
I
I
I
LA
During the nineties, manual track design has to a large extent been replaced by a sophisticated computer-aided track design. Various software available on the market like MXRAIL, INRAIL, AutoCIVIL,
etc. help track des~gnerswrth most of the complex problems they face while designing, taking away
the tedious activities and allowrng them to concentrate on the more creatrve parts. The scope and
level of sophisticatron of these software products changes so often as t h e ~ possibrl~tres
r
are constantly
expanded, that it makes them almost impossible to categorize. However, it can be said that while init~allymost of the software packages were meant for general use, I e. dealing with both road and rail
design, recently the software has become more specialrzed and thrs has resulted in different modules
being developed specrfically for road, rallway, site development, renewals, surveying, groundwork,
etc
I
i
The possrbil~tresof these software packages rnclude the design of three-dimensional alignments representing plain line track, simple turnouts, diamond crossings, crossovers, and complex multi-lead
layouts. They can be used for improvements of track alignment, railway stations, and goods yards as
well as light rail, high-speed rarl, and freight rail design.
I
I
They provide utrlities for coordrnate geometry (COGO), site and track design, rail manufacturing,
reportrng, viewing, and annotation
I
11
I
They enable the user to produce curvature and difference diagrams, calculate vertical and horizontal
alrgnments, meet critical site constraints, create customized turnouts and crossings and store them In
a library, and generate fabrication data The user IS even provided with optrons for multilayer digital
terrain modeling, subgrade design, earthworks computations, and drawrng production. These software packages usually provide all the necessary tools for each phase of track design, from conceptual through final design, and ensure workflow integration with operations and maintenance
I I
/1
I
I/
I
The geometr~cposit~onof the track and its components can be defrned through the use of survey
crews, aerral surveys, and graphic elements. The user can vary the format of the Input frelds when
loading point and element data Once the data IS loaded, it can be evaluated and sorted to properly
identify the track design which is to be opt~mized(see Figure 3.11).
Often this software IS also capable of providing a regression analysis which makes it easy to design
under highly constrained conditrons The use of regression analysis is particularly beneficial in realignment projects This analysis results In best-fit straight, spiral, and circular track elements The
best-fit alrgnment can be modifred to derive a best "redesign ai~gnment" Offsets or throws from the
existing survey data are then available for track repositicning.
F3
F"1
lroi
la
When laying out horrzontal geometry, usually several methods are avarlable. The most basic method
is to use C O G 0 points to define an alignment. The other option is to use graphical placement of
points of intersections (Pis) and curve sets, component placement, or track elements
U s ~ n gthese systems, the user can also create slew (or difference) diagrams to help verify re-alignments. Slew dragrams represent the geometry of the elements that compose an alignment, such as
strarghts, crrcular arcs, and spirals, and differences between the elements and survey points. The differences are juxtaposed as offsets that readily indicate the valrdrty of the proposed geometry The
user can display slew dragrams graphically rn the design file or display the results in a dialogue box.
In most of these software packages, the ability to freely place track elements is a key aspect of track
design Straights, circular arcs, and spirals whrch are the horizontal elements for buildrng 3D track
alignment can be defined, copled, and modified with precrsion Often they provide an interactive environment for plac~ngsingle elements or charns of elements The tools for resolving tangency and colnc~dencebetween elements and for refinlng geometry are flexrble, allowing the track designer to apply
as many constrarnts as needed Usually, track elements can be freely placed and then connected
Perhaps the most important benefit resulting from using these tools is the capability to resolve complex 3D alignment geometry. A powerful track editor complements traditronal alrgnment functrons,
such as component placement and traverse computations, by means of specialised techniques that
automatrcally resolve the geometry of rntermedrate track elements. When using the track alignment
editor, solutions can be constrained as much as needed for design conditrons. Computed elements
are usually displayed graph~cally,whrle providing a numerrc descrrption in a dialogue box. These
techniques can also be used for vertical alignment desrgn. In addition to the traditional PI design with
parabolic curves, an ability to float straights and arcs is provlded to the user Once the vertical geometry IS resolved, a single command allows the user to vert~callylift the entire alignment, thereby
increasing design productivity
Efficient cross section generatron and editing possibilities are also avarlable. Cross sections can be
extracted at any location along the design surface Some software packages allow multiple cross sections to be cut along an airgnment. All actrve surfaces and annotations can be displayed In cross sections, which can be reviewed individually or as part of a trmed sequence
The importance of turnouts to track design has also often been recognised. Therefore. these tools
often enable the user to define geometry for standard turnouts and then store the turnouts in a library
Turnout types include single and double branch, single and double slip, and crossings.
The turnout feature includes a parametr~cdefinition of a basic turnout (overall length and distance
from the theoretical PI to the end of the turnout) plus a geometric definition of the branch line from the
point of sw~tchto the end of the turnout. Once defined, turnouts may be placed on other track elements and they will adjust accordingly (see F~gure3 12)
Because turnouts are track elements, they can be designed to float or remain at fixed locations. For
example, when locatrng a lead to serve an ~ndustry,the user can allow the turnout to float In order to
determine the best location. Geometry for the lead is usually constrained at the industry s ~ t eand there
are other design constraints, such as railroad standards for industrial tracks. The user can establ~sh
geometry at the site, then place a turnout on the mainline. Using the track alignment editor, you can
allow the turnout to float on the mainline, fix the r a d i ~of the curves, and let thelr lengths vary Software
then resolves the geometry and locates the turnout at the appropriate position. If the position is undesirable, you can reject the fit and alter the geometry or turnout.
"4
3.3 0
As veloc~tyof tra~nsIncreases, requirements regarding the track geometry become very important
when d e s ~ g n ~ nra~lway
g
track. Currently used codes for track geometry are based on quasl-static
models of a movlng train and do not take the dynamic effects that play an important role in the train's
behaviour Into account, especially if the issue of high speed operations occurs That IS why a threedimensional model of a track intended for the analys~sof the dynamic behaviour of trains and passenger comfort has been developed at Delft University of Technology and ~mplementedin the software
called PASCOM The model has been tested on several study cases and finally applied to the analysls of a h~gh-speedtrack (Figure 3 13). The numerical results have shown that the dynamic behav~our
of the vehicle depends not only on the cant defic~ency/excess,but also on the geometry of super-elevation ramps and the type of trans~tioncurves. The model of the track and train as well as some illustrat~veexamples are presented below.
3.1 0.1
Numerical model
bu
64
hrr
BRi
I
L
Pa
br
1*11
I
U
m
Ufti
F*li
d
iRi
kid
m
lvlr
'I
(3.32)
-La
m
I
livj
Figure 3.1 5 shows the response funct~onof an ICE tram movlng w ~ t hthe speed of 300 kmih The frequency of the car body In the vertlcal direct~onIS approximately 0.6 Hz The relatlon between tra~n
speed (v), wavelength ( I ) ,and frequency makes ~t obvlous that the vibrations resulting from track
geometry lrregularltles which have a wavelength of 80-1 60 m, have a negatlve effect on the passen-
f-
i2/lodern Ra~lwayTrack
1
Transfer funct~on
c l = 40 000 Nslm
c2= 60 000 Nslm
Frequency
F~giire3 15 Response function of tram (ICE) movlng at 300 km/h
3.10.2
In order to demonstrate the effect of dynamic effects. the behaviour of two vehrcles with and w~thout
suspensions moving on a curve track (Figure 3.16a) has been analysed. The vehicle without suspensions (or wrth infinitely stiff suspensions) represents the quasi-static model The vehicle with suspensions is one of the ICE trains Here, the theoretrcal cant has been used. 1.e the one when the
passenger is not affected by the lateral accelerations. Clothoids have been used for both transition
curves and super-elevation ramps resultrng in a linear variat~onof cant. The results of simulation as
function of the d~stance(s) along the curve are shown in Figure 3.17 and Figure 3.18. Frgure 3.17
clearly shows that the behaviour of a rigid vehicle is completely determined by the geometly of a
track. The lateral displacement and rotatron of a car body can be derrved from the angle of cant
(Figure 3.16b) According to this model of a vehicle, a passenger can only feel the acceleratrons in
the beginning and in the end of the transitional curves corresponding to the peaks in Frgure 3 1 7 c
PV9
,
I
Lateral Passei~ger4cceleration
0 14
05
0 08
04
03
0 12
- 00 12
- 0 06
01
008
LO
-m
006
Rotat~onalPassenger Acceleration
01
0 16
004
0 02
0 04
0 02
-0 1
-0 3
-0 'I
0
-0 02
4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500 7000 7500 8000
-0 02
4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500 7000 7500 8000
0
-0 1
s Iml
-O
s Iml
zooO
01
05
0 08
04
03
0 16
0 14
0 12
- 01
$- 0 0 8
006
0 06
.0 0 4
f
m
02
?!
w
-
01
0
0 04
0 02
-0 1
-0 2
0 02
-0 3
-0 'I
0
0 02
4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500 7000 7500 8000
s [ml
-0 02
4000 1500 5000 5500 6000 6500 7000 7500 8000
-0 5
400045005000 5500 600065007000 75008000
s [ml
s lml
pl
isr
4
ma
More realistic results are obtained using the model with suspensions (F~gure3.18) Slnce the theoret~ c acant
l
has been used, the rotation of the coach and the track should be the same However, due to
~ n e r t ~properties
a
of the vehicle model and presence of suspensions, the coach starts to rotationally
osc~llate.The oscillations are damped out slowly and therefore a passenger experiences discomfort
rn the form of lateral, vertical, and rotational accelerations.
Y
P
I
islJ
I
3
I
fl
Ir 3r
1
q
flI
3
1
1Yr3
~l
3.1 0.3
(NL)
elerat~ons comfort
,5
o3
0 25
T 02
2
mo 15
01
0 05
(Io
2000
4000
6000
8000
IOOQO
12000
D~stanceS' [rn]
Figure 3 13 Acceleiations of coach body travelbng at 300 km111
weighted using I S 0 code T a c k part of h~gh-speedi ~ n eHSL-Zuid
(NL), vehicle - ICE train
- --.
Modern Railway T a c k
4 TRACK LOADS
r-'
L
TRACK LOADS
4.1
In general
t
L-'
The requirements for the bearing strength and quality of the track depend to a large extent on the
load parameters:
r"""
ik,
F""
Li
- runnlng speed
Fnns
The static axle load level. to which the dynamic increment is added. in principle determines the
required strength of the track. The accumulated tonnage IS a measure that determines the deter~oration of the track qual~tyand as such provides an indication of when ma~ntenanceand renewal are
necessary. The dynarnlc load component which depends on speed and horizontal and vert~caltrack
geometry also plays an essential part here.
4.2
b~
Axle loads
The nomlnal axle loads applied to the track are as shown in Table 4 1.
C
P"
&
With very hlgh axle loads the number of rall defects increases considerably and the track requires far
more maintenance.
4.3
P!
b
Line classification
F
k!
P
CrrSi
C2;
P
b
m
4 TRACK LOADS
Freight trains are allowed to run at a maximum of 100 kmlh Tests are currently under way to determine whether this speed can be increased to 120 kmlh.
rI
P
iI
7
-
4.6
The forces acting on the track as a result of train loads are considerable and sudden and are characterized by rapid fluctuations The loads can be considered from three main angles:
l
i
Li
- vertical;
F";
l
I
Generally. the loads a're unevenly d~stributedover the two rails and are often diffrcult to quantify.
Depending on the nature of the loads they can be divided as follows:
- quasi-static loads as a result of the gross tare, the cenirlfugal force and the centering force in
Flpr
ilvr
P$
bul
track irregularities (honzontal and vertical) and irregular track stiffness due to variable character~sticsand settlement of ballast bed and formation;
I@
L
gR
F
In addition, the effects of temperature on CWR track can cause considerable longitudinal tensile and
compressive forces, which in the latter case can result in instability (risk of buckling) of the track
I %"
I
b
r"
4.7
ipw
4.7.1
P
irslr
The total vertical wheel load on the rail is made up of the following components.
Qtot
( Qstat
Qcentr + Qwmd)
quasi-stabc f o ces
~
Qdyn
(4.2)
in which
@
'
F
\
static wheel load = half the static axle load, measured on straight horizontal track;
Q c e n t r increase in wheel load on the outer rail in curves in connection with non-compensated centnfugal force,
Qwlnd . idem for cross winds,
Qdyn : dynamic wheel load components resulting from:
Q
%r
F
C
f"
b
The ~
~
Qcentr
~ IS u ~ u~ a l l ~ o25%
~
the static wheel load. With cross wlnd on the
other s ~ d eH, IS negative, which IS Important for
vehlcles standing still In curves.
The maximum wheel load usually occurs at the outer rall (hd > 0) and
Q
=
,,
G + G7pch,
Pw
s
,
I
+
,
-
IS
equal to:
(4 5)
In view of the large number of load repetitions, the dynamic wheel load can be considered as a
fatigue load T h ~ smeans that it is not the greatest wheel load which IS the determining factor for the
bearing strength, but the mean square of all the wheel loads. For a rough estimate of the dynamic
wheel load, the stat~cwheel load may be multiplied with a dynam~camplification factor.
About 2 m In front of and behind a wheel the track bends in an upward direction. This means that
upwardly dlrected forces are also actlng on the fastenings and sleepers.
4.7.2
Tilting risk.
58
mi ,
Modern Ra~iwayTrack
4 TRACK LOADS
P\
- over the insde rail in the case of lightweight empty wagons standing st111or wagons with a d s placed frelght load on track with hlgh cant and w t h a cross wlnd in an unfavourable direction.
To determine safety against tilting, an equilibr~umconsideration has to be made taking load and a shlff
of the centre of gravity due to the suspension into account. A criter~onfor t ~ l t ~ ncan
g be, for example,
that load-relieving of the critical wheel by up to 60% of the static value IS allowed.
The notion of tilting as a rlsk should not be confused with tilting as a mechanism used intentionally in
coaches to artificially increase the cant in curves
4.8
4.8.1
( 'flange
+ 'centr + ' w f n d )
quasi-static forces
'dyn
ri
F"pl'
FB
h
The total horizontal lateral force exerted by the wheel on the outer rail 1s.
'tot
f""'
L
(4.6)
P"
kd
In which:
Yflange:lateral force In curve caused by flanglng against the outer rail;
,,Y
,,,
: lateral force due to non-compensated centrifugal force;
Ywlnd . idem for cross wind;
Ydy, : dynamic lateral force component; on straight track these are predominantly hunting phenomena.
If it is assumed that ,,Y
,,,
and Yw,,d act entirely on the outer rail, the equ~libriumconsideration per
I
wheelset in Figure 4.2 gives.
The actual situation is cons~derablymore complex because of the presence of several coupled
wheelsets, the various positions the vehicle can assume ~na curve, and the adhe-i o n forces between
the wheel and the rail The total lateral force cannot therefore be predicted wlth great reliability In
practice, however, measuring methods have been developed for determln~ngthe total vertrcal and
horizontal forces on the rail
There are also measurng wheelsets which can measure these quant~tiesdirectly. Currently. a new
technique is being used to calculate Y and Q forces from measured geometry. More details are given
on this in Chapter 16.
Prvrurl
e
?
Cui
Fkiw
Derailment risk
4.8.2
As stated above. derailment can occur lf the YiQ ratio increases in value because of hlgh lateral
forces Y acting on the high rarl or low wheel loads Q in the case of unloaded wheels.
l
where flange climblng
In Figure 4.3 the situation is drawn where the forces are acting on the r a ~and
about to begin. From the equilibrium conditions the normal force N and the tangential force S in the
contact area can be expressed as:
IS
where
Ysinp+ ~ c o s p
(4 8)
Q s ~ n b -YcosP
(4.9)
P
Y
P
C
p = flange angle.
b
r n
Fs
(
4 TRACK LOADS
r-'
in which
Htr
minimum lateral force [kN] which the track should be able to resist without lateral deformat~on,
: axle load [kN].
In general, the empir~calcoefficients appearing in the formula (here '10' and '113') are dependent on
the type of track and its maintenance condit~on In this case it concerns shovel-packed track, crushed
stone, and wooden sleepers. Although measurements in tamped track with concrete sleepers suggested a higher value for the first coefficient, formula (4.15) is generally adopted as design standard
As far as the rolling stock 1s concerned. it is required that the horizontal wheel load H, exerted by a
veh~cleis restricted accord~ngto.
H,, < 0.85(10
c)
3
(4.16)
I .
F"
,
k_
L,,
T"
h
When assessing whether the actual lateral load is less than the value allowed. formula (4.16) is used
as a comparison rn order to be absolutely certain.
4.9
Longitudinal forces.
4.9.1
Causes
l&ida
- track creep.
Temperature forces
4.9.2
r
a
u
Y
A/
aIAT
(4.17)
in which
This situation does not occur in the case of fixed rails, because in such a case the rail encounters a
longitud~nalresistance which opposes the axial displacements. This resistance is produced by the
friction forces between rails and sleepers and between sleepers and ballast bed. In Chapter 7 this
subject is discussed in more detail.
Fn
I
4.9.3
Track creep
This phenomenon concerns the gradual displacement in the running direction of either the rails relative to the sleepers or of the rails plus sleepers relative to the ballast bed On single track with twoway traffic there is less creep On grad~entsthe track creeps downwards regardless of the traffic
direction Creep has the followrng disadvantages.
ki
PR
b
m
I
L-I
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
4 TRACK LOADS
r
i
For the various high speed projects extensive series of measurements have been carried out to
check whether the limit values are exceeded or not.
A summary of the Q-force measurements carried out by DB [I451 is presented in Figure 4.4. The
97.5%-value of the wheel load due to locomotives reaches 150 kN at 250 kmlh. Wagons with an axle
load of 22.5 t on straight track at 120 kmlh also produce similar dynamic loads.
4.10.2
In 1983 a large-scale European measurement campaign was carried out under the auspices of ORE
committees D 161 and B 12 A spec~allyformed measuring train was used consisting of wagons with
type Y 25 and D B 65 bogies The NS recording car with the BMS system was also included n the
train. Using measuring wheelsets Q and Y. force measurements were carried out for 20 and 22.5 t
axle loads on different quality track. These measurements formed part of extensive research into the
effect of raising the axle load from 20 to 22.5 t [220].
The dynamic wheel loads for a nominal axle load of 22.5 t for varlous track qualities expressed in mm
standard deviation (s) of BMS are presented in F~gure4.5 The track quality is subd~videdinto 3
classes: 0 - 1 mm: very good. 1 - 2 mm: good. more than 2 m m moderate. Thls classification appl~es
in the following to both level and alignment. Figure 4.5 clearly shows the dominating influence of track
quality.
The dynamic axle load increase EQregarding 20 t and 22.5 t at speeds of 70. 90, and 110 kmih IS
shown In Figure 4.6.
1""'
w
I
hb
F"I
hi
4 TRACK LOADS
Prud'homme
LA
'
225
0 85(10 + 3)
a*/
varlous parameters An
upper llmlt is also glven
for lateral load as a function of non-compensated
lateral acceleratlon. A
value of 0.85 m/s2 would
also seem to be acceptable for 22.5 t axle loads on
very good and good
tracks. In the case of
moderate
tracks
the
~4
Prud'homme
limit
reached sooner.
[kN](9985 %-value)
C Y,,
<
70 -
5Y
,,
""'I
I
"7
IS
hi
m
I
3
S=
I
300
500
900 R [rn]
700
0 85
m
1 1
a,, [rn/sz]
The DB measurements
published In [I451 give a
maximum Q force of 170
kN. As can be seen ~n
Figure 4.9, these values
are reached in curves
when non-compensated
lateral acceleratlon IS 0.85
m/s2.
d
m
k
Q [kNl
170 ...............................
1-01
kid
I*d
3
9
!
Max (97 5 %)
IOO-
kiln (2 5 % )
50
P",
Id
The parameter which IS considered decis~veIn effecting the requirements for tamplng, rall renewal,
and component damage IS the vertlcal load. The ORE Committee D l 4 1 developed a method for
quantitatrve calculations as descrrbed In [211].
3
0
64
~LlodernRa~lwayTrack
4TR.4CKLOADS
PP
i"'
~n which:
E
T
P
= tonnage;
fol-
iPv'
4 TRACK LOADS
lncrease
Axle load
CJ = 3 mrn 20% 22 5 t
10% 20 t
03MS
in cost [YO]
= 3 mm 046 22 5 t
3001~20 t
= 2 rnm 20% 22 5 t
10% 20 t
= 2 mrn 00/~22 5 t
30% 20
= 1 mrn 20% 22 5 t
10% 20 t
= I rnrn 0% 22 5 t
300/0 20
[rnlsl
Of
Figure 4 11 lncrease m maintenance costs in relation to track quality, axle load and speed
Track quality appears to be the most important factor. For a track quality between 1 and 2 mm standard deviation BMS, the order of magnitude of the cost increase OK according to Figure 4.11 can be
summarized as follows:
-+
aBMs = I mm
V
=80km/h +
-+
P
=20t
osMs = 2 mm
V
=lOOkm/h-+
P
=22.5t
i
OK = 23 OO/
AK=15%
A K = 8'/0
4 .
Wheel flats
By far the largest dynamic loads applied to the track by vehicles are those which arise from irregular~t~e
ons the wheel such as wheel flats Normal dynamic forces are linked to the track geometry.
A location with bad track geometry will experience high forces from most vehicles. These high forces
will contribute to track damage and geometry deteriorat~onat that location Wheel flat forces differ
fundamentally from those discussed previously.
66
4TRACKLOADS
I
1-
Wheel flats apply the same force randomly all along the track with no correlation to the track geometry However, the
occasional high load applled to the rarl or
component can cause failure and can s ~ g nrficantly contribute to fatlgue damage
Frgure 4 12 shows a characteristic example of the force between rarl and sleeper
during passage of a wheel with a flat. In
extreme s~tuatrons these forces can
Increase to six times the static value.
During the D l 6 1 studies descrrbed in
[219], a number of calculatrons were
made with a model developed by BR to
investrgate the effect of different parameters on the magnitude of wheel flat forces
[273]. Figure 4.13 shows some typlcal
examples of calculated wheel flat forces.
Force [kNl
,,,
,,,
120
loo
8o
60
40
20
0
-20
C"
I
kk
1000
800
600
4
3
400
200
20
30
40
50
,OSpeed
10
20
30
40
50
60Speed
[mJsl
[m/sl
These results reveal that the forces at frequencies above 500 Hz, referred to as PI-forces, Increase
continuously wlth speed. whrlst forces at frequencies below 100 Hz, referred to as P2-forces, are
more or less independent of speed The PI-forces. associated with the stiff Hertzian contact spring,
are important as far as wheellrail contact stresses are concerned. If rarl and sleeper strains are considered. the medium frequencies assocated with the pad st~ffnessand the low frequenc~esassociated w ~ t hthe ballast sprrng are important.
The calculation results are confirmed by
the test measiirements carrled out by
ORE D 161 [219]. Figure 4.14 summarrzes these test results by plotting the
wheel load in the 0 - 100 Hz band as a
function of the flat depth for tracks wrth
timber and concrete sleepers. The largest
forces were found at a speed of 30 kmlh
Accordrng to u I c leaflet 510-2, flats on
wheels with a diameter of 1000 - 630 mm
should be restricted to a length of 60 mm
and a depth of 0.9 - 1.4 mm. in this range
the dynamrc wheel load increases by
approxrmately 30 kNlmm for trmber sleepers and 50 kNimm for concrete
!Q
Fw
OTN]
Concrete sleeper
Axle load 22 5 t
Speed 30 krnih
350-
aoo-
Wood sleeper
250-
zoo-
10
16
28
43
63
F
tsm
m
ka
4 TRACK LOADS
However, the higher frequency forces rlse continuously wlth speed and very large dynamic railhead
-l
forces can be recorded The results of measurements on BR and the American Railroads have
shown that there may be a chance of more than 1 in 10.000 of obtaining wheel forces as high as 300
kN.
2J
1
I
LA
4.12
"'9
J
AQ
= Dynamrc arnpl~f~cat~on
Q
111
I
6-
nrmm
5-1
WI
3
Time [ms]
1J
2
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
Y
m
url
A Dynam~camphficat~on
Q-force
6-
@m
5-
id
4-
i"l
Speed [kmlh]
y1
0.
pnl
f"?
60
80
100
120
transfer from rail to sleeper for ORE Committee D 161, with special emphasis on the
properties of rail pads [219].
Transfer functions have also been determined between vertical rail acceleration and vertical sleeper
acceleration. The results, summarized in Figure 4.18, reveal that the NS concrete sleeper assembly
is susceptible to loads in the 20 - 300 Hz frequency band. The pad hardness seems to have l~ttleinfluence, neither on this frequency band nor on the modulus of the transfer function The little difference
in sleeper strain according to Figure 4 17 should therefore be explained by a lower dynamic load
between wheel and rail
3
I
,+,I
40
Figure 4.17 shows sleeper strain versus time due to an impact load for normal and soft pads. The
stra~npeak in the case of soft pads is about 50% lower than for normal pads
fl
20
Figure 4.15 shows an example of load distr~butionas a functlon of time during wheel
passage over a poor weld. The behaviour
IS similar to that of wheel flats. After a sharp
peak of some milliseconds, i.e. the PI-force
mentioned earlier whlch only has a local
influence on the wheellrail contact stress, a
second, much broader, peak occurs which
penetrates the whole construction.
G=?!
4 TRACK LOADS
P1
LL stra~n
95
I
- 1
Moden? Ra~lwayTrack
-1
d
1
I
1 I
TRACK DESlGN
STATIC
5.1
Introduction
The subject of this chapter IS track dimensioning, the main point of which is to ensure that the track
structure is suitable for the loads rt has to carry and the resultant stresses and deformatrons. Conventional track calculation IS llmlted to quasi-statrc loading of the track structure, schematrzed as an elastlcaily supported beam. To the static load IS added a dynamic Increment Details on rail stresses as a
result of contact pressure have been given earlier. Fatigue and high frequency loads at welds or
caused by wheel flats are dealt with in chapter 6 on dynamic track design.
m
I
rn
I
d
I
mi
i"
5.2
Supporting models
5.2.1
Winkler s u p p o r t model
lu
G =
Cw
:. W
(5 1)
-i
11
d!
I
mi
I
in whlch
'
Y~
i;
G;
I
I
Discrete rail s u p p o r t
5.2.2
~ 1 ;
1
dl
F(x,) = CArsw(x,) =
k,wjx,)
(5.2)
IS:
F(x,)
Rall suppol?
Unloaded
/r7
/-7
Ars&
,(
/-7
'
Loaded
(5.3)
k, = CA,
F = -Z =
(2
XW
SW
(5 4)
d--------0-=2
r-
x=x,
F g u r e 5 2 D~ircrefeelasi~csupport model
71
with
Q
Zw
Modern Ra~lwayTracli
Note: T h ~ ssprlng constant kd IS solely a property of the support and should not be confused w ~ t hthe
total sprlng constant of the track, as 'seen' by the wheel:
5.2.3
Problem I :
TO determine the mean spring constant kd of a rali support of an exlstlng track secton, the rail is loaded by a bogie with
two equal static wheel loads Q1 = Q2 = 100 kN The sleeper spacng a = 55 cm Sleeper deflectons w, are measured
at 11 successive sleepers as ndicated in the table Deflect~onsoutsde t h ~ sarea can be neglected
sleeper deflection w,
[mml
0 25
sleeper no
J
1
wheelloads Q,
12
. 1i
'
i
sleeper deflections w,
2
3
0 64
1 27
5i
Piilm
1 02
1 52
2 03
2 16
1 78
1 40
10
0 76
11
0 50
I
i~s
Question l a :
Consider a general situation where the rail is loaded by a number of different wheel loads Q and the measured sleeper
deflections in the selected area are w, Derive the follow~nggeneral formula for the mean value of the sprlng constant
of a support
k,
'Q,
'w,
Question I b :
Calculate wlth this formula the sprlng constant kd uslng the glven bogie load and the accompanying set of measurement deflections
M o d e ~ nRa~lwayTrack
Question I c :
1s this result for kd representative for the materlal behavlour of the support? How can a better assessment of the value
of the spring constant be obtained?
Answers
.la ~ Q , = ~ F l = k d T w l = > k d = T Q , / ~ W I .
l b IQ,=l o o + 100 = 2 0 0 k N , L w , = w ? tlmwq, = 1 3 3 3 m m => k d = 2 0 0 10~1133 3 = 1 5 0 0 4 ~ / m m =15 k ~ l m m .
Ic Sleepers might not all be fully supported ('hanging sleepers'); due to the bridging effect of the rail, a lower value for
kd would be found compared to the value if individual supports would be tested
Note 1 The assumed linear load-deflection relationship IS an approximation However, the supporting layer is essentially non-linear due to locally 'hanging' sleepers and stress-dependent elasticity moduli. Moreover, the relationship
may vary locally between supporting points due to non-homogeneous material behaviour A better assessment follows
from the difference between measurements at different load levels
I
FRY
wrld
i
~ s l
bivi
p1
5.2.4
C o n t i n u o u s rail s u p p o r t
R a ~support
l
p(x) = kw(x)
~l
W"9
LA
~ " 1
I
wm
where
k = foundation coefficient [Nlmlm]
The foundat~on coefficient can be
interpreted as a sprlng constant per
unit length.
In this case the contact pressure on
the cont~nuousrail support is.
I
fl
orsrs(x) =
in w h ~ c hb,
5.2.5
3
a
Id
(5.8)
IS
p(xl
b,
Unloaded
b;
p ,
/
d
Loaded
&
(5.9)
A discretely supported rail structure can be analysed by numerical means. However, for a statlc
assessment and simple configurations the contrnuous theory, to be discussed In Section 5.3, may
also be used as an approximation method for discretely supported rall structures
The equivalence w ~ t hthe actual d~scretelysupported track then follows from:
k = -k d
(5.10)
where
a = spacing between centres of dlscrete supports (Flgure 5 2)
pa9
I .I
7'1
-I
-1
-1
-1
W(M) =
I
0;
~ ' ( 0=) 0 ;
2EI
ul
After substltut~onof an exponential function for the deflection, the solut~onof the problem is:
I '1j
Id
(5 16)
Q L ~
W(X) =
-8EI
q(x)
-2qk(Lx )
(5.17)
Q
2L
(5.18)
kw(x)= - q ( x )
(5.19 )
M(x)= y j - p ( ~ )
IS
= 4
E
(5.21)
p(x)
(5.22)
x 10
""UI
d
n(
I
kr~
The functions q(x) and p(x) determ~nethe form of the elastic l ~ n eand the moment distribut~onwhich
are shown in Figure 5.6. The left portion (x < 0) of these Ilnes results from symmetry considerat~ons.
These llnes may also be used as influence lines for determining deflection and bending moment for x
= 0 result~ngfrom nearby wheel loads. The expressions [5.21] and [5.22] represent heavily damped
harmon~cwaves with wavelength 2nL. They are therefore also a good tools for the approximation of
finite beams wlth a central wheel load, prov~dedthe length of the beam is greater than 2nL [94].
kPvl
C
"1
;"1
k
4
7
k d
'7
Q
-
Wo,
--
- -
'-
7
El = w
LI
(5.23)
2kL
(5.24)
5.3.2
If there are several wheel loads, as in the case of bogies. then the resulting deflection and bending
moment are found by means of superpostion At point x = 0 the follow~ngis found:
w
I
2kL
= -
~ , 1 1c,)
(
(5.26)
Po
(5.27)
kwo
L
Mo =
qCQ,P(~~)
(5.28)
P!
Grri
(5.29)
,7,---
%[p(0)
4
QL
-[p(O)+
4
,M
,,
= 0.79*'/4QL
,,----\
,M
,,
+ ~ ( T c u z ~0.79] = QL
(5.30)
= I.OO*?AQL
l Q 7l Q
In case (b) the total load is 2Q. The distance l', for
which M is a minimum, amounts to !! = 0.5nL so that
according to equations 8 16 and 8.19 the maximum
moment becomes:
M
,M
,,
= 0.70*%QL
'
maximum bend~ngmoment
*liw
QL
2 ~ t i 1 . 1 2 L ) I= 0.70-
(5.31)
These findings Indicate that. In the case of several wheel loads Q, the maximum bend~ngmoment in
the beam may be significantly less than in the case of one single wheel load Q. This pos~tiveeffect
only slightly applies to maximum deflection or compressive stress on the foundation, w h ~ c hare determined by the function ~ ( x ) .
J
F
b
rW
?
b
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
ii
Modern track with concrete sleepers satisfies this condition. Further theoret~cal study [I491 has
shown that the effect of negative deflection on the maximum positive deflection and maximum bendIng moment is very small.
5.3.5
P"
I.
rL
1
1
5.3.6
1
J
,
Based on eq~iations(5.3) and (5.10), other useful expressions for equation (5.20) can be formulated
for the characteristic length of the track:
'1
1Ll
'W!
111114/
I
T
rrvi
iwri
snr,
in which:
= bending stiffness of rall [Nm2];
El
= foundatlon coefficient of continuous support [Nlmlm];
k
kd
= spring constant of discrete support [Nlm];
-a
= spacing between centers of discrete supports [m];
=
foundation modulus at contact area between rail and sleeper [N/m3];
Cr,
=
foundation
modulus at contact area between baseplate and leep per [N/m3];
Cbs
=
foundatlon
modulus at contact area between sleeper and ballast bed [N/m3];
CSb
= contact area between r a ~and
l sleeper for half sleeper [mZ];
A,
Abs = contact area between baseplate and leep per for half sleeper [m2];
Asb = contact area between sleeper and ballast bed for half sleeper [mZ].
Note that the spring constant of the discrete support kd IS, independent of any surface area at the
support, In contrast with the foundation modulus C .
5.3.7
Fm
Based on the longitudinal beam theory using a single wheel load, the spring constant of a discrete
support kd can be obtained from the equations (5.10), (5.17), and (5.20):
~:
Z
m
kd=
(5.44)
Thls result may be used to determine the spring constant using a relatively simple experrment [72].
Whlle the sprlng constant kd and the foundatlon coefficlent k are slmply related by (5.10), the total
spring constant of the track can be found from (5.5), (5.17), and (5.20).
bu/
kt,,
-=
2 8
(5 45)
4 f i
L~
7
bur
5.3.8
""I
Table 5.lllsts the varlous quantltles used to express the elasticity of the rail supporting structure
together with their units. Moreover, global values are given whlch correspond to the qualifications
'poor' and 'good' to character~zethe condition of the foundatlon.
-8
kd
m,
1
I
Unit
Poor
Foundation modulus C
[N/mm3J
0 02
Good
0 20
Sprlng constant kd
[Nlmm]
55
55
Foundation coefficient k
[~imrn~]
90
1 30
0 70
Characterist~clength L
[ml
@i
m
I,
7n
'
r"
1
r:
5.4
vI 7lQ
I-------,
--------
F'
Ell
I El2
k,
...........................................................
....
Contlnously supported rall
A more realistic model is the double beam model. For discrete supports with relatively high spacing a two-layer
model can be used based on FEM techniques. For continuously supported track a two-layer model is useful. which
actually IS a generalization of the standard Zimmermann
model Both models, loaded for instance by two equal vertical forces, are drawn in Figure 5.11 with the characterlstlc
deflection llnes
- -- ,a
'
3 3
C,
<
,
;h,d-&-'-ri
. ' ) . '
<
---%
< 'V
K, ;
<
:El,
;El2
/
;
( ,; K2
;...... ;.........................................................
<,
fl
Ld
P'
D~scretelysupported rarl
The unknown stiffness parameters are the effect~vebendrng stiffness El2 and the foundatron coefflclents kl and k2 (or spring constants k d l (K,) and kd2 (K2) ~nthe discrete case and support spacing
a). It may be assumed that the bending strffness Ell of the rail is known.
The model for the continuously supported rail is relatively srmple and wrll be presented here. Without
a distributed load on the rail the different~alequations for thls model are.
fl
L
d4w1
Ell7
+ k1(w1- w,)
dx
El,;
d4w,
!ti&
0
(5.46)
+ ( k , + k,)w2-k1wl
dx
The analytical solution for the deflectlons for both the ~nfinltelylong rarl (wl)
and the likewise modelled slab (w2) can
be eas~lyobtarned (See [I 151).
An example is given In F~gure5 12. The
following values were used
Q1
Ell
El2
wl
04 -
[mml
Ilkeq = I l k , + l / k ,
1 1 1
0 0-
rd
Irrvi@
-04 -
= Q2 = 35 kN,
= 549 kNm2 (Nikex rail);
= 80000 kNm2.
-0.8 -1 27
ke,
k,
(5.47)
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
D~stance[m]
fl
b
k2
5.5
L-l
I
As we have seen ~nSectron 5.2 the slmplest representation of a continuous elastic foundation has
been provided by Winkler who assumed a base cons~stingof closely spaced, Independent linear
sprlngs. Such a foundation IS equivalent to a l~quidbase. The relation between the pressure and the
deflection of the foundation surface is then:
p
1-1
(5.48)
kw
IPd7
I
Cd
I
@9
irrd
4
I
dD
D + --- dx
dM
M + ---- dx
7
dx
dw
w+-dx
dx
dT
T+_dx
bl
pl
rrpi
anr(
I
ej
b
d
i
- -L
dx
The equil~brlumrequires:
' d1
E d x
dx
Ddx
dT
+dx
dx
kwdx
dM
-dx
dx
bli
Note that the T-forces In the shear element cannot produce bending moments.
Elvvi
The constrtutive equat~onregarding the bending moment and the deformation reads.
(5.49)
(5.50)
#
irr3
'7
'7
(5 51)
Taklng the baslc relatlon between shear stress and straln Into considerat~on,a linear relation between
the shear force and the shear angle is found:
T
d2w
dx
I &
-El
dw
GAdx
(5.52)
where
" Ii
vsslJ
81
rL
'
Combnrng equations (5 49) to (5.52) gives the differential equation in the vertical deflection w(x):
d4w
d2w
El--GA-+kw=O
d w4
dx2
(5.53)
F
L-'
This result may be compared to the Zimmermann solution discussed under sectlon 5.3, where the
beam is loaded by a vertlcal concentrated force Q at x = 0.
With the boundary conditions for the part x > 0:
I
a=~J4p'-y,
L,
b=~J&y
b x
(acosax-bsinax)
x2O
(5.57)
Equatrons (5.56) and (5.57) are the generalized forms of the corresponding Zimmermann equations
glven by (5.17), (5.19), (5.21), and (5.22).
In Figure 5.14 the relatrve deflection q(x) and relative moment curves p (x) are drawn for three
values of the parameter y [m-'1 while the parameter P IS kept constant on the value 1 m-I. For y =
0, the correspond~ngZimmermann results (5.21)
and (5.22) appear.
The effect of value y > 0 IS notrceable rn a lower
maxlmum value and the 'stretching' of the curves
as compared to the Zim~mermanncurves
P
L
-o
it&
06
08
F"I
lrrv
-0.4
-02
"Imax
02
04
0.6
o,s
1
b
0
F
Y
'LJ
i '
5.6
J
17
J
Rail stresses
Generally, the rails are loaded by vertical, longitudinal, and lateral forces. These loads lead to bendIng stresses caused by the vertical train load. normal stresses which are mainly determined by temperature effects on CWR track, residual stresses due to roller straightening during manufacture,
contact stresses in the rail head, and stresses caused by high frequency impact loads.
rrl
\u
'~7
I
111~
if9
5.6.1
It is known that under repeated loading, fatigue fractures may occur starting in the centre of the rail
foot, partly as a result of the high internal tensile stresses at this point, as indicated In Figure 10.13.
The combination of these static normal stresses and dynamic bending tensile stresses under the
influence of vertical wheel load occurring in the rail foot centre. determines the rail strength Lateral
force on the r a ~or
l eccentricity of the vertical wheel load has no effect on this.
P1
d
F%
I
5.6.2
It is common practice to carry out a strength or fatigue calculation for a static load system, or often a
single wheel load, using the longitudinal beam theory, according to which the dynamic effects are
taken Into account by a speed coefficient or dynamic amplification factor.
U
p""l
b
""1
liu'
*i
I
@4
kpr
17
hi
$i
ki
The effect of running speed on load is in reality highly complex because of the dynamic interaction
between vehicle and track. In view of the nature of the load, it is also more correct to carry out a
fatigue calculat~on.
Several simple formulas have been proposed which aim to assess the dynamic rail
stress. These formulas are a rough approximation of reality because the geometr~c
quality of the track and the mechanical characteristics of the track and the vehicle are
not sufficiently taken into account. One such
empirical calculation scheme, which has
been accepted by European railway companies, was developed by E~senmann[94] and
is based on the following observations and
assumptions
- Measurements on which t h ~ s empirical
R u n n ~ n gspeed V [kmlh]
F~~~~~ 5 15 N ~ , -distr,bL,tlon
~ ~ ,
of rneasLired bending stresses
I
I
- The standard deviation is dependent on the running speed V and the state of the track
The Eisenmann scheme to determine the DAF (Dynamic Amplification Factor) is dependent on the
train speed, the track quality, and chosen factor t and reads as follows.
(oi
83
1-1
pl
DAF- forinuia:
DAF
I+f(p
DAF
1 + f ( ~ ( 1 +V
- -60)
140
if
V < 60 km/h
lf60SVa200km/h
(5.59)
Probability
Application
Track condition
68 3 %
,p
Very good
954 %
Good
99.7 %
0I
02
Bad
0.3
since
lierailIs SO impodant for safety and reliability of rail traffic a value of 3 is recommended as the
chance
exceeding the m~XlmUmcalculated stresses only 0.1 5 %.
'P = factor depending on track quality;
V = train speed [kmlh]
P
Figure 5.16 gives the graphical Presentation
from 1 7 to 2.8
0.
b!
F
1
21
22
lp
=02
--.
16
14
12
1
:
0
w--(P-01
5
0"0
""00
250
Speed [kmlh]
_-I_----
-1
Speed
200
>SO
-P
50
Ikmlh]
100
Speed
150
200
'50
[krnlhl
aveh
-ramp1e presuPPOsing
v = 200 kmlh for average (good) track quality ;( = 0.2) and t = 3, the cacuIated
=2 2
an Increment of 120 4 IS added to the caicuation acrordng to Llmmerrann
F
5.6.3
According
the
foot centre can be determined from:
Omax =
DAF
om,an
the rail
(5 60)
The mean value of the rail bending stress follows from (5 19).
Ornean =
DAF
Q
L
Is
In?
84
the
QL
(5.61)
4 wyt
w ~ f
modulus,
load1w h c h 1s equal I0 the nominal wheel load, m u l f i y i - ~by a factor 1 2 t a i Increase in wheel load n curves because of cant deficiency or excess
f'
The constant tensile stress is the sum of the internal residual stress in the rail foot centre and the tensile stress carised by low temperatures. These stresses are about 100 N/mm2in each case. The permisslble values derived from this for the bending tensile stress in the rail foot centre are presented in
Table 5.3, which IS valid for long welded (CWR) vignole rails.
5.6.4
The concentrated load between wheel and rail causes a shear stress distr~butionin the rail head, as
depicted in Figure 5.18. with at some depth a maximum which may give rise to a fatigue fracture in
the rail head. The contact problem is most serious in the case of high wheel loads or relatively small
wheel diameters. According to the Hertz theory. the contact area between two curved elastic bodies.
such as wheel and rail head, is generally ellipsoidal and the contact stress distribution is semi-ellipsoidal (see Chapter 2). Eisenmann [94] has devised a s~mplifiedcalculation method for the wheel-rail
contact problem based on the following cons~derations.
P
Lb
Allb
Measurements have proven that for wheel diameters between 60 and 120 cm a simplified two-dimens~onalcalculation suffices. All curve radii In the mathematical formulatton of the contact problem are
assumed to be Infinitely large except the curve radius r of the wheel. The contact area then becomes
rectangular and the contact stress distribution has the form of a semi-elliptical cyllnder as indicated in
Flgure 5.1 9.
riliii
,
Clmean
=ma,
d
2a
Figure 5 18 Shear stress distribi~tionin rail
head
If the wheel load Q is distributed evenly over the contact area with a width of 2b, the mean contact
stress can be derived from [94].
Irrn
b
I
64( 1 - v') rb
(5.63)
b
F
In which:
Q
= effective wheel load,
r
= wheel radius;
2b
= width of wheel/rail contact area;
E
= modulus of elast~city;
1.'
= Po~sson'sratio.
&@
,,,, [N/mm2].
pd"
"9u
1"1
irv
nr
""1
'
(5.65)
0 34rnean
Maximum shear stress occurs across the rail. Longitudinally the shear stress decreases with the
occurrence of bending stresses. In the case of (5.64) maximum shear stress may be expressed as'
11'7
I
d
P7
(5.66)
with Q [kN], r [mm], and r,,, [N1mm2].
If, for example Q = 100 kN. r = 400 mm, this results in I,,
= 206 ~ l m m ' .
3
It follows from equation (5.66) that the shear stress IS not proportional to the load. Shear stress does
depend on the wheel radius, but not on the bending stiffness of the rail or the state of the track. The
calculated stress does not include an increment factor because the stress state has a very local character. Bes~des,the contact area changes location from wheel to wheel.
m
lui
This s~mplifiedcalculat~onmodel can be used to calculate that the maximum shear stress occurs at a
depth of 4 - 6 mm in the rail head, which is comparable to the defects observed in practice known as
pa*
shelling.
m
II
iPri
9
I
Y
I
k
d
t
= -0
uY
(5 67)
4
in which
is the perm~ss~ble
tensile stress. On account of the fatigue nature of the load, the permissi-
ble tensile stress should, according to tests, be fixed at 50'0 of the tensile strength or of r a ~steel,
l
thus resulting in.
(5.68)
?z030,
for permissible shear stress. The permissible effective wheel load is obtained from (5.66) and (5 68)
and reads:
-
4.9.I O - ~ ~
(5.69)
87
i"'
I
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
PC
i
Rail tables
5.6.6
r
i
Rail profile
Rail section
He~ght
h,
[mml
Head w~dth
bh [mml
S41
S49
NP46
UIC54
UlC60
Ri6O
138
149
142
159
172
180
67
67
72
70
72
11 3
125
125
I120
140
150
180
. --
A [cmZ]
L?'
52 7
63.0
59 3
69 3
76.9
77 1
m [kgim]
41 3
49 4
46 6
54 4
60 3
60 5
Moment of lnert~a
I=ly [cm4]
1368
1819
1605
2346
3055
3334
Moment of rnertla
,I
276
320
310
418
513
884
Sectlon modulus
Wyh[cm3]
196
240
224
279
336
387
Section modulus
Wyr [cm31
200 5
248
228
313
377
355
Section modulus
W , [cm31
44 2
51 2
52
60
68
135
Table 5 2 R a ~d~mens~ons
l
and strength data
[cm4]
'L
p
p
Massimeter
-?,
y...
r"
I%
I
iLlodern Ra~lwayTrack
Sleeper stresses
5.7
Contrary to the rall, the sleeper may neither be considered as a beam of inf~nitelength nor as a short infinitely
stiff beam. To ensure stability in the ballast bed the
sleeper IS only supported at the ends under the rails.
Therefore, for calculation purposes, it is normal to presuppose that the contact force is distributed evenly over the
contact surface as shown in Figure 5.21.
tN~~~q
1
~wuld
M
Figure 5 21 Assumed contact stress drstr,but,on
on a sleeper
$?
Fmax =
hbU
"1
QaQp
F~~~~= - - - 4 L
2L
2 4EI
9
9
P*i
&d
(5.76)
DAF
Q
a
kd
El
i
The sleeper spacing proves to have a relatively great influence on the support force. For the load situation depicted in Figure 5.21 the maximum moment is:
ui
(5.75)
'mean
wherein the mean value can be found using (5.2), (5.10), (5.17), and (5.20):
'd
DAF
(5 77)
Mmax = ;jFmaxL1
In unfavourable cases,,F
,
may be of the same order of magnitude as the effectrve wheel load Q.
Assuming Q = 125 kN, a = 60 cm, L = 70 cm (low value), V = 100 km/h, cp = 0 20, t = 3, then,,F
,
= 95
kN.
The mean contact pressure between rail and sleeper on the most heavily loaded sleeper can approximately be set at:
@
!
Ors =
FO+ F m a x
A,
(5.78)
Fo
= baseplate area.
- Hardwood sleepers...
or, I 4 Nlmm2.
91
r'
i
5.8
5.8.1
Introduction
p
L
F
The ballast bed and forrnatlon are conceived as a two-layer system. The vertical stresses on the ballast bed and on the format~onwhich are due to wheel loads will be considered as the determining
stresses for the load-bearing capacity of the layer system. Overloading of the ballast bed causes
r a p ~ ddeterioration of the quality of the track geometry. Overload~ngof the format~onralses the mater ~ ain
l the ballast bed, especially in the case of materials susceptible to moisture. This phenomenon IS
known as pumplng.
5.8.2
Rail
Ballast
or[N/mmz]
Ratio
or[N/mm2]
Ratro
UIC 60
97
0 21
UIC 54
110
13 %
0 22
7%
NP 46
137
41 %
0 25
18 %
,,
blodern R a ~ i l ~ aTrack
y
A heavier rail profile has a great influence on rail stress reduction. The effect on ballast stress is
approximately half of the effect on rail stress.
The relation between vertical stress and deterioration in the quality of track geometry is still ambiguous On the basis of the AASHO Road Test for road structures. it is nevertheless assumed that:
5.8.3
In order to calculate the maximum vertical stress on the formation the contributions of the various sleepers have to be
superimposed. F~gure5 22 shows the
stress pattern on the ballast bed along
the length of the track. For each sleeper
the stress is assumed to be evenly distr~butedover the sleeper surface. The
magn~tudeof this stress beneath the
various sleepers caused by wheel load
Q
(73
H'
ballast
i
-
formation
IS.
I
= gmax'7(Xi)
(5.81)
= ormean
--
--
----
Eforrnat~on
'
A
I
I
r l I?
Perm~ss~ble
contact pressure on the formation:
I
LJd
rill
The perm~ssiblecompressive stress on the formation can be established using the follow~ngempirical
formula accord~ngto Heukelom and Klomp [58]:
G, =
0.006EV2
(5.89)
1+ 0.710~
n~
r77
I
LU
'"7
Y
mq
in which:
EV2 : modulus of elastic~tytaken from the second load step in a plate loading test;
n
: number of load cycles
The table below conta~nsthe permissible stresses accord~ngto (5.89) for 2 million cycles, with different values for EV2.The table also ~ndicatesthe order of magnitude of the foundation modulus C when
using a 30 cm deep ballast bed w ~ t hE = 150 N/mm2.
$ror,
m
lppl
FR"S
lplli
F"",
rn
4
T
Y
m
I
ipy
""1
ball
When lay~ngmaln line track, DB demands an EV2-modulus of at least 120 N/mm2 just beneath the
ballast bed. If the measured values from the plate loading tests do not comply with this, an intermediate layer, referred to as sub-ballast layer with a depth accord~ngto Figure 5.24, must be inserted.
ORE Comm~tteeD l 1 7 compiled a "Design Handbook" [209] on the basis of a major serles of measurements and calculations. Figure 5.25 glves the desired depth for various types of foundahon cons~stingof a 25 cm ballast layer and one or more intermediate layers. In addition to the values
recommended by D117, the curves used by DB. SNCF, and SBB are l~kewiseplotted, as are those for
heav~lyloaded track based on the CBR ~ n d e xder~vedfrom Alias [3].
Figure 5.25 also indicates the various scales used in pract~cefor.classif~cat~on
of format~on,such as
CBR (Caldorn~aBear~ngRatio), EV2.and the classes according to UIC leaflet 719R. The UIC class~fication IS presented in Table 5.8.
nS
g""\
lui:
1
I
p;i
I
bd
QS,
"
QS, I /
'
10
"
"
20
I
O-2
QS,
'
l l i l
100
30 40 50
/
6810
UIC
QS3
E,? [N/rnmz]
15203040 CBR[%]
150
120
120
50 -
100
r'
Dl17
80
sB&-q8'
SNCF
50
l o o -CB
75
Sub-ballast th~ckness[rn]
Figure 5 24 Thickness of sub-ballast layer accord~ngto
DB standards
Ab
.---",,*'
,,DB
hi
95
rn
Adode~nRailway Track
i1
5.9.3
y-I
Sleeper
4
Problem 4:
- Sleeper spacing
a = 60 cm;
- Train speed
. V = 100 kmlh,
L = 90 cm;
- Track condition
. 'good'; (t = 3);
Q = 125 kN,
k
F
I
II
Question 4a:
Use the DAF method to calculate the maximum value of the support load between rail and sleeper,,F
,
Question 4b:
If a uniform distribution of the compressive stress on the sleeper may be supposed to exist. calculate this stress ob,,
using the following data
- Clamping force per rail
: Fo = 20 kN;
- Area baseplatelsleeper
Abs = 550 cm2
Question 4c:
What measures could be taken regarding the sleeper if the maximal compressive stress would be higher than the
allowable value obs= 1 5 Nlmmz7
5.9.4
bar
Ballast b e d
Problem 5:
The following loading and structure data are given
.Q
. 20
= I00 kN,
%,
: V = 100 km/h,
- Rail profile
. UIC 54,
- Sleeper spacing
'
condition
a = 60 cm,
Ash (see figure),
. 'good',
- Foundation modulus
Csb = 0 15N/mm3,
t = 2,
Jo,,n,n
~ 7 z o m m:
r
Cwu
Question 5a:
Calculate the maximum compressive stress on the ballast in straght track and check with the allowable value
Question 5b:
Calculate the maximum compressive stress on the ballast in a curve and check with the allowable value
Pb!
Question 5c:
Consider a change in relevant track parameters to satisfy the compressive stress limit Quantify in each case the reative effect on the maxima compressive stress (use a formula showing all relevant track parameters)
f
5.9.5
Temperature effects
Problem 6:
A very long rail is subjected to a temperature increase with respect to the neutral temperature AT Due to the shear
forces, acting through the fastenings on the rail. the free expansion of the r a ~ lis counteracted. In the analytical
approach the shear forces may be replaced by an equivalent continuous shear resistance distribution.
Consider the case that the shear resistance distribution r [N/m] is a linear function of the displacement u, which itself is
a function of the x coordinate.
Question 6a:
What 1s the differential equation for this case7
i"^
i1
5.10
C o m p u t e r models
5.1 0.1
GEOTRACK program
TIf more detailed informaton is wanted on the behaviour and magnitude of local stresses and strains n
the track components, the ballast layer, the sub-ballast layer and the subgrade. more complex computer models are necessary based on finite elements GEOTRACK is a static program based on a
three-dimens~onalmulti-layer system w ~ t ha track panel on top. B e c a ~ ~ sit eis an elastic program creep
effects or settlements cannot be accounted for
F g u e 5.26 shows an example of a track model n GEOTRACK (because of symmetry only one half
of the track is drawn).
h
P'-
pP"4
_J
I
1
Modem Ra~iwayTrack
I
""I)
d
1
tbd
5.10.2
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
T h e A N S Y S program
For the calculatron of statlc forces especially wrthrn the ballastless track structures general-purpose
commercral finrte element software packages lrke ANSYS can be used. The calculatron capabllitles of
ANSYS are qurte sufflclent for thls kind of purposes and frrendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) considerably facilitates the work.
ANSYS
IS
a finlte element analysls software whlch enables engineers to perform the following tasks:
- Build computer models or transfer CAD models of structures, products, components or systems;
IS
- Begrn Level;
- Processor (or Routine) Level
The Begln Level acts as a gateway into and out of the ANSYS program. It 1s also used for certarn global program controls such as changing the job-name, clearing (zeroing out) the database, and copyIng binary frles. When the user f~rstenters the program he is at the Begin Level.
At the Processor Level, several processors are available. Each processor represents a set of functrons that perform a specrfrc analysls task. For example, the general preprocessor is where the user
can bulld a model, the solutlon processor IS where he can apply loads and obtain the solutlon, and the
general postprocessor IS where the evaluation of the solution results is belng performed. A general
addltlonal postprocessor also enables the user to evaluate solutlon results at speclfic points In the
model as a functlon of tlme.
P
%ti
I
4'4
!ad
'
7
Modern Railway n a c k
.i
There are basically several ways of using or working with ANSYS
- The f~rstand the easiest one is running ANSYS in Interactive Mode, i e via the Graphical User
Interface (GUI) in Figure 5.29 GUI gives the user easy. interactive access to program functions,
commands, documentation and reference material. An intu~tivemenu system helps users navigate
through the ANSYS program. User can input data using a mouse. a keyboard, or a combination of
both.
- Another option is using ANSYS in a Batch Mode. In a Batch Mode, the user submits a file of commands to the ANSYS program (a script file). This script file may have been generated by previous
ANSYS session (us~ngthe log file), by another program, or by creat~nga command file w ~ t hthe
use of editor. Batch mode feature allows the user to run ANSYS in the background while doing
some other work on a computer. Also, running ANSYS in a Batch Mode IS extremely useful in
cases when ANSYS is coupled with other programs for the purposes of performing more thorough
analyses, and especially when t h ~ sprocess is to be automatically performed and repeated many
times as in case of multiple-iteration optimlzatlon processes.
P*l
I
Y
p"9
- The third way is utilizing the lnput Window. This is a window where the user can provide input to
the program by directly typing in commands. It also shows prompts for functions that ~nvolve
graphical picking. The lnput Window also includes the History Buffer, whlch contains all previously
entered commands and prompt responses, which can be then scrolled back and forth and re-executed.
Finally, utilizing ANSYS Log Files represents another way of working with ANSYS. ANSYS program records every command it executes. whether typed in vla lnput Window or directly executed
either by a function in the GUI or by pre-defined script file. These commands are recorded in two
places the session log file and the internal database command log The session log file IS a text
file which is saved In the user's working directory. The database command log is saved in the
ANSYS database (in memory). The user can copy the database log to a file at any time by choosing proper menu optlon or by issuing the proper command Both files are command logs that can
be used again as input (script files) to the ANSYS program.
F i g ~ i r e5 29 AN:
Graphtcai User
Interface (GUI)
5.13
5.11.1
61
Several case studres were performed at the Technical Unrvers~tyDelft using the ANSYS software on ballastless track
str~ictureswlth a specral concentrat~onon the Embedded Rail
Structure (ERS). lnit~alcalculations of ERS uslng the ANSYS
program were made w ~ t hthe "standard" ERS, 1.e. the ERS
w ~ t hUIC 54 rail, Edilon prefab elastrc strlp nr 102, and Edilon
Corkelast compound VA60, as shown in Figure 5.30. The alm
of this ~nvestigat~on
was to dev~seand calibrate a numerlc
FEM-based model of ERS, which could be reliably used in
future to reduce the number of long and expensive laboratory
tests
Angle
Test
Ia
Ib
2
3
0"
'
Load
Type of Load
V=P
Static
0" V=P
22"
V=P. H=0,4-P
31 "
V=P, H=0,6-P
0" V=P
PI
&I
Static
The calibration of the model was performed by comparing the obtarned numeric calculation results
wlth the ones previously obtarned In laboratory. Applied loads complied with the NS regulations
regarding testing of the track elast~cityof Embedded Rail Structures, I e. w ~ t hthe loads applied in the
vertical, sloped (22 and 31 degrees), and longitudinal direction, as shown in Table 5 11 and in
Figure 5.31 Some of the essent~alresults of this study were:
llbr
FEM calculation could reliably describe the results of laboratory tests on stiffness and
strength of ERS, hence ~tcould be used instead of multiple testing of intermediate des~gns.Thus,
the laboratory work can be restr~ctedto only performing tests on the final design.
T"Ysk
5% margin, but were even less compared to the laboratory tests This means that the ANSYS FEM calculations could be successfully used to reduce
the laboratory tests. However, calibration of the FEM with a corresponding laboratory test still
remalns a necessary prerequisite in order to use it.
- The ANSYS
Tests l a and Ib
Tests 2 and 3
Longitudinal Test
lvli
- In the Standard ERS with UIC54 rail, the elastic pad could not be replaced by a softer compound
material due to the resulting hrgh lateral displacements
The successful completion of the UIC54 ERS prompted the continuation of the research, this time
directed towards the innovative ERS structures, e.g. the ones with SA37 and SA42 rails and subsequently those w ~ t heven more non-standard rail types and various compound charactenstics. The reason for taking t h ~ sdirection was the firm belief that the standard UIC54 ERS offered a lot of
opportun~tiesfor further optimization. The first two objectives were to investigate the possibility of
replacing the elastic strip with a softer type of compound and reducing the total amount of the cornpound, both of which would reduce the cost of a structure and s~mplifythe construction.
5.11.2
The first step rn testing SA42 ERS was to perform the verificat~on of the FEM numeric
model. In order to verrfy the numerlcal model,
the available testing results of the 250 mm
long sample of ERS with a low-no~serail
SA42, compound VA90, and eiastrc strip fc6sp have been used, Figure 5.32.
A 3-D model of thrs structure created in
ANSYS is shown in Figure 5.33a. E-moduli of
the compound and strip have been determined by fitting the responses of the numerical model into the results of the laboratory
tests One of these responses is the vertical
displacement of the rail which should be 2.1
mm if a vertical load of 30 4 kN IS applred.
Vertical d~splacement
at loadlng p o ~ n [mm]
t
2-0 results
3-D results
Ratlo
2-D results
3-D results
Ratlo
Vertical load 30 4 kN
2 29
2 11
1 08
3 98
4 01
0 99
2 70
2.48
1 09
4.97
4 89
1 02
Loadlng types
lateral. 0.99
Although the 3-D model can accurately descrlbe the experiment, due to high computatronal costs it
was practically impossible to use it In the optim~zationprocess where multiple evaluations of the
structural responses are required. That is why a 2-D model has been created (Figure 5.33b) assuming that In the middle of the ERS sample the model satisfies the plane stram cond~tion.The results of
the 2-D model have been compared wrth those obtained using the 3-43 model. They are collected in
Table 5.12 which shows that a difference of about 10% exrsts between the calculated vertrcal d ~ s placements of the 2-D and 3-D models.
This comparison has proven to be very stable regardless of the geometry of ERS, the type of elements, and the mesh density used In the numerlcal model. A comparable relat~onsh~p
was also
obtained for the ERS model and the UIC54 rail. The obta~nedratio was then used as correction-factor
during the optimizatron in order to estimate the displacements of the 3-Dmodel based on the results
of the 2-D model.
1-1
-1
Ld
I
I
7
1
d
6
6
DYNAWIIC
DYNAWIIC T
TR
RA
AC
CK
K DESIGN
DESIGN
6.1
Introduction
I
1
7
When dealing with track mechanics most of the problems are related in one way or another to dynamics. The dynamic Interaction between vehicle and track can be described reasonably well in the vertical directron uslng mathematical models. Figure 6.1 gives an example of such a model made up of a
discrete mass-sprrng system for the vehrcle, a discretely supported beam to descr~bethe track, and a
Hertz~anspring acting In the wheelirail contact area.
Dynamic behaviour occurs in a fairly wide
Car body band ranging from very low frequencies of
&Secondary suspension
the order of 0 5-1 Hz for lateral and vertlcal
car body accelerations to 2000 Hz as a consequence of geometrical irregularities in rails
Pr~rnarysuspension
and wheel treads. The suspension system
Wheelset -@
between wheelset and bogle IS the flrst
Hertz~ansprlng ---- 5
spr~ngldampercombination to reduce vibratlons orig~natlngfrom the wheelirail lnterac2
5
3
z
2 = Rail pad,
tion and is therefore called primary 0 C =
0
-; s=
0
0
Sleeper
Z
i =
=; Ballast Yr
suspension The reduction of the vibrations , ' ; ,>'
' /,
, " '/'J',",, , ',',',
of lower frequency is dealt wlth in the second
stage between bogle and car body and IS Figure 6 1 Dynamic model of vehicle-track ~nteraction
called secondary suspension This termlnology can be applied to the track part of the model in the same way. The railpad and railclip represent
the primary suspension of the track and the ballast layer or comparable medium represent the secondary suspension of the track.
- 6
h
-2
.
;
G%
2'
'
, /
Actual dynamic calculation IS, however, extremely complex and is by no means generally accessible.
Most analyses are llmited to quasi-static considerations. Real dynamlc problems are for the most part
approached in a very pragmatic way by carrying out measurements.
arni
I
In thls chapter attent~onis given to the basic Ingredients of the dynamlc behaviour of railway track
Section 6.2 deals wlth some fundamental aspects. The I-mass spring system, presented In Sect~on
6 2.2, can be regarded as the most elementary system w ~ t hthe aid of which a number of practical
problems can be consldered. Extensions can be made In two directions: the construction can be
enhanced to a multi degree of freedom system, and the load can be made more complex in terms of
IrnDact loads and loads wlth a random character.
In Section 6.3 the track IS modelled with relatively simple beam models consisting of the beam on an
elast~cfoundation, a double beam, and a discretely supported track structure. The transfer function
between track load and track displacement is discussed. Also the effect of a movlng load runnrng on
the track IS considered, as the track IS considered to be infinitely stiff.
Track and rolling stock should In fact not be consldered separately, but as one consistent system. For
this reason the Interaction between vehlcle and track is introduced here without going Into all the
details required for a full treatment of this complex matter. After the introduction of the Hertz~anspring,
the physics of which were discussed earlier in Chapter 2, the transfer function between wheel and rail
IS derlved In Section 6.4 This relationship plays an important role when lnterpretlng track record~ng
car data.
P4
In Section 6.5 a concept is developed from which the relevant vehicle reactions can be calculated In
real tlme using transfer funct~onsbased on track geometnj measured independently of speed. A
transfer function represents the contribution made by a geometry component to a vehicle reaction in
the frequency domain. Geometry components Include cant, level, alignment, and track gauge, and
veh~clereact~ons~ncludeQ forces, Y forces, and hor~zontaland vertical vehicle body accelerations.
4
n7
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
r?_
The theory of spectral analysis and the M I S 0 method based on it are dealt with in Section 6.6. Estimates obtained from both models and M I S 0 are compared. In Sect~on6.7 the Vehicle Response
Analysis (VRA) system used for on-line response calculations is discussed The relationship between
Sperlrng's Ride Index and I S 0 weighted accelerations is discussed in Section 6.8
Finally, in Sectron 6.9 and Section 6.10 a number of more advanced dynamic models are presented.
A short descript~on.isgiven of a number of models. which were developed recently at the TU Delft,
covering the dynamic effects of high-speed interaction, wave propagation in soft soils, and the effects
on the dynamic vehicle response and of stiffness transitions near br~dgesand other fixed installations,
6.2
Dynamic principles
6.2.1
In general
When considering dynamic aspects of track one should realise that dynamics is in fact the interaction
between load and structure. Loads vary in time and the way this happens determines the character of
the load. Generally speaking, distinctions can be made between periodic loads, impact loads, and
stochastic loads.
Loads
Var~at~on
ln tlme
Period~c
- Impact
Stochast~c
Structure
Mass
- Damp~ng
- Stiffness
Natural frequencies
F~gure6 2 Dynarn~caspects
F = - drmv)
dl
6.2.2
ma
L
I"
1.
lssi
P
Lrii
riePi
(61)
When the mass IS constant this equation transforms rnto Newton's law whlch implies that force equals
mass times acceleration:
F
k
I"
(6.2)
The simplest dynamic model is the so-called discrete one-mass sprlng system with mass m, spring
constant k, and damping c presented in Figure 6.3. This single degree of freedom system is governed
by the following differential equation for the vertical displacement w(t)mw+cw+kw= ~ ( t )
(6.3)
ruu'
F
I Note that due to conventions the symbols m, c, and k may also be used later for continuous systems as well
iry,r
r-
r
I__
IS
found by setting f = 0.
I"
H(O) = l / k
(6.9)
1-
r
I
Wntlng (6.6) ~ncomplex polar notation gives the frequency response function in terms of a galn factor
IH(f)l and a phase factordf) as follows:
(6.10)
H(f)= l~(f)le-'"'~'
rk
where:
H(f)l=
k_!
l/k
(6.11)
F
L
rpr"l
b"
(6.12)
1-
Other names for (6.11) are the modulus, absolute value, etc., whlle (6.12) is also called argument or
angle Because in this case the input IS a force and the response is a displacement. the frequency
response funct~onis also called the flexibilify function.
The example given in Figure 6.4 was obtalned using (6.6) to (6.9). with m = 120 kg, k = 4 . 0 1 0 ~ ~ 1 m .
and two damp~ngvalues 1.e. c, = 1.010"nd
c2 = I.2105 Nslm
I f f >> f, then IH(f)I/H(O) approaches the asymptote ~/(f/f,)~which characterizes a second order system. The slope of the asymptote IS often expressed in dBloctave. In this case we have 201og(l/(flf,,)~)
= -4OdBldecade or -12dB/octave. For high frequencies the phase 9 approaches n rad.
ivvli
P
k
In case of vehlcle-track interaction excitations are induced by irregularitres In the wheel rail interface. In the most srmplified form this can
be considered as forced displacements, the principle of whlch IS
illustrated In Flgure 6.5
The equatlon of free motion reads in this case:
mw+cw+kw=cy+ky
(6.13)
or alternatively.
7~
~ Z + C Z + ~=Z-my
(6.14)
Iru
T h ~ sequation has the same form as (6.3) and thus the same solutron
techniques are applicable
fl
W
It IS lnterestlng for instance. to determine the transformation function wrth y(t) as input and w(t) as
output function, respect~vely.
4 " n
hlodeni Pallway K a c k
behavrour, whlle experiments show that the elasto-plastc w t h softening behaviour IS typlcal for ~ 2 1
consol~datedballast Both numerical models account for the effect of vertlcai forces by Introducing the
Mohr-Colilomb crrterion. The element shows linear-elastic behavlour until the applled lateral load s
has reached the peak value s,,,,, = F, - s,tantp ( s , - vertrcal load, tancp - frlctron coefficrent between
ballast and sleeper) and corresponding peak displacement W,. Afier that. the element begins to
yield, that IS the deformatlons increase wlthout increasing the force s , approachlng its limit value F,
as shown in Figure 4. The softening branch is approximated by the f ~ ~ n c t i o n
In which s,,, = F,IF, (the limit value W, IS defined so that sj W,) = 0 5 ( F p- F,) ) The b-linear model
can be considered as a particular case of the elasto-plastic wlth scftenlng when F,, = F, and
w, = w,.
The model has been rntensely tested within the framework of the ERR1 project D202 regarding analysis of CWR track stability and formulation of safety crlterla [65] One appllcatron of the model
(Fgure 7.43) in the lnvestrgatron of tram track stabilty IS presented in Sectlon 7.5 8. Another applicatlon of the problem of determrnlng temporary speed limits of trarns on tracks after renewal or full maintenance I S described in Chapter 13 5
7.5.5
i""l
bui
brq
b
r
em
Vertical stability of t r a c k
One of the advantages of ballastless track structures such as an Embedded Rarl Structure (ERS) is
the absence (or very small chance) of lateral buckllng On the other hand, ERS can become unstable
In the vertical direction Two models for analysls of vertical bucklrng of embedded rail strc~ct~ire
are
shown in Figure 7 45 The model takes different types of vertlcal misalignment rnto account
(Figure 7.45) A traln in such models IS represented by concentrated forces corresponding to axle
loads applled to the rails The vertical behaviour of elastrc mixture (in whlch the rails are embedded) 1s
modelled by the same sprlng element as has been used for modellrng the lateral behavlocrr of ballast
in the prevlous section (Flgure 7 44).
l i
@ma
sd
It should be noted that the library of wlzards IS constantly extended and models of other track structures can easily be added to a standard verslon of CWERRI The bcrckllng niechanlsm of CWR tracks
and safety crtterla are discussed in the next sect~on.
lm
id
!m
lid
7.5.6
Buckling m e c h a n i s m
Expertments and field observations have shown that, at a crttlcal temperature increase TBIEYIAX
(measured with respect to the neutral temperature), the track can, under certaln conditions, buckle
out into a new posrtron C over a certain length An additional temperature lncrease of the rails will
gradually increase the deflection in the deformed region. The temperature increase versus the maximum lateral deflection is shown in Figure 7.46 In this case, an explosive bucklrng
monotonous progresslve response also exists)
IS
assumed (a
A,lodern Rail~wayTrack
LONGITUDINAL FORCES
1I
7.5.4
.A )
Peak arnplrtude ( h )
FP, F'
[:
Truck Center
Spac~ng(TCS)
f1
i
l
PI
hi
e
C
I"rYlie'
L
'rnax
'max
Loaded
F~
;
Unloaded
'
/!
+
(0
j :
F,
. Kel
Loaded
1%
'i
--
Unloaded
Uplift
g F,
?119
/;
Wp
Lateral drsplacement
/\;
Ker
m
I
ivri
*w
a,
11
il
'olr
Uplift
id
61-l~near
model
i"i
w~
Lateral displacement
197
z
Fn
-*
Modeln
Railway Track
'-
-1
An approximate formula
IS
,I
(6.24)
P= P,+h2avfiu
~nwhich.
-1
1 1
h
k
d
6.2.4
a17Tq
b
d
d
q7
bd
pnr
br
*
*pli
iYl
I
$',.&
+
ag
'
@ ?
%a
kid
lwsi
i
I
PI
I
1
irrri
iaa,
6.3
Track modelling
6.3.1
General considerations
The type of Interaction phenomenon to be described determines to a large extent the structure of the
model and the degree of refinement. In the case under considerat~onhere, the track IS of prlme importance. The quality of the track, however, IS assessed on the basis of vehlcle reactlons.
bid
":
To describe hlgh frequency vertical v~brationsassociated with corrugatrons and poor quality welds
use is made of a track model and a wheelset connected In the wheellrail contact area by means of a
Hertzian spring.
fl
, ,
Vehlcle reactrons associated with low frequency track geometry are analysed on the basis of a
number of very s~mplemodels In whlch track stiffness is not taken Into conslderatlon. Runnlng characteristics and aspects relating to stability are totally disregarded In such analyses.
9
rn
Mi
6.3.2
The track structure can be seen as a system consistrng of ra~lswhlch are elast~callysupported by
means of rall pads by sleepers spaced at a fixed d~stanceThe sleepers are supported by a damped
elastic foundation consisting of ballast plus formation [I021, [33].
Flgure 6.10 shows three models which can be used to describe the track structure The parameter
values used In these models are shown In Table 6.1.
d
9
113
r
SL
In equatron (6 37) 1 is the characteristrc length (5 20) I f f IS zero (statlc case) (6 37) becomes identrcal to inverse total spring constant Ilktot accordrng to (5 45).
r-
H(0)
= -=
2kL
L~
-
(6 39)
8EI
F
C
F1
IH(f)llH(O)
10
i
I
f,, = 92 Hz
1=087
1""7
L
01 -
Pi
The correlat~onbetween this solution and that of the 1mass sprrng system Figure 6.4 is strrking. Both transfer
functions have the same form (for 5 = 0.87). However,
compared to the I-mass sprrng system, the order of the
distributed system is 1.5 instead of 2. Therefore the
slope of the asymptote In thls case IS 201o~(l/(flf,)~'~)
=30dBldecade or -9dBloctave.
ol
loo
10
argH,(f) [radl
1 000
f [HZ]
b~
0 -
blk3
-2
-3
a = -I
P
IS
obtained from
.
loo
10
1000 f [HZ]
(6.40)
s:
For small values of the frequency X approaches the characterrstrc length L. To frnd the actual wavelength h must now be multiplied by 2n The modulus of this natural wavelength h, rs therefore
A"
2 lT
(6.41)
Ih,/ [ml
6 .
/A,( = 2*sleeper
d~stance
3
'
2 -
w
F
Double beam
F
4
0
10
loo
1000
f [Hz]
05
0
-05
b%ii
-1
10
100
1000
f [Hz]
FR
h~
r"
kb
116
cf
1
A
lViodern Ra~lwavTiac!,
The drfferentlal equation of the problem can be obtained in analogy with (6 30)
7
E l d J W ( X , t ) + m ; )2W(X.t)+cdw(x.t)
+kwcx.f)=O
dt
3xJ
;)t2
(6.44)
-
' "I1
The movlng wheel load QS(x-vt) will be accounted for later rn (6.53) as a boundary condrtlon
After introduct~onof the new dimens~onlessvarlable s, ~ndicatrnga moving set of variables:
L&
II~II~
h ( x - V ~ I ,wherein
k "9
I = ( \-4-E)I 3 = L
(6.45)
h
Id
- -,
A ,
a-w- 3x
dd
m
dw
hc~
; 1 ~ -hv-,
--
ds' 3f
ds
etc
(6.46)
for the homogeneous normal differentlal equatron In the varlable s rt follows that:
cvri
d4w
,is)
ds
nw
I
srvY
2 d2w
+ 4 ~ ---?(s).
ds
dw
8v.P - ( s ) + 4 w [ s ) = 0
ds
(6.47)
(dimensronless)
(6.48)
(dimensronless)
(6 49)
~nwhich:
1"1
1,'2
uj
21
El
fii)m "
t-4
tvsj
I1
'7
s*i
"1
uui
1"1"1
Note that the quantities in (6.48) and (6.49) have the follow~ngphyslcal meaning.
. 1
Inserting w
i"s,
I
Mvvrl
WI
y4 + 44a2y2- 8cc.P~+ 4
(6.50)
Note that the four roots will generally be complex. All roots are significant here because there IS no
symmetry as is the case In the stat~cproblem. In order to meet the condition w ( ~ M =) 0, the solut~on
must be expressed as:
11s
s20
Ale
sc0
(6.51)
F"1
hd
(6 52)
rn
d
The coefficients A, are generally complex The solutlon w(s), however, will be real to have physrcal
srgnrficance.
4 1 0
ii/locleri~paillvav Tiaclc
The dynamic theory of double beams is analogous to the static theory discussed in section 5.4 The
expressions for the rail deflection can be applied if the static degrees of stiffness k, and k2 are
replaced by their dynamic equivalents.
f
1-
in much the same way as was done with the single beam theory
$,
lH(f)l/H(O)
10
01
0 01
1
argH,(f) Padl
-,
-2
-3
21
Fgure 6 14 Transferf~irrct,onf o r t w c k n o d e l l e d a s
a double beam
id
Quantitres
a s(x-v~)
Lv
7
El, m
-w
x
t
[~rn']
[kglml
[Ns/rnz]
[N/rn2]
IN/ml
[Nl
[rnisl
Iml
[sl
[ml
El
c
k
q
Q
7 z
Figure 6 75 Beam moclel with movrng load
Bw(x,t)
e
C
The solution method chosen here is again directed to the use of complex calculi in order to obtain
numerical results, rather than first explicitly deriving the analytical expression for the dynamic deflection
Pim
'u
117
Inn
Fig~~6
r e16 Transfer condrtion at s = 0
s = h(x-vt)
11 ll?
"'1
1
UW
W , = W,
dw, = dwr
ds
WJ
M,
Pa
ds
=
M,
Q+D,=D,
"1
))
A 3 + A 4 = A, +A,
>'A 3 ~ 3 + A 4 ~ =4 A 7 ~ +1 A 2 ~ 2
),
A,y:
+Azy$
(6.53)
+A3y~+A4y~=A,y~+~,~
Elk3
))-
Note that the last condrtion in (6 53) can be obtained usrng equations (6.28), (6.29), and Figure 6.16.
1: ;i
lui
rn
kri
jup
+T
7(2
3
-1
-1
1; I;i]i2-
-?{3"
A,
=
wo--
A3
-yj A T
(6.54)
"*;
nq
After solving the matrix equation (6.54) the constants A, are known and the relation between the
deflectron and the distance can be drawn. Flgure 6.17 shows the characteristic wave shapes of the
relative displacement of the beam for several values of v. and P In the case of undamped (P = O ) ,
lightly damped (P = 0.1), over critically damped systems (P = 1. I ) , static situations ( a = 0), subcritical
velocitres ( a = 0.5), crrtical veloc~ties( a = I ) , and super crlt~calveloc~ties( a = 2).
!mi
ir*i
I
@
!
The fourth row in Figure 6.17 shows that the maxlmum amplitude of the d~splacementsIS moving
behind the location of the load for super critical velocity. For the critical speed (cx = 1) and undamped
case (p = 0) the wave amplitudes became infinite.
For a lightly damped system (middle column) a s~mrlarbehaviour takes place. The wave shape calculated for a =1 shows large amplifications. For an over critically damped case (P = 1. I ) the wave forms
are asymmetric with respect to the load and show no amplifications anymore with respect to the static
case.
In Frgure 6.18 the rat10 of the maximum deflection is given as function of the ratro of the load velocity
and the crrtical velocity u,for several values if the damplng ratlo is P. The eq~iivalenceto the frequency response function of the simple spring-mass system is striking For small damping ratios the
wave amplitude shows severe ampl~frcations
119
1
T-
2
v =00
0
2
13 = 0 1
6
relal~vedtstance s
1-1
o =00
p=
1i
L41
11
;
;I -/--I
u-10
relarive d~stancas [
11 - 0 0
relatsve dtstance s [
1,
= 10
8 =0 1
relative drstance s [ ]
v = 10
11 = 1 1
PIIR'
G
-2
:;
_
s
s c
2 ;
E s
0
!
2
3
ielauve dlstance s [
=20
P - 00
relal~ved~stances
&
[-I
ii
= ?0
(1 = 0 1
ieiat~vedislance s [ ]
u-20
8=11
221~,
m
in whlch
m
= rarl mass per length,
k
= track strffness;
El
= bending stiffness.
I?n
Aslri
i
d
C
Velocity ratlo a
F i g ~ ~6i e16 Dyiiamtc an~plihcatio~l
veisiis speed due to
load
i:
F""
1
'#w
i@@
i
F
1-1
?
_J
1-7
For tracks of good qual~tythe crltrcal speed lies far beyond the operating speed, but w ~ t hpoor soil
conditions or other masslspr~ngconfigurations the crltlcal speed can be so low that special measures
are requlred In case the tram speed approaches the wave propagation speed, the so11may experlence a l~quefactiontype of phenomenon as seen In F~gure6.19. An actual measurement in track on
soft so11IS shown In Flgure 6 20.
id
/'I\
bd
"1
m
d
7
4
@a
k
d
i
pl
"1
813
W d ~ n-
""1
ws'a'
lvsr
Jm
1
Runn~ngspeed [krnlh]
F~gure6 20 Actual measurement on soft soil
(6.56)
6.3.4
f""
The model In Figure 6.10(c), In w h ~ c hthe rail IS supported In a discrete manner, glves the best
approximation Such an approach also lends rtself to the appllcatron of standard element programs
programs whlch will be discussed later ~n Sect~on6.9 These element method programs give great
flexlbrllty as regards load forms and support cond~tions
s d
I
Ll
9
d
F"I
Discrete s u p p o r t
6.4
6.4.1
Hertzian c o n t a c t spring
Dur~ngvehicleltrack interaction the forces are transmitted by means of the wheellra~lcontact area On
accocint of the geometry of the contact area between the round wheel and the rail, the relationship
between force and compresslon, represented by the Hertzran contact spring, IS not linear as has
already been discussed In Section 2 7 The relatlonsh~pbetween force F and indentation y of the contact surface can be written as
F
c,y
3 2
(6 57)
In whrch c~ [ N ~ Y I - ~ IS
' ~ ]a constant dependrng on the r a d ~
and
~ the material propertres.
'bid""i
121
Modern Ra~iwayTrack
rI
Since a description of the wheel/rail relationship using transfer functions requires that all components
are I~near,the Hertztan spring must also be Iinearised. This linearised value of the stiffness can be
found by considering the relationship between the force and displacement Increments around the
static wheel load. The llnearised Hertzian sprrng strffness kH is then.
Jenkins e.a. [137] determined the kH value for old and new wheels as a function of the wheel diameter For a wheel diameter of 1 m and a static wheel load of 75 kN, a kH value of 1.4 10' Nlm IS found
for new wheels and 1.6 10' Nlm for old wheels (see also Section 4.11).
6.4.2
'
h_
F"'
1
F""
hL9
1
Figure 6.21 shows the model of a wheel which is connected to the rail by means of a Hertzian sprlng.
From the equ~librlumthe following IS obtarned:
F, +
(6 59)
'bviPrIr
with.
"
Yw=Ywe
12nft-
-Ywe
jolt
(6.60)
M, Wheel mass
(6.61)
In the following, the relationships between wheel displacement at axle box level and vertical rarl geometry, as
well as axle box acceleration and vertrcal rail geometry
are examined. These relationships are important when
analyslng phenomena associated with corrugatrons and
poor quallty welds. These transfer functions also formed
the basis of the calculations which Were carried Out when
designing the BMS-2 system discussed In Chapter 16
yw Wheel displacement
B%i
K, Hertz~anspring st~ffness
'
Yr Rall dlsplacernent
The relat~onbetween the interaction force FH and the change in length of the Hertzian spring is determined by:
FH
k ~ [ y W-Y,-Y,]
(6.62)
Fs
In which:
= vertrcal wheel displacement at the level of the axle box;
yw
= vertical rail displacement under the effect of FH;
yr
yg
= vertical rail geometry;
= llnearised stiffness of Hertzran spring;
kH
FH = dynamic component of wheellrail force.
If (6.62) is transformed to the frequency domain and the Four~ertransformations are indicated In
cap~talletters, the expression can be written as:
Ygif)= Y w ( f ) -Y r ( f ) - F H ( f ) / k H
(6.63)
luu
m
k
122
w
I
17
I
il
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
LJ
I
I
Using the prev~ouslydenved transfer funct~onsfor the double beam in Sect~on6 3.3, wheel (6.61),
and the Tall (6.35),
the wheel ana rail d~splacementscan be expressed ~nthe wheellra~lforce'
_j
"
{,I
(6.64)
Y w i f )= H w ( f ) F H ( f )
(6.65)
Yr(f)= Hr(f)FH(f)
"'1
ld
(6.66)
Y g ( f j = [ H w ( f )- H , ( f ) - ? / k H ] F H ( f )
""'1
=
Wl'
(6.67)
H,(f)FH(f)
&hi
I
"i
7w
7
4
""1
kmd
YJf)
HI
-Yw(f)
Hw
Furthermore, by d~fferent~at~ng
the wheel displacement tw~ceaccording to:
2
(6.69)
Y w ( f )= - w Y w ( f )
and substituting this result together with (6.61) in (6 68), the relation between axle box acceleration
and rail geometry becomes'
(6.70)
~,(f=
) - M , H , ( ~ ) Y , ( ~ )= ~ ~ ( f ) ~ , ( f )
In which.
(6.68)
H (f)
Y
'I
(6.71)
-Mw H w (f ) - H , ( f ) - k~
69
prl
e%.
krri
"9
Irr
p"?
Lid
4
'1
k$
Id
9
10-4
1Oe5
The contr~but~on
of the rail is calculated using the double beam
model based on the appropr~ate
lo-=
10.'
10-8
10
100
id
123
I
F
[-I
+ k,H,
H,(f) =
k~
- k,HJ
100
'-7-
I H,(f) I
1weak
2 normal
3 stiff
i'
>%
-,
-,
10
CI
3-
1
f
+
.
_
1
%
.
1
.
-
1 1 1 1 1 1
l l l l l
F:
Ult
0 5x
h
0
f
IH,1
HY ( f )
Srnce corrugatrons appear predomrnantly between 10 and 1500 Hz,rt IS clear that the track construction In part~cularhas a very great rnfluence. The questlon IS whether, when measuring corrugations by
means of axle box accelerations, the varlatlon In track cond~troncan be disregarded This IS examrned
by varying the track strffness kl. Flgure 6.23 shows the varlous contrrbutrons made to the transfer
function according to formula (6 42) for standard track wrth a stiffness k,, for track with a low stiffness
of 0 5 kl, and for track wrth a high st~ffnessof 2 k,. Differences due to the characterlstrcs of the track
only show up in the frequency band between 60 and 200 Hz. As a result of system damping due to
half-space radratlon, for whlch we refer the reader to [208] and [231], the effect remalns limited. No
specral measures have therefore been taken in the BMS-2 system.
6.5
6.5.1
Schematisation
Transfer functions between track geometry and vehicle reactions can be determrned using mathematrcal models Flgure 6.24 shows a very simple model which describes the main dynamic response of
the veh~cle.Thrs model can be used to calculate the various relations between track geometry (consrstrng of cant, level, and alignment) and vehrcle response In the form of Q and Y-forces between
wheel and rail, but also to calculate horizontal and vertical car body accelerations [269].
P"Ai
Ld
I@
&
In the followrng the various transfer functions wrll be derrved first After a discussron of I S 0 filtering of
the vehlcle body acceleratron signals to take account of human perception, a number of examples are
grven of transfer functions calculated based on the NS measuring coach
1 3 A
i"
i
bioder~iRa~iwayTrack
I-
r6 DYNAblIC
TRACK DESIGbI
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
r-
-z2
-z3
z4
v4
"
/tot
v4e
(6.102)
(6.103)
In ne~thercase is the car body loaded. The prlmary suspensions vibrate independently of each other,
symmetrically in case 3 and asymmetrically in case 4 Whenever a wheelset is being considered the
following equations of mot~onapply:
-J5, O I ~ O =
, 2P2F1
F,
(K,,
'
+ ~ ~ c , , ~- Zj f vi 2 ~, 5 )
(6 104)
F
hi
(6.105)
With.
2
a , = - J2
p,
w2
5Y
(6 106)
Fl/V3
H;,
F1/V4=
-a,c
--a,-2c
(6.107)
-ale
-
(6.108)
a , - 2c
The response due to the movement of one axle can be obtained by comb~nlngthe above-mentloned
results For instance, by adding all the results the displacements for axles 1. 3, and 4 equal zero and
axle 2 has a displacement of 4. It can clearly be seen that if the k-th axle undergoes a forced movement with an amplitude of 1, the response, 1.e. the transfer funct~onH a , can be derived as follows
from the above results:
,C
&i
Combination of level r e s u l t s
6.5.3
(ts
C
I"m
w
b
~a
(6.109)
H,; v,,
I= 1
In this equation vIk is the k-th element of the amplitude vector vj. The resulting transfer functlon
between track geometry. In this case level zt, and the respective response component can now be
obtained by adding together the contr~butionsfrom the 4 axles tak~ngthelr lag into account. This
results in the following expressions:
Q
Zc
(6.110)
H,Z,
2
( Z 7- txO7)w
H,Z,
(6.111)
F"i
P"d
r"""
b
r"
17
.4
I
I
I
I
i
Here the transfer functions HI and
hab
H,
IT!
I ,oZ
-m
2
CH;,E.
(6.112)
'WTk
k= I
dlU
4
lnw
Hz
-o2E( H ; k - t , H ; k ] e
hid
IWT~
(6.113)
k= 1
tr~lrrl
where:
d
C
r
#I%
I
7, =
!d
7, =
A"I
rZ/v
(6.115)
P,/v
(6.116)
f 2+ P,
T4 =
"1
(6.114)
reference axle
t, = 0
(6.117)
P~
= the distance between the centre of gravity of the vehicle body in the x-direction and the point
The f~rstterm ~n(6.1 12) represents the proport~onof the wheelset mass in the Q-force.
d
R e s p o n s e to irregularities in a l i g n m e n t
6.5.4
The vehicle reactions to an alignment Input show a strong resemblance to the reactions to a level
input. The degrees of freedom change from z to y and from Q to $. If the @-rotationis disregarded the
l used here. The transfer function HI accordmodel used for level fits exactly. This assumption w ~ l be
Ing to (6.112), gives the relation between the Y-force between wheel and rail and the alignment,
whereas H2 according to (6 113), represents the relation between hor~zontalveh~clebody acceleration and alig'nment.
iri
9
I
lrrl
?m
R e s p o n s e to irregularities in c a n t
6.5.5
rri
'"Ym"t
@I
In the case of excitation due to cant, only $-rotations occur. As with the response to alignment, where
the ()-rotations are disregarded, in the case of response to cant lateral spring reactions are not taken
into consideration. Calculation of the relationships between cant and vehicle response is slmilar to
that for level rnput. Here again the same 4 forced displacement modes are selected and applied to the
degree of freedom 9,from which the effect of each axle can then be derived separately.
d
1"11
IPrr"
'4"1
urvli
Cant: c a s e 1
The mode of displacement
(1,
q2
q3
(p4
IS
as follows:
v7
vle
/cot
(6 118)
The interact~onforces for each axle are equal because of the symmetry. The reaction forces at the left
i*1
td
179
ns(
1
2
l :r
U
-)
The moduli of the I S 0 filters are shown in Figure 6 26 for vertical weighting and In Figure 6.27 for herlzontal weighting. The functions are calculated for speeds of 90, 120, 140, 160, and 200 km/h.
I
,
1-q
I'
ii
l""t
1 i*i
- 90 krnlh
/HI I S 0 horizontal
120 krnlh
- 140 kmlh
06
14
WYB
90 krnlh
- 120 kmlh
- 140 krnlh
- 160 kmlh
- 200 kmlh
- 160 krnlh
0.8
0.4
02
0
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
1/A [ I lm]
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
0.8
*
l l h [Ilrn]
ii
6.5.8
hi'
T
w
~FI
h
i
I
il*r
f
*.(
1 Pi
m
d
W
.Id
:
9Y
Table 6 2 summarizes the relevant parameters. The results are given in the form
of the modulus of the transfer function
and the argument. The unit impulse
response function is also calculated.
Figure 6.28 shows the relat~onship
between Q-force and level, Figure 6.29
between vertical car body acceleration
and level, Figure 6.30 between Y-force
and alignment, Flgure 6.31 between lateral car body acceleration and alignment, Flgure 6.32 between Increase In
Q-force and cant, and Figure 6.33
between lateral car body acceleration
and cant
primary suspension
Secondary suspension
K1,
= 4 75 10%lm
Kzy =0.18 1 0 6 ~ l r n
K,,
= 0.70 Io6 ~ l r n
KZz = 0.41 1 0 ~ ~ l m
Cly
CI,
= 5 88
lo3 ~ s / r n
CZz = 2.20 1 0 ~ ~ s l r n
Unsprung mass
= 1500 kg
J1,
= 730 kgm2
Bogie frame
Ms
'
Jsx
= 2.02
J,
= 2.02
J5z
Car body
l5
lo3
kg
56
M7 = 3.37 104kg
l o 3 kgm2
l o 3 kgm2
kgm2
103
J7y = 7 67
l o 5 kgm2
Dimensions
tz
2.56 m
Px
= -6.95 rn
C3
=1566m
Py
= 0 00 m
14
2.78 m
I,
= 1.45 rn
P5
2.00 rn
'(Aa
1
i
I
bfi
13.1
pi
L
'
I
L
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
L_
6.6
6.5.1
General concept
LJ
I
1
'1
' d1
I
'9
+dl
The relationships b e t l ~ e e nvehicle and track can be described in terms of transfer functions (see Secfor instance indicating how the varlous track geometry components contribute to a given
tion 6.5),
response component of the vehicle. In the prevlous part the mathematical model approach based on
a schematisation according to masses, springs, and dampers was discussed.
The method described here uses measured geometry signals as inputs and a corresponding
response signals of the vehicle as output to establish transfer functions with the aid of the M I S 0
method (Multiple Input Slngle Output) based on the theory of random signal analysis. The ORE Committee C 152, set up in 1979, has also dealt with this method and has meanwhile published reports
[204], [205], and [74].
A number of examples are discussed concerning the estimate of transfer functions using recorded
data, wlth special emphasls on the rellabil~tyaspect. In addition, a new concept for the dynamlc
measurement of Q and Y forces using measuring wheelsets IS discussed.
6.6.2
ul
F"i
rPri
"i
"\
Y
~ . 4
I
Since the prlmary objectlve of the theory presented here consists of giving a survey of the maln
trends of the theory without entering into all sorts of minor deta~ls,no derivations will be discussed. As
far as details and more basic considerat~onsare concerned, reference is made, in the first instance, to
the standard work by Bendat and Plersol [I51 and to references [68], [69], [70], [74], and [78] which, In
addrtron to practical irnplementat~ons,include information on rarl applications
The theory of random signal analysis distinguishes between the time domain for dynamic processes
(or the spatlal domain for geometrical processes) and the frequency domain. The frequency IS composed of the reciprocal time or the reciprocal d~stancefor dynamic or geometrical processes, respectlvely Although in the following text the magnitude t IS used as tlme variable, this may be replaced by
distance (x or s) too Likewise, the frequency f may represent both the reciprocal time and the reciprocal distance As a matter of fact, the variables time and distance are interlinked by the running speed.
>Mid
"1
&
I
If the s~gnalx(t) denotes a magnitude in the time domain, the representation In the frequency domaln
is obtained by means of the so-called Fourler transformat~on.Provided that C l x ( t ) ldt < and consequently also j : J ~ ( f ) / d<f , both transformatrons from and to the time domain read as follows.
"*1
pn,
Id
I,
P
7
'iulJ
If these transformatlons are made digitally, this is done with the aid of the Fast Fourier Transformatlon
(FFT) w h ~ c his at present readily available in hardware.
If the I-input-I-output model shown In Figure 6.34 is composed of a linear physically realisable system, the transfer
function H(f) can be explicitly determined on the basis of the
system parameters For a measured input x(t), with the corresponding X(f), an output value Y(f) can be calc~~lated
for any
f as follows,
Yc f) = H [ f )X(f)
(6.1 55)
X (f
F ~ g ~ l 6r e34 One-degree-of-freedom systern
-1
3
0: =
[--S x x ( f ) d f
(6 165)
2pxx(f)df
7d
n
d
aiea
(T~'=
figure6.35 Symmefrica/auto-spectium
""1
liui
v,',(f,
I S ~ ~ ~ ~O s) y zI y (~f ) < I
Sxx(f)Syy(f)
R x x ( 0R
) yy(0)
~,2,(2)
d
w
d
=?I
(6.166) '
(6.167)
0 5 pxy( 7 ) 5 I
max~mumcorretat~on
"1
maximum coherence
S
7k
I
IS
achieved
From the relationship between input and output, the following relation on a spectral level may be
deduced:
S x y ( f )= H ( f ) S x , ( f )
(6.168)
i"l
H(f)
Sxy(f)
(6.169)
SXX(f)
"i
7
Y
vZy(f) =
~(ns,,cf)
(6.170)
SYY(f
I qn
11
1-
A simulation study of the influence of non-correlated contributions to the output on the error in estlmating the transfer function. published in 12051, has shown that about 10% of non-correlated data in
the output leads to an error of about 10% in the transfer function estimate, the coherence being
reduced to about 0 8. Seen from this angle. whilst also allowing for other possible causes, only estimates of H(f) for which " i Y ( f )> 0.85 should be accepted.
r'
r
1
U
6.6.3
INPUT x2(t)
+
yi
t)
ZY,(~)
i =
~20)
Yit)
(6.171)
rL
r'
L
P
--
(6.172)
yi(t)-= rh,(i)x(t-rjdr
4 I
Y,(t)
hq(i)
(6.173)
SiY(fl= x ~ , , ( f ) H , ( f )
/=I
s,,(i) =
s,(f)
iim
1x , ( I ~ Y ( ~ )
T+-T
lim T ( f , ~ , ( f ,
T--.=T
(6.174)
(6.175)
( S x y l = [ S x x l[ H I
The generation and solution of these q complex equations is discussed in section 6.6.5. However, the
formal solution can be written provisionally as follows:
( H Ij
[sXxl-'
1sXyj
(6 177)
The r e l ~ a b ~ l of
~ t ythe transfer functions thus estimated follows from the multiple coherence function
y;.,if I which depicts the ratio between the output spectrum calculated on the basis of (6.177) and
the measured output spectrum according to:
2
?/,.,(f
Syy calculated
SYy measured
~_<.$.,(f)_<
I
( 6 178)
Pkh
L
FR
1
i
z,,
9
R/(fj~/Y(f)
?;.,(f)
- {jqlT{sx
-
S,,(f)
Syy(fi
(6.179)
Summation in the numerator indicates the contribution of the various inputs to the output spectrum. In
this case, too, it is necessary that for a reliable estimate $,,(f)
must lie in the interval
0 8519(;.,(f)
(6.180)
5 I
1
d
6.6.4
Statistical reliability
I*@
a
i
l
In this section some attention is paid to random errors E , and systematic errors (bias errors)
tematic errors can be compensated for by correction or calibration according to:
E ~ Sys.
' T
X ( I - E ~ ) - I S & h <I
(6.181)
where X denotes the true value and 2 the estlmator. If the systematic error is negligibly small ( E c~
0.02) and the random error is small (E, < 0.10), the 95% confidence interval for X IS given approximately by:
bJ
rn
?(I
%(I-ZE,) I X<
f2Er)
(6.182)
In this section only some main trends are glven. For a more detalled discussion see references [15],
[16], [17], and [106].
Fl
Random errors
b~d
d
P
As stated before, spectral density functions must be averaged so as to keep the random error at an
acceptably low value. This averaging procedure can be carrled out in two different ways: either by
averaging out the records (ensemble averaging), this number amounts to NSEC, or by comb~ninga
number of frequency components known as frequency smoothing, this number amounts to NA. The
overall number of averaging operations n is thus.
N A * NSEC
P*
E,
(6.183)
t
d
S,
F1
E, =
I
-
(6.184)
ka
m
Sxy-+ E,
I
-
lb;*xl
(6.185)
The random error E, in the modulus of the transfer function H,, determined by means of MISO, can be
approx~matedaccording to:
w
bs4,
I
1' 1
E r i ~ , /-
(6.186)
lus
~2
I
Fd);
14 1
where
q
= number of inputs;
n
= number of averaging operations;
= 100 a percentage point of the F-distributions, with n, = 2q and n2 = 2(n-q);
F
=
mult~pleconerence function between input x, and the other inputs.
Y i .x
I-
P-
From the first term under the square root sign it becomes apparent that the number of averaging
operations n must at least be equal to q + 1. In practice, the value of n will certainly have to be one
order of magnitude higher. The random error in the argument of H, follows from.
argH,+
E, =
arcsln Er~'-',/
l Hll
(6.187)
P-
Bias errors
On the subject of estimating bias errors relatively little is known. For auto-spectra, a Taylor-ser~es
expansion for approximating the bias error may be applied. This leads to the following formula:
B:
si;x-
&be------
24 S,,
I B:
3 B;
(6.188)
F"
lu
P
kL
where:
= resolut~onband width = Af = NAIL;
6,
L
= record length;
NA = number of frequency smoothing operat~ons,
B, = "half power point" band width = 0.03 rn-' for track geometry spectra.
m1
kll
Obviously, the requirements to keep the random error and the b ~ a serror small are sometimes incompatible since:
E/,
(NA)'
.. L2
(6.189)
&
I
6 DY~IAAIWICTPACK DESIGN
[Gxx]
R + iQ
(6.197)
r
1
I-
(6.198)
1.
(6.199)
QT = - Q
(6.200)
R
I
Q,,=
Ir0
(6.201)
F
b
Ax
(6.202)
f "11 1
1
in which, by virtue of (6.1 99). (6.200). and (6.201). matrix A is symmetrical. This set of equations can
be solved using the decomposition method of Crout-Cholesky briefly described in the following section.
hill
P
i l
Solving equations
P
In set (6.202) matrix A describes the inputs while the output only occurs in the y vector. In pract~ce,a
full series of output signals is usually involved, implying that the (6.202) system would then have to be
solved just as many times. In the solution technique of Crout-Cholesky, the arithmetical operations
are therefore split up into two parts, i . e into one part which is independent of the output, thus only
bearing on matrix A, and into one part affecting the whole system. The single-time operation on matrix
A is designated to factorize and splits up this matrix into two triangular matrices and one diagonal
matrix, according to:
A
U~DU
F
b
P
h
(6.203)
where:
u
= upper triangular matrix;
=
O f o r i < J; U,, = 1;
U,,
D
= diagonal matrix; Dl, = 0 for i = j.
llpi
Thts is executed in the subroutine FACBAN. The solution proper is now carried out in two steps by
means of the subroutine SYMBAN:
T
irrni
U z = y-
(6.204)
D U x = z
(6.205)
In equat~on(6.204) vector z IS solved from top to bottom, after which vector 3, the solution vector of
set (6.202), is found by going through (6.205) from bottom to top.
L
P
b
m
iusr,
bre
I
6.6.6
Applications
The M I S 0 applications described here are primarily confined to the field of interaction between vehicle and track. The method is aimed at determining the relationships between track geometry compo..
hw
F"
k
r"
nents, servlng as Inputs, and a vehlcle response magnitude, representing the output. The model
descrrb~ngthe approach by means of M I S 0 IS dep~ctedIn F~gure6.39. The geometry components
cant, level, alignment, and gauge constitute the Input whereas so far only car body accelerations
have been considered as output.
Within the scope of the ORE C 152 work
program a great number of rneasurements were carried out, during which the
track geometry and the vehicle response
were recorded on magnetic tape. During
evaluation of these measurements the
coherence turned out to be much too low
in various cases. In most cases this could
be ascribed to problems in the signal-tonoise ratio. For example, on some measured line sections the quality was so high
that car body acceleratlons were barely
measurable. If, in addition, the slgnals
were not fully amplified before being
'lttie else but noise
recorded Onto
rzmalns for analysis.
4
BMS
Cant
Level
Alignment
- h,h,h,h,
-+
calculated with
h,
Gauge ----+ h4
via convolut~on
Another important factor IS the frequency range within whlch the measured signals fall. If this range IS
different for input and output, the correlation between the two cannot be expected to be good either.
Such problems occur, for example, if low frequency car body accelerations which have a wavelength
of 30 - 40 m in the higher speed ranges are compared with track geometry measured with a conventlonal track recording system capable only of measuring wavelengths up to 20 - 25 m.
Conversely, however, problems will also arise if an attempt IS made to relate veh~clereactions of high
frequency, such as axle box acceleratlons and dynamic Q and Y forces, to the track geometry measured in the waveband between 0.5 and 25 m. In this case the geometry will have to be high-pass filtered to remove the long waves w ~ t hrelatively hlgh energy
Some examples
Level
Gxx[mm2ml
looo~
~,,[rnm2m-'1
04
750 -.
1.5.-
500-
.o-.
0.5-
0 0 0 5 10 15 202.5
f [m-'1
0.0:
:
:
I
0 15 30 45 60V m
75I
Figure 6'40
the power 'pectrum of
figure 6 40 Geometry spectra recorded by BMS
the track geometry component "level" as a
function of the spat~alfrequency f [m"]
and the wavelength h [m]. The response spectra at 80 and 120 kmlh are shown in Figure 6.41. These
spectra were calculated using 20 records of 500 m length and a frequency smoothing factor NA = 4,
so that the b ~ a sand random errors remain withln the llmits mentioned In (6.191).
145
As an example Frgure 6.42 shows the transfer functrons H2 between level and vertlcal
car body response; the other transfer functions are negligibly small.
G,,[rn2s
- V = 80 krnlh
05
10
P
1
- V = 120 kmih
00
15 20 25
f Im 'I
(HI [ r n ~ - ~ r n m - ~ ]
/HI [rn~-~rnrn-']
06
the (
f value only meets thrs requirement in the frequency bands where the
measured signals contain enough energy.
00
00
This IS rather obvious and t also explains.
15 30 n5 60 75
0 0 05 10 15 20 25
f lm 'I
h[m] perhaps In a different way, why long measurrng sections should be chosen, preferably
Flgure 6 42 Transfer functions between level and vemcal car body
maXlmUm possible varlatlon In the
acceleration est~rnatedfor the NS recording car
geometry spectra
r
r'
PFi,
hrlw
hl
03
h [ s - mrn-11
~
un~trrnpulse
response
- 02t
F"BI
lroi
m
k
'
hid
I,
To quantlfy the deviation between the two slgnals. the RDS value (relative difference between standaid deviabons) 1s determ~nedfor each 200 m sub-sect~on.The RSD value IS defined as:
RDS
= Grneasored - Gca/culated
(6.206)
Orneasured
.I4 C
F
b
Fb
~ -'1
y2
10
LJ
(7
.6
mi
' 1
- V = 80 kmlh
F~gure6.44 M ~ l l t ~ pcoherence
le
for the est~matesIn
Flgure 6 42
00
00
05 10 . I 5 .20 25
f [m-'1
wml
I
@R
wi
7
id
y2 s 1
-calculated
-measured
RSD=0.03
hi
Figure 6 45 Cornpanson between measured and calculated response based on the estimated transfer funct~onIn Flgure 6 42
n
u9
F"1
d
I
Results of o t h e r measurements
G2,[mm2m '1 level
Io 4 1
'2
As part of the C 152 study mentioned above,
varlous other measurements were analysed
8 -.
using MISO. Some characterrstic results will
V = 160 kmlh
now be hrghlighted.
The data contained in Figure 6.46 and
Figure 6.47 refer to SNCF measurements of
vertical car body accelerations of a CORAIL
coach. The relatlonshlp between these
03
measurements and the track geometry
recordings made by the Mauzin car have o o
0 8 16 24 32 40
been established. Figure 6.48 shows the
coherence to be very poor with a maximum
Vml
Mml
value of 0.6
Flgure 6 46 Example of bad coherence for transfer estinlate regardThe factors mentioned earlier concerning ing SNCF Cora// coach
compat~brlityin frequency range and proper
signal amplification are, rn all probabrlity, responsible for thrs. The calculated and measured
responses according to Frgure 6.49 show, In a drfierent way, that rn such a case the results are useless for practical appllcatron.
,,
The last example concerns measurements on two-axle wagons of KS design taken by the Hungarian
State Railways (MAV). Despite the rather non-linear sprlng characteristic of this type of rolling stock,
the coherence turns out to be fairly h~gh.Figure 6.50 shows the coherence vertrcally wlth a peak
value of 0.95 The response calculated according to Figure 6.49 consequently conforms very well to
the measured vehrcle response. Considered laterally, the coherence shown In F~gure6 50 turns ocit
to be somewhat lower wlth a peak value of about 0.8. As can be seen from Figure 6.51, the agreerrient between the measured and calculated response figures is nevertheless quite reasonable
147
Modern ,?ailway T r a ~ k
i
I
I?-06
calculated
measured
RSD = 0 76
F"
1
i-
C
F~gure6 47 Comparison between measured and calculated response based on the data ln Figure 6 46
rP"
L
A
10
yZyX
N'\ A
0 95
08 -
06
Mil
04
'02 -
irsir
T---t
01
02
03
04
05
f
[m 'I
00
0
16
24
*
32
30
A [ml
BF
-calculated
-measured
RSD = 0 12
;s""
b
20 m
Figure 6 49 Comparison betweel? measured and calculated response based on the data in F~gure6 48
In 1986 a short BMS measuring car campaign was carr~edout In Sweden to provide SJ with geometry
data for vehicle model input. On thls occasion SJ also recorded Q and Y forces on a locomotrve with
the aid of measuring wheelsets. With these data and the geometry recorded by BMS some M I S 0
analyses were carried out. These results are summarized in Figure 6.52. In the vertical drrection the
multlple coherence is sufficiently high for wavelengths shorter than 8 meter. The transfer functron
increases progressively wlth frequency. This reflects the strong ~nfluenceof the unsprung mass whlch
contributes to the transfer function In proport~onto the square of the frequency. In the lateral drrect~on
the coherence 1s somewhat lower. The shape of this estrmate has a peak at about 16 m wavelength.
remains more or less constant between 13 and 14.5 m and then increases progressively for shorter
waves. Although the theoretical transfer functrons presented in Figure 6.28 and Frgure 6.30 refer to
much lower unsprung masses, the shapes resemble the est~maiedtransfer functions qurte well
P
krPi
libll
F"
irrl
148
I"
r
6 DYNAMIC TRACK DESIGN
i l
o 5(Y,+Y,)
-4
20
16 --
15
12 --
10
8 --
5
0
4 -0
[kNImrn] V=130kmlh
alignment
.if2, x
r-
08
06
Id,
04
02
llh[rn-'1
0
0
0.05
G,[kN2m]
01
015
02
025
300
400
250
300
200
200
150
100
100
I/h[m
----I--+
0 25
--
800 -- - s
400 -0 0
50
p.
$2
ii
s
:.
!i
I
:
\:
~
'.
.;
'
V
lh
/lm
[ ]l
b
005
01
015
02
v=130krn/h
--
#\-
8% :.&L.2-.iI
I
-
025
Go[kN2rn] v=130km/h
1600 -1200 --
11
~-,
&
%!
%
*.--
I-
-%@=%-3
1/X[m-11
0
0
005
01
015
0I 2
025
When measuring Q and Y forces with the aid of measuring wheelsets, use is made of strain gauges
from which the respective forces are deduced. The required relationships between strains and forces
are determined experimentally on a roller test rig. Here, She variation in strain versus distance
covered is calculated for one force component which IS then kept constant. This is in fact a static calibrat~onwhich restricts Q and Y force measurements to quasi-static phenomena [228]. Such a system
glves incorrect values for real dynamic phenomena at frequencies between 2 and 150 Hz. As a matter of fact. strain gauges do furnish a signal in t h ~ sfrequency band, but the transfer functions between
strains and forces are unknown These transfer functions could be estimated using M I S 0 during calbration on the roller test rig.
Static calibration requlres that the number of strain measuring points are equal to the number of
forces to be measured. slnce the experimental test arrangement only enables the relation between
force and strain to be determined; the relationship sought in the reverse direction then follows from
this by matrix inversion The dynamic relationships in the frequency doman offer a similar picture,
though all the magnitudes are now frequency-dependent.
A TI?
f
C
p
ivlr
?@
P"
iulz,
P"n
I"
_I
6 DYNAMIC TRACK DESIGN
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
STRAINS
STRAIN
F,
Measuring pr~nc~ple
~nthe
frequency dornaln
F,(f)=Hli(f)X,(fl
Cal~brat~on
of wheel-set
vla MIS0
MISO ---* HJf) -+hl,,(z)
I T
4
F~gure6.53 shows the arrangement of the strain gauges and the forces acting on the measuring
wheelset. The conventional quasi-static approach remalns invanably valid and must be considered
separately from the dynamlc calibration.
hi
@#
In order to estimate the transfer functions between the strain gauges and each force component, the
forces exerted by the test rig on the wheels must be vaned randomly in the frequency range of applicat~on.If sampling is carried out as a function of distance or revolution, these realisations should be
repeated at d~fferentrunning speeds. Using these measurement series, the d~fferenttransfer functions can be estimated for each speed by means of M I S 0 by consider~ngthe strains as Input and
each force as output, as indicated in Figure 6.53.
During actual measurements the Q and Y forces can be derived from the strains In real time by appyIng the est~matedtransfer functions. These should be continuously adapted to the actual runnlng
speed by interpolat~on.
i*ri
**1
hi
W
1
km
""1
bi*l
F9
The practical advantage of the model approach IS that additional estimates for different speeds can
easily be made, whereas in the case of M I S 0 a test run should be carr~edout for each speed. MIS0
has of course the big advantage that all important natural frequenc~esare automat~callytaken Into
bid
account.
a9
In practice, a hybrid solution may be feasible In which a M I S 0 est~mateis made for one or two
speeds. After adapting the model parameters in such a way that the M I S 0 estimates are approximated as well as poss~ble,the transfer values at other speeds can be obtalned by means of calculation
d
'"1
7
!
151
1-
I
F
r-
6.7
i
I-
02
0 16
o 06
o
[m-11
Ii-
V=120 krnlh
02
'I
o
0 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 0.08 0 1 0 1 2 0 1 4 0 1 6 0 1 8 0 2
600
500
400
300
200
100
[rn-'l
12 0 14 0 1 6 0 1 8 0 2
G,,, [m2/s4m]
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
V= 120 krnlh
rn
Figure 6 54 Transfer fitnct~onbetween level and-car body acceleration for NS record~ngcar estimated by means of MISO and calculated with models
11
hi
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
1
Calculat~onof veh~clereactions
In real t~mefor
- 3 vehicles. locomotive
passenger coach
fre~ghtcar
- 5 speeds 40-160 m/h
body
- Determ~natlon
of largest variance per
speed range. these dec~slve12
- Determ~nat~on
of exceedences
Figure 6 55 Vehicle reactions calculated by VRA
At the systems power-up, the transfer fcrnctlons of three representatwe ra~lwayvehlcles at flve different speeds are loaded into
the Array Processor. The frequency
doma~nresponses are calculated by multiply~ngthe transformed slgnals wrth the correspondrng transfer funct~ons
153
I
I
'0
05
Oo
1 1 5
05
1 1 5
25
25
'0
05
'0
1 1 5
05
1 1 5
25
25
% [mls2]
% [m/s2]
0 8.-
0 8--
0 6--
0 6--
0 4--
0 4--
02-
0 2--
' - , .
.",
O
o 8--
L
05
.:.2-2,. ":
>
I
I
1 1 5 2
[mmI
i
b
25 3
,C
Ocanl
..:..A
:y
.
>&>
_-,-,-"'-.
-
Gieve~
[mml
- 0i
cy [rn1s2]
o 6-0 4--
..I:
3G.:
<\-<.. .
Gal,,"
I
I
I
I
I
05 1 1 5 2 25
..I______
--
o 2-- ....:;?=
..
[mml
W
r
1-
r1-
C
r"
I
Pl.
C
P""I
ivyi
Iia
n1
P
irrP,
Obviously, large variations In vehicle react~onsare found for the same geometry values. It will be evident that the dynamic responses of railway veh~clesare by far a better cr~terronfor the actual maintenance statcis of a railway track than the pure track geometry From thls point of vlew it is expected that
VRA w ~ lcontribute
l
to significantly better control of the track maintenance process
_i
I
11
1-
6.8
accelerations
r~
LJ
The Wz Ride Index Introduced by Sperling is the classical way of evaluating vehicle ride quality and
passenger comfort [I
001. Using modern analys~ngtools, the Wz factors are evaluated by multiplying
the power spectral density function of the acceleration G,(f) w ~ t hthe squared modulus of the weightIng function H(f) and integrating this result over the frequency range of interest to obtain the variance
in that band according to.
o2
(6.207)
Gal fllH(f;12df
1
1
Wz
2 1/667
= [G ]
(6.208)
In this expression o has the units cm/s2. For passenger comfort In the vertical direction.
7Y
H(f)
Hcv = 0.588[
1.911 f 2 + (0.25 f 2 l 2
( 1 - 0.277 f 2 ) + (1.563 f - 0.0368 f3)'
(6.209)
F7
lui
In lateral direction:
rn
H(f)
H,
(6 210)
1.25 Hw
lprj
I
rnI
For veh~cleride quallty, the weighting in vertical and lateral direct~onsis the same and reads:
d
H t f ) = HRV= HRL= 1 14
0.252 f2)'
+ (1.547 f-
I"'~
(6.211)
The transfer functions are represented as a funct~onof frequency In F~gure6.59 and Flgure 6.60. The
evaluation scales for the Wz factors were constructed based on vibration tests on people and were
supplemented by other test results
The assessment can be summarlzed as follows.
Wz passenger comfort
Just noticeable
Clearly noticeable
More pronounced but not
Unpleasant
3
Strong, irregular, but still tolerable
3.25 Very irregular
3 5 Extremely irregular, unpleasant,
Annoying; prolonged exposure
Intolerable
4
Extremely unpleasant, prolonged
Exposure harmful
1
2
3
4
45
5
1
2
2.5
'Y1
Very good
Good
Satisfactory
Acceptable for running
Not acceptable for running
Dangerous
155
-.
I
1-
W, comfort hor~zontal
vertrcal = 0.8hor~zontal
TO get a better understanding of how the ISOwe~ghtedcar body acceierations should be interpreted, the
Sperlrng
werghtrng functions were
also stored temporar~ly
- 90 kmlh
120 krnlh
- 140 kmlh
- 160
kmlh
02
- - I _
0'1
O!
0'3 0'4
0:2
0'8
1l h [I Im]
i,
r
I
I-
F""
I
hL
P'
- 90kmih
Lt
120kmlh
- 140kmlh
-
160kmlh
- 200kmlh
01
0 2 03
04
05
06
07
/l~[;/~]
hh
P
1
ivli
( Owz
0.6-
o 4-0 2--
-ff &-:."
I:::
8.
--
-q-$:8i",g::.,
.
s
0-
s*
..
:=.
-1 : :
02
OISO
s-
0.4
06
Fig~i~re
6 61 Relationship betbveeil bVz aiid /SO obtained from VRA sim~~lahons
156
r,
lpi
C
5
hu
P
1*J
C
I
6.9
6.9.1
Introduction
In the preceding chapters we discussed how to model and analyse dynamic track problems. Many
methods were related to single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems, somet~mesmore complicated
systems were discussed. These methods are valuable in that, wlth the limited support of some computer power, they are easy to handle in a design process. The disadvantage is that the structure and
loadings are sometimes oversimplified and much expenence IS requlred to Interpret, if still possible,
the results in a meaningful way.
d
I
3
~
p*1
6.9.2
Simple
Linear theory
Complex models
Compiex theories
Unknown material parameters
Flgure 6 62 Overwew of available software and railway track models for
stabc and dynamic calculations
T h e RAIL-model
bid
To assess the vertlcal dynamic behavlour of railway track due to moving ra~lway veh~cles,an integrated model called
RAIL was developed at Delft University
of Technology. The model was built up of
two structures, namely the moving train
and the railway track.
The coaches were schematised by rigid
bod~es,pivoted at the bogies by springs
and dampers. Bogies and wheelsets
were also modelled as rigid masses connected w ~ t hsprlngs and dampers The
vehlcle model and the track model are
schematically depicted in Figure 6 63
Only vertlcal forces and displacements
etc are considered
ondary suspension
Pr~rnarysuspenslon
Rall and track ~rregularltiesare one of the most important sources of dynamic loads generated by a
movlng tram. In the RAlL model the loads were introduced by means of Hertzlan sprlngs travelling
along a slne-shaped or irregularly shaped rail and track surface as expla~nedin Flgure 6 64
I
I6 DYNAMIC TRACK DESIGN
The equatrons of motron were formulated on the bass of the discussed structural models and were
evaluated according to a drrect ntegratron procedure. based upon the concept of tme-space elements. Dur~nga trme step At the tram moves over a distance Ax, wh~chIS dependent on the train
veloclty v, and 'crosses' the tlme-space elements as rndlcated in Frgure 6.65.
'
I-
i
Time space elements
r
,Ic-
IL
L
Figure 6 64 Modelling of wheel/ra/l loads
6.9.3
Ax
Flgure 6 65 Calculabon prinople of moving t r a m
A c o m p a r i s o n of s e v e r a l different t r a c k t y p e s
Fs"
In order to study the effect of several different track types maximum elastlc rail deflectron, wheel rail
contact force, and vertlcal body accelerat~onswere investigated. In the underlying example it IS
shown how the properties of both vehlcle and track are integrated rnto one complete model that takes
the full interaction between the two structures into account.
1,
F"r
The investrgated structures consist of a Thalys tram (specral type TGV) whrch travels at drfferent
speeds on erther a classrc ballast track or an embedded rail structure (ERS) The ERS track 1s supported elther by a rigid slab or a flexlble slab whlch 1s rtself discretely supported by a rrgld pile foundation The loads between track and vehrcle are ~ntroducedby a sine-shaped surface deformation of the
rail Drfferent wavelengths are rnvestrgated for therr mpact on the results. Three subjects are rnvestlgated. the elastrc displacement of the rall head under the wheels, the contact forces between wheel
and rall, and, finally, the vertrcal acceleratrons of the body, referrrng to the passenger coach or the
locomot~ve.
The entire model is built up of two structures, namely, the moving trarn and the railway track. Each
structure 1s modelled separately. During the dynamrc analysis, that IS the numerical rntegration procedure, the lnteractron of the two structures will be taken rnto account
Figure 6 66 D~rnens~ons
of a (shoii) Thalys train as applied in the model
The trarn modelled here (short Thalys, see Figure 6.66) consists of five vehicles. It is typical for Thalys that bogies between two coaches are shared. The total length between the first wheel and the last
wheel 1s 99.7 rfl. Rigid bod~es,supported at the bogies by springs and dampers, schematise the
coaches. Springs, dampers, and rlgld bodres also model bogles and wheels. Only vertrcal forces and
drsplacements are considered.
- Mass (per item) coach 27140 kg, locomotive 54280 kg, bogre 2791 kg. wheel 1013 5 kg;
P";
- Prrmary suspension sprlng (per wheel): K=1150 kNIm,
.--
C=2.5 kNs1m;
hd
i
- Wheel rad~us0 42 m;
- To the coach next to the locomot~vean addit~onallumped mass of 13570 kg This equals all stat~c
wheel loads to 85 kN.
For our analyses we investigated the following track structures (Figure 6.67).
Ra~l
Rail pad
Sleeper
(
Foundation
Class~ctrack structure
Foundation
slab
d
Embedded rail on r ~ g ~
ERS on piles
"9I
uY
68 ERS with
as foundation
The follow~ngdata have been used for the classic ballast track:
- Ra~l:UIC-60;
- R a ~pads
l
(per ra~l):K=100
I '
I
i7
hi
l o 3 kNim, G 1 2 . 3 kNslm
r-
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
I
I-
m4;
r
- Concrete propertres: E=3.1
lo7 k
~ l m v=0.30,
~ .
p=2500 kg/m3;
I_
r
I
L-
i"l
O0
F"Iw
2 -0 05
PLu
$
g
the
vertical
body
T~rne[s]
hlodem Railway T - a c ~
-*
--
-"
When comparing different track structures, ERS on a contin~iouslysupported slab or a slab with small
plle distance (3 00 m) performs much better than the class~cballast track or an ERS track on a slab
wlth large pile dlstance Continuously supported ERS shows a factor 2 between static and maximum
dynamlc contact forces, w h ~ l ethe classic ballast track and an ERS on a widely spaced pile foundation
(6.00 m) show a factor 3. For the elastic displacements of the rail head under the wheels, the size of
the varlatlons is even more distinct: here the classic ballast track shows the poorest performance as
well.
The performed analyses confirm,
of course, many observations
Max~rnurndlsplacernents of rallhead under wheel
v=90 mis, L=3 rn, A = l 5 rnm
that are made by intuitron or by
simple hand calculations. The
G
S
~
l
0
9
2
7
.
6
5
22 I wheel
----------~.!._l?._kf?p!a_~~?_e_"ts
------------------analyses make it possible to
compare the performance of a
I
2 001
ERS r~gld
classic ballast track with respect
O0
to the ERS track, and the effect of
pile spacing on an ERS track 4 00
support. Certainly with respect to 5 00:
,
the contact forces and the rail
oo!
head displacements, the ERS
mrnl
track performs better than the
Maxlrnurn contact forces
classic ballast track.
v=90 rnis, ~ = rn,
3 A=I 5 rnrn
,ooi
rn
hl
2
mB
w
m
1,615
1413
1211
10 9
8 7
6 5
4 3
2 1 wheel
-looI
ERS r~gld
-200
-300.
kN
F~gure6.71 Max,murn d~splacernentsand contact forces
q
id
It is obvious that not all of the possible applicat~onsof the Integrated model of track and vehicle have
been explored completely. It is also obvious that the Integrated model offers many new possibilities
for an Integrated investigation of track and vehicle properties. For example, further applications of the
RAIL program can be found in Chapter 13 and Chapter 14.
rr3
IGI
4 ,
I
$-
I_
PI
Ll
rGI
Initial d~sturbedpenod
Time-invariant period
Figure 6 73 Verfical body (upper lumped mass) accelerations at different speeds on L = 3 0 m and L = 6 0 m and A = 3 0 mm rail s~itface
geometry
6.9.4
E = 100x1O6 N/m2
For the theoretical solution, flnite element routines are available since a certain time, enabling to model and
calculate the behaviour of trains at a
transitron.
The change In stiffness causes
rncreased dynamlc forces, the extent of
which is determined by speed, stiffness
ratio, damping and the length of the transition. In 1254) a study is described Into
the effects of changes in vertical st~ffness
on the dynamic resDonse
I
'I
Mi
I
m
h
F!
F
/Ylri
fl
id
id
b
l
$
h
h
Figure 6 75 Stiffness tiansition of finite length
F"i
C
m
_i
1
I
I
i.1
'7
, IJ
I
::
id
il'pr%
I
' 131
iwJis
vdM1
Ld
I
"1
d
I
F"t
IrJ
m
I
ail
r"*;
Mi
W
1*J
m
h
c, = 59 rnis
d a.f. = 2 51
CJC~
soft rned~urn= 0.90
5-0
4.0
3.0
20
1 .o
00
00
50
10.0
15.0
20 0
25.0
'
<W
f-
lsoj
m
m
2
I C?
Length of ~mperfect~on
L [m]
r'
6.A0
In railway transport, the continuous demand for capacity increase as well as for more extensive
mobility networks automatcally requires critical assessment of the effectiveness of currently operatlng and newly built railway lines. IR order to meet the high standards regarding effectlveness in many
countries train cruising speeds of 200 kmih and more have been employed. As a result of such high
train velocltres, the track response In these high-speed lines has a typically dynamic character.
In order to reliably predict track safety and track deterloration, ~tis necessary to develop and utilise
appropriate track models that cover the relevant vibration effects and wave propagatlon phenomena.
In this sect~on.the influence of the train velocity on the dynamc response of a railway track IS considered Accordingly, some models are discussed that consider the elasto-dynamic wave propagatlon
under a moving load These models provide further insight into the dynamc behaviour of a railway
track, revealing typical effects that can only be captured by means of advanced analyses
6.10.1
md
Winkler sprlngs
Halfspace
Fa
h
b
W
1
I
1
-Y
In the current section ~tIS illustrated what klnd of results can be obtalned from a moving load model
and how these results relate to railway practice. First, the model presented In [255]will be discussed
which considers a Tlmoshenko beam supported by a two-dlrnensional halfspace and subjected to a
moving load with a constant force magnrtude Here, the Timoshenko beam simulates the elastic
bendlng and shearlng behavlour of the superstructure, whlle the halfspace simulates the elastlc
response of the subgrade. It is reasonable to assume that the structure behaves elastically, since the
response of a ra~lwaytrack during the passage of an individual tram axle is almost completely reversible (see for instance [247]).
3
In order to analyse the wave propagatron In the beam-halfspace system, In [254]the corresponding
boundary value problem has been elaborated on. Thls elaboration was based on combining the
equations of motion of the system with the boundary conditions. By searching for harmonic solutions,
the character~stlcwaves in the system have been computed where two body waves (compression
wave, shear wave) can be distlngulshed and a wave that propagates along the surface of the track
system (surface wave).
The surface wave commonly conveys the !argest part of the energy generated by the train. When the
velocity of the surface wave IS of a similar magnitude as the velocity of the train, the generated energy
remalns close to the train. This leads to accumulat~onof energy under the train as trme progresses.
This phenomenon can be identifled as resonance. Because this resonance may result In large track
amplifications, the train's velocity is often designated as 'critical' when resonance occurs.
1
Ir*j
sll
,
h
I
lloi
Although several crltlcal velocities may be identifled for a speclfic track configuration (see for
the lowest critlcal veloclty is the most important since this 1s the first one to be
Instance, [SO],[254]),
met by an accelerating train vehicle. As confirmed by 'in-sltu' measurements, rail deflectrons can
Increase to more than three times the static deflection when a train reaches the lowest crrtical velocity
([I
261,[I 641).It is easily understood that for reasons of safety and lim~tationof trainitrack deterioration
such track amplificat~onscan not be tolerated
The maln features of a tram that reaches the critlcal regime will be illustrated by assuming the halfspace in Flgure 6.79to be softer than the Timoshenko beam. Accordingly, the railway superstructure
IS considered to be supported by a relatively soft formation of clay or peat In the model [254],
the load
starts to move from zero veloclty and accelerates up to a velocity larger than the lowest critical veloc1 ty.
P"ri
I
w,
9
W
9
Y
I
RBA
The analysis of the response has been performed by means of a flnite element model with dimenslons b x h = 180 m x 37.5m, see Figure 6.80 The movlng character of the load is simulated by
means of a set of dlscrete pulses whlch act successively on the element nodes at the surface along
whlch the load is supposed to propagate. Furthermore, the half-tnfinlte character of the halfspace IS
simulated by means of VISCOUS damplng elements that are connected to the artlfic~almodel boundarles (energy-absorbing boundary). By providing the damp~ngelements wrth dynamic Impedances that
are slmllar to that of the adjacent continuous medlum, the energy of the waves which encounters the
artificlal model boundaries is (almost completely) absorbed. For more detarls on the finite element
model, see [254].
Hor~zontald~stance[rn]
Obv~ously,In the supercritrcal range the system response decreases under lncreaslng load veloc~ty.
Thls IS because the load propagates faster than the energy transmitted by the rad~atedsurface
waves Correspondingly, the energy can no longer accumulate under the load
I@!
b
When the load velocity is strongly super crrtical, the amplrtude of the response appears to be of the
same order of magnrtude as that of the static response. The character~stlcbehaviour sketched in
Figure 6.81 IS, actually, slmllar to that of an aeroplane passing the sound barrier. This results from the
fact that the phenomenon of an aeroplane catching up wlth a sound wave 1s completely analogue to
that of a traln catching up wrth surface waves.
--
In order to study the response at the critical stage In more detall, In Figure 6.82
the dynamic amplification has been plotted for a load veloclty (v,) in between
0 88 and 1.20 trmes the shear wave
-5
-4
-3
-8o -2
-I
-m;0
'C
-
z-
2
<
.-0 3
4
ax 5
0
Hor~zontaldistance [m]
P9
C
r"l
Csii
plodeni Railwav T i a c ~
-1
I
,d
For obvrous reasons, the generation of Mach waves may have a detrrmental effect on both the track
and the train It may, in addition, cause the train to derall. This can be motivated from the supercrltlcal
response at v, = 1 20cSwhrch shows that the response directly below the load positlon (1.p ) acts rn a
direction oppos~teto the loadlng direction. In other words, the train axle IS lrfted up by the surface
waves
TP~
Id
I&
I
The analysis above has ~llustratedthat in the case of a rarlway track built on a relatively soft subgrade, the critical regime is reached when the train velocity is near the shear wave velocity of the subgrade. The magnitude of the shear wave velocity is determined by material properties, as computed
from
IS
For a subgrade of soft clay or peat, the shear wave velocity commonly lies in between 150 and 250
kmlh 'In-situ' track deflection measurements in Great-Br~tain11261 and Sweden 11641) confirmed that
the track response may become critlcal in this velocity range. For a railway track resting on a subgrade of relatively soft clay, the measurements demonstrated that the track response IS amplrfled to
more than three times the statlc response when the traln reaches a veloclty of about 200 kmlh.
Track arnpl~ficatronsare decreased when the soft subgrade is replaced by a stiffer structure such as a
sand embankment of considerable thickness. Accordingly, the shear wave velocity of the supporting
subgrade can be increased to a value that lles outside the veloclty domain of the hrgh-speed train
vehlcle An alternative solutron IS to disconnect the rarlway superstructure from the soft subgrade by
means of a prle foundation The soft subgrade then will not affect the track response anymore, since
the plles convey the generated waves rnto the strff so11layer that supports the piles Another optron IS
to leave the soft subgrade as ~tIS and limit the traln veloclty to a level at whlch the track amplificatrons
are acceptable However, this optlon IS certarnly not preferred as it may considerably Increase the
transportation tlme on the specific rallway line
rn
Li
As already polnted out In Flgure 6.79, moving load models may be dlvrded Into two categories: beamsprlng models and beam-halfspace models Because the analysls of a beam-halfspace model IS considerably more complicated than the analysis of a beam-spring model, there may be a strong preference to use beam-spring models when examlnrng wave propagatron phenomena In a railway track
Nonetheless, it should be realised that a discrete spring support IS not able to transmrt waves. As a
consequence, incorporation of the commonly accepted spring properties for rnodell~ngthe track subgrade results In an Inadequate description of the track dynamics. In fact, the dynamlc amplrfication
predicted by a beam-sprlng model then becomes significant only for veloclt~esfar beyond the range of
operational train speeds. This may lead to the mrsconcept~onthat the dynamic track ampllflcation
caused by the traln is generally neglig~ble
6.1 0.2
d
@!
I
I
Plodern Ra~ibvayTrack
i
i
This is because a stiff substratum reflects body waves of all wavelengths back into the superstructure, see Figure 6 83 Consequently, a ballast layer on a concrete bridge or tunnel acts as a
waveguide, conveying waves of both long and short wavelengths
The shorter waves in the ballast layer can have a wavelength of the order of magnitude of the ballast
particle size which may perturb the ~ndivrdualpartrcles. In order to model relat~vemotions by the ballast particles, rt is necessary to incorporate the particle size into a mechanical track model. This can
be done either by employing continuum models that are derived from the micro-mechanical particle
behavrour (12561, [257]),or by using discrete particle models ([258], [259]) In these models the particles are assumed to have an ideal spherical shape The interaction wrth nerghbourlng particles is prescr~bedat particle contact points by means of a contact law. Moving load analyses carried out wrth
these models have demonstrated that a ballast material consisting of large particles increases the
intensity of the wave radiation, especially when the damplng capacity of the ballast is low. Hence, to
suppress such effects, the damping capacity of a ballast mater~alshould be sufficiently high
r
1-
F"'
F"
I
iu,
F'
The damping capacity of ballast generally depends on two effects the inter-particle friction and the
distribution of particle sizes As far as the first effect is concerned, when the frictron between the particles is hlgh (i e a coarse-grained ballast) a relatively large amount of energy is dissipated at the particle contacts, thus causing the ballast to have a high damprng capacity. The second effect stems
from the fact that a wrde particle size distribution excludes a domrnant appearance by large particles
that may act as a resonator. Accordingly, a ballast material with a random distr~butionof various particle sizes has a better damping capac~tythan a ballast material which consists of Identical particles of
a relatively large size
In general, dynamic amplifications are not only caused by the trarn velocity, but also by impact loads
such as those generated by the sleeper distance effect or by other track ~rregularities.In the case of a
ballast layer supported by a stiff substratum, the energy transmitted by the track vibrations remains
for a large part rnside the ballast layer as a the result of (multip!e) wave reflections at the stiff substratum, see Figure 6 83
Consequently, reflected waves may interfere with other (reflected or non-reflected) waves Thrs
causes the amplit~ideof the response either to increase or to decrease depending on the motion
characterrstrcs of the interfering waves. When superimposrng the dynamic amplification by load
impacts on that by the train speed, it may appear that the track response becomes 'critical' at a considerably lower velocity than the critical velocity which relates to the effect of traln speed only ([98],
12571, 12591)
The extent to which this occurs depends on the characteristics of the impact loading (e g. frequencies
and duratlon of the impact loading) as well as on the geometry and materral properties of the track
structure (e g. thickness and stiffness of the ballast layer). An adequate way of reducing the dynamic
amplification by load impacts IS to apply ballast mats between the ballast layer and the stiff substratum. In fact, the damping characteristics of the ballast mats w ~ lreduce
l
the wave reflection depicted In
Figure 6 83.
5.1 0.3
Stiffness transitions
h!
f
P
I
1YI
bill
?
ho
Stiffness transitions emerge when a relatively soft substratum of clay or peat changes into a relatively
stiff substratum of sand or concrete (or vice versa). Such transitions appear nearby concrete railway
bridges or railway tunnels, but also when the characteristics of the natural soil format~on(1.e the substructure) change abruptly. Stiffness transitions form the basis for the emergence of differential settlements, which, once initiated, may grow considerably as time progresses.
ires/
The growth rate of differential settlements IS governed by the dynamic propert~esof the train, I e. the
mass and velocity of the train in cornbinatron with ~ t sspring and damping characteristics. The mechanism of growing differential settlements can be explained as follows. A stiffness difference increases
the dynamic loading on the track As a consequence of the increased dynamic loading, differential
settlements may emerge. Differentral settlements activate additional train vrbratlons which cause the
dynamic loading to become larger the next tlme the trarn passes the stiffness transitron Accordingly,
ipl
ICQ
F"C
F"
P'
I
E = 100 MPa
E = 25
MPa
E = 25 MPa
F ~ g ~ i 6r e84 Stiffness ti-ansit~onL in an elastic halfspace
comprising a relat~velysoft med~um(E = 25 MPa) and a i-eiatively sbff m e d ~ u m(E = 100 MPa)
Energy-absorb~ngboundary
180 m
>I
the differentral settlements grow further and the above mechan~smrepeats rtself.
S ~ n c edifferentral settlements may cause excessive track deterioration, they should be controlled as
much as possible. Therefore, it is of practical importance to understand how the dynam~cresponse of
a stiffness transrtron, whlch forms the bass for the emergence of settlement d~fferences,is influenced
by a passing train axle. T h ~ sis demonstrated by means of a finite element model, see Figure 6.84,
that has been discussed previously in [253].
The model consists of an elast~chalfspace comprising a relatrvely soft mater~alof E=25 MPa (e.g.
clay) and a relat~velystiff material of E=100 MPa (e.g. sand), in which E represents the Young's modulus of the materials.
The stiffness transition L between the soft and the stiff material occurs In a stepwise manner, wrth a
step-size equal to the transltron length divided by 0.75 m (= element size). The modelling of the movIng load and the absorption of the wave energy at the artificial model boundaries occurs In the same
manner as explained for the model In Figure 6.80.
For an rdeal homogeneous halfspace, the critical veloclty is equal to the Rayleigh wave veloc~tycr
whrch has a magnitude close to that of the shear wave veloc~ty[I]).
The Influence of the load veloc~tyv, on the dynamic stress ampl~ficationat the transition L has been
exam~nedby considering a relat~velylow load velocity and a relatively high load veloclty. Here, the
low load velocity vx=30.0 rnls is about half the crrtical velocity of the soft med~um,while vxlcr~'Oft
rned'urn = 0.46 The high load veloc~tyv,=59 0 mls IS very near the critrcal veloc~tyof the soft medium,
Vx/Cr,soft medlum = 0.90
The effect of the transit~onlength L on the dynamic stress amplification has been depicted in
Figure 6.85. Clearly, for both load velocities the dynamic ampllfication factor (d a.f.) at the stiffness
transition decreases with an increasing transition length. As for the previous analysis, the dynamic
amplification factor nas been computed by dividing the dynamic stress oZzat 5.68 m below the surface by its static counterpart.
9 . the
0 dynamic ampllfication appears to be sign~ficantlylarger
For the high load veloclty ~ ~ ~ 5 mls,
than for the low load velocity v,=30.0 mls The depicted horizontal lines d.a.f. = 1.21 and d.a.f. = 2.51
represent the dynamic amplification for v,=30.0 mis and vx=59 0 mls in case the halfspace would be
homogeneous, with E=25 MPa. Hence, these lines act as asymptotes to which the dynamic amplification factor approaches when the transition length increases. Obviously, for the low load velocity
vx=30 0 rnls the asymptote is reached much faster than for the high load velocity vx=59 0 mls.
From the current analysis two important conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, in order to adequately
reduce the dynamic amplification at a stiffness transition, the length of the transition should be sufficiently large At a certain stage, a further increase of the transition length will no further reduce the
dynamic amplification Secondly, railway lines constructed for fast(er) trains require a large(1-) transition length to reduce the dynamic track amplification. Apart from these two effects there IS another
effect that influences the dynamic amplification: the magnitude of the stiffness difference. Trlv~ally,an
increasing stiffness difference increases the dynamic amplification at the stiffness transition so that a
large stiffness difference should be bridged by large transition length L The quantitative effect of the
magnitude of the stiffness difference on the dynamic ampllfication is exemplified in [253] by means of
finite element analyses and energy considerations.
6.10.4
Brief d i s c u s s i o n
9
I
7.1
Introduction
in conventional non-welded tracks the rails are connected by means of joints to allow for length
changes caused by temperature fluctuations. Using joints prevents the development of axial forces
and the consequent risk of track buckling at high temperatures. However, the penalty for this IS the
care for maintenance-intensive joints which generate high dynamic loads during train passage. These
loads are responsible for many problems like rapid deterioration of vertical track geometry, plastic
deformation of the rail head, dangerous rail cracks as well as damage to sleepers and fastenings.
These problems increase progressively as speed increases As a rule, joints have a very considerable negative effect on the service life of all
P"9
d
I
I1
I 1 I
n
-rg---+-;jyy TJ
p-:J+-G
-p<.+;F-F"5-Aw-%
:
r
I
+
rnfl:-LLG~~
-I r F2
i ~+j dAL~-;X~*A
~
?
+
;-7
-py
-pU-j-y
L~
LI
7 7 7
7--
it
nF$c
uy'i(3
7~+dL.:-7++'
bpzFd
q
\
On bridges and viaducts the deformation regime deviates from the plaln track situation. The rails follow the construction which can undergo large displacements with respect to the adjacent track Without adequate measures this would result in high rail stresses To avoid these stresses expansion
joints are applled.
This chapter is devoted to track stabrlity and track longitudinal problems which, in the case of compression forces, are strongly interrelated For both fields analytical and flnite element modelling
approaches are presented with examples The last sectlon discusses recently developed advanced
models which describe safety considerations about track buckling or deal with more general or complicated track systems
171
P-
L-
I-
i
7.1.1
I-
C'
(7.1)
pv
<**
where 8
IS
r
,I
--+ x
14L
P
I
SJ
A\
&k
l
;
A
,jx '
ab.-s I
F"
171
bL
In view of the treatment of the rail buckling probFigure 7 3 Buckling of straight beam with elastic lateral
lem, a continuous sinusoidal shape will be res,stance
assumed. Only one wavelength need to be considered in Figure 7.3. The energy method will be used
to solve the problem because it not only gives the equ~libriumequation. but also the nature (stable or
unstable) of the equilibrium. The total energy consists of three parts:
F""
'id,
b/
F"4
"2
(7.2)
F9
h
(7.3)
U
W,
U-du
dx
F
iu
z PV"~X
(7.4)
While the first two energes are obvious. the last one may need some explanation Referring to
Figure 7 4 the elementary energy can be written as:
d W,
Pdu
Pi dx - J-z)
Pdx! 1 - J-2)
(75)
P
(7.6)
%P~/'~dx
IS
Ulot = ' b e a m
then:
+
W~
(7.7)
1 Not to be confused w ~ t hthe same symbol L used for the characterrstlc length of the track
173
1
I
Modern Ra~lwayRack
1
I
,
i
Glv~ngas soiutlon
-7
LJ
V(XJ =
27Tx
vOsln- L
(7.8)
the total energy per wavelength becomes, after ~nserting(7.8) in (7.2), (7.3),(7.4), and using symmetry considerations.
I
I
7.A.2
ii
%
010
+w
.
--E
20
40
60
80
Lateral d~splacernentv [rnm]
F l g ~ r e 7 6Lateralresistancemeasurement
100
r
k
i-
= 10 kN/m;
El
fo
= 0.025 m.
P [khl]
2500---=~
= 8000 kNmZ;
= 12.51 m;
= 201 8 kN
1000,
500
4.5
0 0
1
t o i l 5
5
Stabl, D-
20
25
r-+
i [m]
lnsrabie
In the 1950's and 1960's ORE Committee D l 4 investigated the stability of tracks with CWR under the
influence of temperature loads on various geometrical imperfections [208]. [209] For this purpose
analytical models were developed as described in reference [ I 91. Although these mathematical models had been verified by many field tests. several limitations and assumptions still had to be accepted
in some areas One of these limitations was that the mathematical model was only allowed to be
appl~edto curve radii greater than 500 m It is a fact that in tight curves an increase in temperature is
followed by a lateral displacement over the total curve length This decreases the axial compression
force in the track In such a case the longitudinal ballast resistance forces play an important role,
especially in transition curves, and this aspect was lacking in the analytical models
The above-mentroned limitations do not apply to calculations based on the finite element method
(FEM) Using the model descr~bedin [115], the stability of a number of track structures under the influence of a temperature load was analysed. The non-linearities in this process require an incremental
approach in which temperature loads are increased step by step. Moreover. the model allows for any
design geometry for the track, including geometrical deviations. Boundary conditions are no longer a
limiting factor.
7.2.2
The ra~lwaytrack is considered to be an elastically supported beam with a constant bending stiffness
(El) and a torsional resistance of the fastenings at the sleepers. The ballast resistance is represented
by springs in the lateral and long~tudinaldirections. Displacement occurs in the two-dimensional, horizontal plane.
Each of the three spring types mentioned has a specific bi-linear characteristic according to
Figure 7 9 This means that in the first part of the diagram the resistance increases in proportion to
the displacement and in the second part the resistance is constant with displacement This is known
as the plastic phase
A -7-
!?
lrla
1
equation:
r"r(
k
d
[Sl[AvI
(7.27)
[AFI
where:
iul
PI
d
m
sui
4
socl
I *'i
I
[F~I
prj@
g+,t$,+-
a
%
"Y
, e
. - -.
El, L
, , ,
, ,
,m
9
4>k*4\4
cY$cx
.m
(7.28)
In which the dlsplacement vector [ve] contalns the three degrees of freedom u, v, and @ per jo~nt.
The dlsplacement field u of the truss element IS governed by the differential equation:
bd
i
d2L,
EAdx2
(7.29)
f@i
kii
LI1X) =
c,+c2= u:+-(u;-ule)
L
(7.30)
m,
I
I
I
P'
mi
The bending part In the displacement field, associated wlth v and @, IS based on what are known as
shape functions These are third degree polynomials in x whlch satisfy the differentla1 equat~on,
F"1
El-dJLI
dx
(7.31)
177
M o d e ~ nRa~lwavTrack
1 1
1
w ~ t hthe solut~on.
v(X) =
( 7 32)
-","
tl,
9
i-
U
-U;
The constants c, to c4 are dependent on the jolnt displacements. This makes it poss~bleto express v(x) in the degrees of
freedom accord~ngto:
i
I"
I
1
"(XI
",(x)vle
+ CL2(x)4); + u3(x)v;
a4(x)4);
(7 33)
+x
Fgure 7 11 D~splacementheld of truss element
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
PI
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I 1
l I
l
I 1
I 1
I 1
I
I 1
I 1
l
l
D~splacement
I_
fI 1
iF-
i
F
I
L
,p
li.
r"bd
kl
Temperature load
This load is due to a temperature rise which causes compressive forces in the track. One of the consequences can be lateral track instabil~ty(buckling). This load 1s active along the total track. AccordIng to Section 7.3.2, the following formula (7.54) for the normal rail force N due to a temperature
change AT wrth respect to the neutral or initial temperature 1s found.
N,,
Hence, the
(7.49)
-EARAT
compression
2EAaJATI
IMY
!&
(750)
In whrch:
C
P
kw
e
nb
7.2.3
Results
After a thorough and comprehensive verificat~onof the mathematical model and computer program.
efforts were made to reproduce the results presented in [ I 9 1 In order to do thls, the necessary Input
data were derived from the measurement data orrg~nally used The results are presented rn
Figure 7.15 and show a high level of s~milarrty.The same figure also indicates the existence of a cr~trcal wavelength which refers to a minrmum buckling force in the relation buckling forceibuckl~nglength
(= half wavelength L). It also refers to a lower critical compresson force (buckling force) when the
ampl~tudey of the misalignment is larger.
C
F%
iur
F"
irtYli
I'
Btjl
-!2
a/
'
d ,
FEM
/'
7500 -
5000
2500
I
I
I
4
I
6
Subsequently, these calculatrons were repeated by increasing the amplitude of the inrt~algeometrical
de\/lation in proport~onto the standard deviation of alignment per 200 m section. Buckling forces and
differentral temperatures for standard deviations of 0.5,
1 , 2, and 4 mm are presented in Frgure 7.16.
The analysls results show that only in extremely poor tracks d~fferent~al
temperatures are attained
wh~chw ~ llead
l
to instabrl~ty
The NS have carried out many lateral res~stancemeasurements with an adapted tamping machine
[73].To s~mulatethrs loadlng process wrth an FEM analysis, two point loads were applied to straight
track ~nthe lateral direction. Figure 7.17shows some results of lateral resrstance measurements car-
- '
ried out on NS UIC 54 track and on RET (Rotterdam Metro) NP 46 track. The FEM approximation and
relevant parameters are also Indicated The correspondence between the measured and calculated
value IS quite good.
ri-
r-
t"
4.
60
PI
50
40 -
0
0
1, "
Approxlmat~onvla FEM
lvieasured values
n-consolidated track
NP46
J
I
20-
035
i
10
mrad
mm
mrad
I
1
Displacemenl [mm]
I
05
10
15
20
25
30
9
1
0
D~splacernent[rnm]
To illustrate the influence of different spring characteristics, the load-displacement diagram is plotted
n Figure 7 18 for tracks with NP 46 and UIC 54 rail profiles The influence of the rail profile is relat~velylow. The consolidated and non-consolidated character~st~cs
are FEM approximations of the lateral resistance measurements mentloned earlier.
A
D~splacement[mm]
o5
100
200
300 AT
[TI
Figure 7 19 Lateral displaceinent versus dlfferenhal temperature fot diffetent cun/e radil
rr
W
F1
kt&
F"
LJ
L-
9
9
liJi
ti"q
,td
R [ml A
Consol~dated
600-
soo400-
300-
,,,
,
,
AT ["C]
Fig~ire7 20 Curve rad~usversiis temperature at which permanent track displacements start to occiir
7.2.4
ranq
In the case of continuous welded switches, the ax~alforces in the rails connected to the common
crossing should be relieved by the sleepers so that they have vanished at the start of the switch
blade. Depending on the sleeper st~ffness,these forces are partly transferred to both cont~nuousrails
and partly to the ballast bed Sleeper loads and corresponding displacements have been measured
wc(
I
by DB for a 1.12 switch These results, obtained from reference [146], are presented in Fgure 7.21
As a result of the reactlon forces exerted on the continuous ra~lsthe axial compresslon force In these
ralls IS reduced In the vicinlty of the common crossing. Near the front end of the sw~tchblades the
axial compresslon forces in the cont~nuousralls increase. According to Flgure 7.21 thls Increase may
amount to approximately 40%. DB have also carried out measurements at 1:I 2 crossovers. O w ~ n gto
the limited transition length, an increase in axial compresslon force of only 7'io was found.
lpri
pas
1
W
inn
'
r",
id
"A
Sleeper deflect~on I
kill
lrrrl
P
4
kd
1
Y
Figure 7 21 Forces in
CWR I 12 switch measiirecl by DB
PI
200 -
1-
24 m
18 m
:
:I.
15 m
I
183
-i
-- 1
I
In general, 1 IS a function of u, which In turn, IS a function of x. Uslng the formulas (7.51) and (7 52),
the following dlfferentlal equatlon can be der~ved.
LJ
d2u
dx2
(7.53)
EA
Once the displacement functlon u(x) IS found, the normal force follows from (7.52):
v'7
I
N
~nnm
rkgi
EA(*AT)
dx
(7.54)
In the case of continuous welded rail (CWR), the length of the rall is so great that a plane strain condltion exists In the central part of the rall preventing axlal displacement of the rall completely The
force caused by a temperature Increase is, according to (7.54):
"""1
d
rn
which means that a temperature lncrease results in a compressive normal force, as could be ex-
pected.
p%r
kd
Z""1
lvri
(7.55)
Nma, = - E A a A T
,
w
IS
(7.56)
z0s~gn(u)
A N,u
A
Normal force
, = EAaSt -700 kN
I
I
i*1
r0x2
u(x)= 2EA
(7.57)
,'
r
~ l l
I
I
mI
Id
3
:f9
5
m1
Y
0
I
N = rox- EAaAT
(7.58)
length'
(theoret~call\p,)
Long Res~stancer ,
10 - 20 kNIm
, ~ r e a t h l "length
~
f a - 70
h-Ffl----------h
Figure 7 23 D~strib~ition
of temperat~lreforce and displacement m
CWR (plastic shear resistance)
C,
, displacement u,,,
Ax~al
= %uSTll,- 20 mm
IS
no
Nmax
-
(7.59)
70
The expressions for the maximum normal force and maxlmum axial dlsplacement are also Indicated
In Figure 7.23
The results In thls case are very plausible and may In fact be deduced heurist~callyThls
tlon often found In text books.
IS
the solu-
As the plastlc resrstance characterlstlc IS inherently non-linear, residual stresses remain at the rail
ends ~fthe rall system IS subjected to more than one temperature cycle, e.g. consecutive warming up1
coollng down perlods. In thls case the rail end dlsplacement follows a hysteresis loop.
185
Modern Ra~lwayTram
I
Special
case 2.
Elastic
shear
resistance
(7.60)
ku
i.=
$i
-,,k
dx2
EA
(7.61)
= (
,
1,
an T e-ux
-+
=> u = 0 can
Ll
(7.62)
= --
CL
In wh~ch,
=&
(7.63)
(7.64)
E A a A T ( I - e-LLx)
..---.--.---------
P?
bd
rn
I:
2
7.3.3
In Section 7 3 2 the effect of temperature forces In rails was examlned using a simple model
(Figure 7.22). To assess the complex temperature effects in the system track on a bridge or a viaduct.
we will use a more generallsed model, shown In Figure 7.25
m
*j
,m
I
P
""9
hlode~nRaiibvav Tiack
ITIT
lplqh
W
9'19
4
9
urJ
9
hi
d2U
-+
r(Ub- U )
(7.65)
d 2 ~ l , t(1lb- 11)
= 0
dx2
(EA),
(7.66)
(7.67)
dx2
EA
--
E A (d -u
\dx
"rI
N,
Rail
( E A 1,
EAT)
(3
- AT),)
dx
u+du
3s-
zd x
(7 68)
in which.
Md
d
I
N+dN
__P
=I
N-a--
hdd
pU=I>
p"l
P"1
pl
\
rn
(7.69)
k i l l b - 11)
IS
(7.70)
k
d
9
J
In this case the bridge exhrbits an almost unlform axial expansion or shrinking and the general solution of (7.65) and (7.66) can be written as:
u,
F"I
lid
'g"l
.Id
=
=
C,sinhyx+C,coshpx+C,+C,
C,x+ C,
(7.71)
in which
(7.72)
rn
r3
187
case 1 .
C3= 0;C4= 0
=>
Nb = Nmax= - ( E A c ~ A T ) ~
ub = 0;
In this case the bridge is confined completely and the solution of the rail
ary condlt~ons,identical to the solution (7.55).
case 2
IS,
r
with appropriate bound-
I-
C3 = (cY.AT)~;
C4= O=> ub = (r/-AT)bx, Nb = 0
The bridge now has a fixed polnt (support) at x = 0 and can for the rest expand freely.
!T
In thls case the complete solution for the rail part of the system follows from (7.71) first equation, and
(7.67):
u
C, sinh px + C,cosh px + ( a A T ) , x
(7.73)
(7.74)
The last term on the right side in (7.74) represents the normal force in the confined cont~nuouswelded
rarl; the other terms represent the modification of the rail force due to the brrdge interaction.
Several bridge configurations have been studied with appropriate boundary conditions using the
equations (7.73) and (7.74). As an example we will examine the case of a cont~nuouswelded rail
fixed on an ever repeating system of short brldges subjected to a temperature decrease.
The boundary conditions are in this case, because of continu~ty.
~ / : ( ( Y . AE[cosh
T ) ~ p x - ~ o t h % , u l s ~ n h+~( ~
u dx T] ) , x
(7.75)
% E A ( U A T ) ~ ~ I : [ S Icoth%picosh,ux]
~~~LX+ EA(uAT),-EAudT
(7.76)
= 2.1 . I 0'
kN/m2;
= 6 0 . 1 0 - ~ m2,
a
= 1.15.10-~I/OC;
AT
=40
"C,
ATb = 10
"C;
k
= 7636
kN/m2,
L
=48.7
m.
A
P@
b!
P
lrui
C
F
CWR
L=487m
~~~r
c
&
2.8 mm
2.8 rnm
If no bridge Interaction existed, the
l
be, ,N
,
normal force In the r a ~would
= 580 kN. However, due to the interaction the normal force at the support
amounts to 142 kN (24 %) which is
quite substantial. The maximum rail
displacement is half of that of the
maximum br~dgedisplacement.
10
20
30
40
7
\I
i -700/1
,
,
-500'
5 -600
NO=-580 kN
-8000
10
20
30
lrrl
60 kN
1
'42
40
50
50
kN
I-
b
Figure 7 26 Longitudinal d~splacetnentand force in CWR
track on a repeating hndge configurabo~~
e
P
II
7.4
7.4.1
General considerations
/I!
The relatively slmple analytical approach, as discussed In Sectlon 7.3, of the longitudinal problem is
~nstructivein order to understand the temperature effects in the track. It should be noted, however,
that the modelling used there is based on a number of limitations and assumptions, viz.:
I J ~
/'I$
1
hdd
f~!'q
UJ
--
"7
vliusr
fT
!A
hi
"1
hid
I
'"1
hi
m
I
id
w
ktiti
I
I
7.4.2
To obtain a more realistic description of the problem, a finite element model, called PROLIS [281],
has been developed to calculate longitudinal track forces In a similar way to the model described earlier regarding track stability This model comprises track elements, ballast elements, and elements
representing the bridge construction including abutments and pillars. The model allows for an arbitrary number of parallel tracks. Figure 7.27 shows the element compos~tronwhich can be used to
model a tracklbridge construct~on.
The ballast spring is, as In the case of the stability program discussed in Sectlon 7.2.2, also modelled
as a bi-linear spring according to Figure 7.28. The maximum force, i.e. the force at which yielding
starts, depends on the current vertical track load. Two varrants have been investigated to describe the
plastic behavlour The first one is sketched in Figure 7.29 and assumes that the elastic limit always
coincides with a fixed displacement up,.This means an increase In ballast stiffness in accordance wlth
a growing vertical track load. This assumption does not exclude discontinciitres from occurring In the
sprlng force if vertical loads are added or removed. The second variant, shown in Figure 7 30, consists of a spring with constant strffness in relatlon to the vertical track load. In this case, the displacement at which plastic deformations start grows linearly wlth the track load. From the physrcal point of
view thls approach is more consistent. However, simulation tests have shown that there is no significant difference between the results of both methods as the displacements in the areas of Interest are
often substantially greater than up,.
FS
rvrri
r
g~*~*=.S"=i;*~~3-3~~*3-*~~~
sf
*&-A-~ l l l l ~
f
L b
irrld
I
Joint
Track element (2 rails)
Element representing ~nf~nitely
long track
s
p
i"r
kf
189
F3
I&
bd
7.4.3
Expans~onloints
Track 2, brak~ngload,
EAtraCk= 2 91 1O6 kN
EA,
= 1 31 1Oa kN
Stiffness support
blocks 15 kN1mm
300 kNlmm
r-
u [rnrnll
30
Track 2
20
S, SF
/w /w @/;b.
F IkNI
"
.-"-
40
80
120
--- '.
Track 1
&--
--4
-."a".".:-'-
160
200
2000
I"r..-."*
1600 ..-.---..-..
* .".n
I
1200
-,6--1-9\
. ..,
- - - [ I
- .-..-
order of 3%.
'.
Qea
Qe,
,_** I-*"..*-
.'
IT
h..
" 3
400
[ml
1-2%
40
80
120
160
200
I.
. - * .
Bridge
Baiiast
--Ballas;
'
W L M M
10 kN/mm
100 m
i-.
__ __
.?
._
100 kNIrnrn
he results of these calculations are preled in Figure 7.35 and Figure 7.36, showthe axial rail forces and the axial rail
isplacements
respectively. The
peak
tresses and displacements are summarized
ble 7.1. Without expansion joints the frozen ballast, combined with direct fastenings
on the bridge, causes the highest rail
tresses of the order of 180 N/mm2. This
means an increase of over 6094 compared to
the undisturbed temperature stress. In the
case of normal ballast conditions and direct
fastenings on the bridge. the maximum stress drops 8% compared to the frozen situation. Obviously.
a continuous ballast bed smooths the peak stress substantially as is demonstrated in load case 4.
FP
kuli
iPPrr
i&
6
b
w,= w, ) , A 3 + A 4 = A l + A 2
d w , - dw,
ds
ds
M , = M,
Q + D,= D ,
)'A3Y3 + A,Y,
>)
A,Y,
+A
2~2
+ ~ , y : = A l y : + A2y$
Q
Ell3
-+A,Y;
(6.53)
+A,Y; = A , ~ ? + A , $
Note that the last cond~tronIn (6.53) can be obtained using equations (6.28),
(629), and Figure 6 16
Writrng thrs system of equatrons in matrix notation gives:
1Y:
(654)
'6
-Y:
Y: -Y;
-Y:
A3
-Y: -
p,
0
-8
n"ll
The fourth row in Frgure 6.17shows that the maxlmum amplitude of the displacements IS movrng
behind the locatron of the load for super critical veloc~ty.For the crrtical speed (a = 1)and undamped
case (p = 0) the wave ampl~tudesbecame infinite.
For a lightly damped system (m~ddlecolumn) a similar behavrour takes place. The wave shape calculated for cx =I shows large amplrfications. For an over critically damped case (P = 1 . I ) the wave forms
are asymmetric with respect to the load and show no ampliflcat~onsanymore with respect to the static
case.
' m
d
In Figure 6.18 the ratlo of the maximum deflection is given as function of the ratlo of the load velocrty
and the cr~ticalvelocity a for several values if the damping ratio is P. The equ~valenceto the frequency response funct~onof the simple spr~ng-masssystem IS striking. For srriall damp~ngratios the
wave amplitude shows severe ampllficatrons
'"\
Y
119
--
m
U
B, c*
z
F;
2
-1
0
"
2
3
relative dlstance s
[-I
o = 00
B=00
u = 00
[i = 0 1
relabve distance s
(-1
ii
=00
= 11
reiatlve dlstance F
1-1
u =05
11 - 1 1
2
m
- -1
F
:; 0
1 2
E! E
-2
- --
-UB
m
-;.
E 0
Z P
"
S'E
relatbve dlstance s [ ]
relauve distance s
[I
u = 10
o = 20
1% - fl 0
/> = 0 0
ielallve d~stances [ 1
81
=?0
11 = 0 1
"cr
.l-Jm
m
P"I
( 6 55)
iwP
in which
m
= r a ~mass
l
per length;
k
= track stiffness,
El
= bendlng stiffness
I3 n
iud
Veloc~tyratlo a
!@
iru,
FQ
b
F"
'1
i
1t
M o d e ~ nRailway Track
4
For tracks of good qualrty the critical speed lles far beyond the operating speed, but with poor so11
condlt~onsor other masslspnng configurations the crit~calspeed can be so low that speclal measures
are required. In case the tram speed approaches the wave propagation speed, the soil may experience a liquefaction type of phenomenon as seen In Flgure 6.19 An actual measurement in track on
soft so11is shown in Flgure 6.20
-1
I
L4:
'ir(
I
1'
Ik
I
I~J
""ki
bu/
I
*9I
i,
Runn~ngspeed [kmih]
-I
I
iu3
W d ~ n-
'
IY
w"at
im
1
(6.56)
~3
1~ 9
Discrete s u p p o r t
6.3.4
The model In Flgure 6 10(c), In w h ~ c hthe rail IS supported In a dlscrete manner, glves the best
approximation Such an approach also lends Itself to the application of standard element programs
programs whlch will be dlscussed later in Sectlon 6.9 These element method programs give great
flexlbll~tyas regards load forms and support condltrons
6.4
6.4.1
During vehlcleltrack tnteractlon the forces are transmitted by means of the wheellrail contact area. On
account of the geometry of the contact area between the round wheel and the rall, the relationsh~p
between force and compresslon, represented by the Hertzian contact sprlng, IS not linear as has
already been dlscussed In Section 2 7 The relat~onshipbetween force F and indentation y of the contact surface can be written as
F
fT
cHY3
(657)
Bid
121
FL-
Slnce a descrlpton of the wheelirail relationship using transfer functions requires that all components
are linear, the Hertzian spring must also be linearised This linearised value of the stiffness can be
found by considering the relationsh~pbetween the force and displacement increments around the
static wheel load. The linearised Hertzian sprlng strffness kH is then.
Jenkins e a. [I371 determined the kH value for old and new wheels as a funct~onof the wheel diameter For a wheel dlameter of 1 m and a static wheel load of 75 kN, a kH value of 1.4 10' Nlm IS found
for new wheels and 1 6 10' Nlm for old wheels (see also Section 4.11).
r-
i'
FT"
6.4.2
I-
Figure 6.21 shows the model of a wheel which is connected to the rail by means of a Hertzlan spring.
From the equilibrium the following is obtarned:
FH+ MWyw
= 0
(6.59)
wlth:
Yw=Ywe
iznit-
-Ywe
iwt
(6.60)
M, Wheel mass
-'
(6.61)
I
0
ywWheel d~splacement
In the follow~ng, the relatlonshlps between wheel displacement at axle box level and vertical rail geometry, as
well as axle box acceleration and vertical rail geometry
are examined. These relationships are important when
analysing phenomena associated with corrugations and
poor quality welds. These transfer functions also formed
the basis of the calculations whch were carried out when
design~ngthe BMS-2 system discussed In Chapter 16.
luui
F
ivurr
$A
4
Yg Geometry r a ~surface
l
Yi Rail d~splacement
!
IIi!@
The relation between the ~nteractronforce FH and the change in length of the Hertzian spring is determined by
FH
in which
=
yw
=
yr
yg
=
kH
=
FH =
k~ [yW- Y r - Y g l
(6.62)
in"i
P
b
P
b
If (6.62) is transformed to the frequency domain and the Fourier transformat~onsare lndlcated in
capital letters, the expression can be written as:
Ygi f )
122
Y,(f) - Y,(f) - F H ( f ) i k ,
(6.63)
P
1
idl
-1
I
L-
-1
Using the previoclsly derived transfer functions for the double beam In Section 6 3.3 wheel (6 61),
and the rail (6.35), the wheel and rall displacements can be expressed In the wheellrail force
LAJ~
(6.64)
Y w ( f )= H w i f ) F H ( f )
1 "7
hi
Y,if)
(6.65)
H,(f)F,(f)
Y g ( f , = [ H w ( f )- H , ( f ) - l / k H ] F H ( f )
=
1m
I
hi
WI
(6.67)
H,(f)FHif
Y,(f)
H
-Yw(f)
Hw
(6.68)
(6 69)
Y W ( f )= - a Y,(f)
d
"*r
1
and substituting this result together with (6.61) in (6.68), the relatlon between axle box acceleration
and rall geometry becomes
y g ( f )= - ~ , n , ( f ) Y , ( f )
~,(f)Y,(fj
(6.70)
in whlch:
' 1
2
I
I
,J
7irvc
9
-1
I
H,(f) - H,(f)
(6.71)
k,
10-4
1o - ~
1 o-6
10-7
1 0-8
10
100
1000
[Hz] 10000
4
123
1
r-
6 CYbIAi~/IICTRACK DESIGN
H,(f) =
Mw
k~
100
i"'
L-
4-J
I H,(f) I
1 weak
2 normal
3 stiff
I--
LA
-.-.
----
10
-,
F
/bs,
I
l l i l l ,
I
%+-.'-"1-@1
1 , "
-f
0 5r
0
10
100
1000
1000
lH,1
C
I"
i
Slnce corrugat~onsappear predominantly between 10 and 1500 Hz, it is clear that the track construction In particular has a very great influence. The question is whether, when measuring corrugatlons by
means of axle box acceleratlons, the variatron in track condition can be disregarded. This is examined
by varying the track st~ffnessk,. Figure 6 23 shows the varlous contributions made to the transfer
function according to formula (6 42) for standard track w ~ i ha stiffness k,, for track with a low stiffness
of 0 5 k,, and for track w ~ t ha high st~ffnessof 2 kl. D~fferencesdue to the characteristics of the track
only show up in the frequency band between 60 and 200 Hz.As a result of system damping due to
half-space radiation, for which we refer the reader to [208] and [231], the effect remarns limited. No
special measures have therefore been taken in the BMS-2 system.
rw
F
Crvi
6.5
6.5.1
Schematisation
Transfer functions between track geometry and vehicle reactions can be determined using mathematical models F g u r e 6 24 shows a very simple model w h ~ c hdescribes the main dynamic response of
the vehicle. Thls model can be used to calculate the various relations between track geometry (consisting of cant, level, and alignment) and vehlcle response In the form of Q and Y-forces between
wheel and rail, but also to calculate horizontal and vertical car body acceleratlons [269]
r"l
glyi
ilrvd
In the following the various transfer funct~onswill be derived first After a d~scussionof I S 0 filtering of
the veh~clebody acceleration signals to take account of human perception, a number of examples are
given of transfer functions calculated based on the NS measuring coach
1 3 A
i"l
-I
Plodern Ra~lwayTrack
-V2
I
I
(6.90)
-1
-1
As a result of the asymmetrical movement the car body only rotates and the z displacement is zero.
The equations of motion are:
F-
1-
Modern Ra~lwayTracjr
L-
z,
= -z2 = -z3 =
z4
v4
v4e
-
lot
(6.102)
pi
(6.103)
F"I
L
In neither case is the car body loaded. The primary suspensions vibrate ~ndependentlyof each other,
symmetrically in case 3 and asymmetrically in case 4. Whenever a wheelset is being considered the
following equations of motion apply:
-JSYw2 O 5
F,
(6.104)
2f2F7
(K,,+ i
-f2@d
1
o ~ , , l (- ~
2 ~
F91"
(6.105)
With
a,=-J
5y
w2
(6.106)
H;3
F,/V,
---
(6.107)
Hi,
-a, c
F 1 / V 4 = --a,-2c
(6.108)
6.5.3
C o m b i n a t i o n of level r e s u l t s
gs
The response due to the movement of one axle can be obtained by combining the above-mentioned
results For instance, by adding all the results the displacements for axles 1, 3, and 4 equal zero and
axle 2 has a displacement of 4 It can clearly be seen that if the k-th axle undergoes a forced movement w ~ t han amplitude of 1. the response, 1.e. the transfer function H A , can be derived as follows
from the above results.
LF
4'
(6.109)
j =
F"
"rurs
In thls equation vik is the k-th element of the amplitude vector v,. The resulting transfer function
between track geometry. in this case level zt, and the respectwe response component can now be
obtained by adding together the contributions from the 4 axles taking their lag into account. Thls
results In the following expressions.
Q
Z,
(6.110)
H,Zt
(Z,-T,O,)w
H2Zt
(6.111)
F
t
P
irri
F
I
,-
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
L-
and right rall are In opposite directions The equat~onsof motions for this system are.
-J5,0
-J,,o
Q 5 = 2P4F1- P 5 f 2
(6.119)
2C,F2
(6.120)
@,
F,
1
'
(K,,+ ~ ~ C , , ) ( ' V , - ~ Q ~ Y ~
(6.121)
F,
1
(K2z+iwC,,)(Q5-Q7)Z~5
(6 122)
With:
C
Thu
J5,0
J7,0)
(K,,
+ ~wC,,)
bogie
(6.123)
car body
(6.124)
pr~marysuspens~on
(6.125)
secondary suspension
(6.1
26)
P5
+ iw C,,) e,
(K,,
2cd-bc+-ab-ad-y-bd
2
2
F,/V,
Hi,
Q,/V,
1 1
(6.1
27)
F""
k
-- - a c d + - a b c - - b c d
2
' I [
2
f5"
(6.128)
1
-2cd
(6.129)
p
L
Im
Cant: case 2
cp 1
= @
=-$
-cp4
lot
= V, =
(6.130)
v2e
In such a case the vehicle body will not rotate. The solution
= 0.The transfer functions for load case 2 are:
I c(d-a)
P52c+d-a
IS
Hi2
Fl/V2
(6.131)
Hi,
Q7/V2= 0
(6.132)
tm
I?
eP
= -@,
cp I = - c p
g3
=-$
-cp4
v3
1wi
(6.133)
vge
lot
(6134)
6 DYPIAI~/IICTRACK DESIGN
hlodern Ra~lwayTiack
where,
zb
(6.147)
- H3AZ
4-
in which:
I C
1.435
= --
I I ~ I ~
1,
(6.148)
k= 1
hr
6.5.7
In order to apply the transfer functions to the calculation of vehicle reactions from measured track
geometry, ~tis necessary to filter the transfer functions. On the one hand, the purpose is to conf~ne
unlimited growth in the higher frequencies. On the other hand, the transfer functrons for calc~llating
car body accelerations are weighted accordrng to the I S 0 characterist~cswhich are also incorporated
In the rlde Index meters
The Q and Y-forces are filtered wlth a 6th
order low-pass filter wrth the modulus of a
Butterworth filter and a zero phase according to'
1
H ( f ) =
%1
(6.149)
'7
1
O
a-
I\
ii
0 6--
\\
04-
q
I '
&It
l l h [I lrn]
'0
01
02
03
04
0
Figure
6 25 Butterworth low-pass filter applied to Q and
0 248s(O.O65s+ 1)(0.01457s+ I )
( 3 5 i'0-\~+0.184s+
-4
1 ) ( 596 10 s
Y fotces
(6.1 50)
+ 0.04096s+ I )
17
L
b
H,(s)
IS
7ku
FS
horizontal.
Here s
A"I
05
vertical.
H,(sj
r;
0.6s(O.O135s+l ) ( O0 5 1 s + 1 )
-3
(1.67 1 0 - 3 s 2 + ~ 1 5 1 ~ + l ) ~ 710
. 1 9s + 0 . 1 4 1 ~ + 1 )
(6.151 )
L+
P@
s
1w =
2n
12zf= I h
(6.152)
,m
k/
P
The moduli of the I S 0 filters are shown In Figure 6.26 for vertical we~ghtlngand In Figure 6.27 for hor~zontalweighting The functions are calculated for speeds of 90, 120, 140, 160, and 200 kmlh.
- 90 kmlh
- 120 km/h
- 140 kmlh
- 160 kmlh
08
IHI I S 0 horizontal
- 90 kmlh
- 160
06
kmlh
- 200 kmlh
04
02
0
0
01
02 0 3
0 4 05 0 6
0 7 08
l/A [lim]
6.5.8
01
02 0 3
0 4 05 06 0 7 0 8
1/A [I Im]
primary suspension
Secondary suspension
Kly
=47510~Nlrn
KZy = 0 18 1 0 ~ ~ l r n
K,,
=07010~Nlm
K2Z = 0 4 1 1 0 ~ N l r n
= 3 99 1o4 Nslm
= 5 88 l o 3 NsIm
C2z = 2 20 I0~Ns1rn
Cly
CI,
Unsprung mass
rn
= 1500 kg
Jlx
= 730 kgm2
Bogie frame
Car body
Ms
'3.15 lo3
kg
Jsx
= 2.02
J,,
= 2 0 2 l o 3 kgm2
J,,
J5=
=356103kgrn2
J7z = 7 36
l o 3 kgrn2
M7 = 3.37 104kg
JTx = 5.24 lo4kgrn2
= 7 67 l o 5 kgmz
l o 5 kgrn2
Dimensions
i2
2 56 rn
P,
= -6 95 rn
L3
= 1566rn
I,
= 0 00 m
P4
2.78 rn
1,
= 1.45 rn
r5
2.00r-n
133
'
\
L J
5.6
6.6.1
General c o n c e p t
The relatlonshlps b(3tj~eet-Ivehicle and track can be descrrbed in terms of transfer funct~ons(see Sectron 6.5), for instance indicatrng how the varlous track geometry components contribute to a given
response component of the vehicle. In the previous part the mathematical model approach based on
a schematisation accordrng to masses, springs, and dampers was discussed.
The method described here uses measured geometry signals as inputs and a correspondrng
response signals of the vehicle as output to establish transfer functions with the aid of the M I S 0
method (Multiple Input Single Output) based on the theory of random s~gnalanalysis. The ORE Commrttee C 152, set up In 1979, has also dealt with this method and has meanwhile published reports
[204], [205], and [74].
A number of examples are discussed concerning the est~mateof transfer functions using recorded
data, with speclal emphasls on the reliabilrty aspect. In addrtion, a new concept for the dynamic
measurement of Q and Y forces using measuring wheelsets is discussed.
;J
@
!
6.6.2
k
d
j"l
d
P!
hiid
'M
iY*i
m
Since the primary objectrve of the theory presented here consists of givrng a survey of the marn
trends of the theory w ~ t h o ~entering
lt
into all sorts of mlnor detarls, no derivatrons w ~ lbe
l d~scussed.As
far as details and more basic considerations are concerned, reference is made, in the first instance, to
the standard work by Bendat and Plersol [I51 and to references [68], [69], [70], [74], and [78] whrch, in
addltron to practical implementations, rnclude lnformatron on rail applications.
The theory of random signal analysis distinguishes between the trme domain for dynamic processes
(or the spatral domain for geometrical processes) and the frequency domain The frequency is composed of the reciprocal time or the reciprocal distance for dynamic or geometrical processes, respectlvely. Although In the following text the magnrtude t IS used as trme variable, this may be replaced by
distance (x or s) too. Likewise, the frequency f may represent both the reciprocal time and the reciprocal distance As a matter of fact, the variables tlme and drstance are rnterlinked by the runnlng speed.
!,pi
I
If the srgnal x(t) denotes a magnrtude in the tlme domarn, the representation In the frequency domain
is obtained by means of the so-called Fourrer transformation. Provided that Ir-Ix(t)ldt < and consequently also 1 , j X ( f ) j d f < , both transformat~onsfrom and to the trme domain read as follows:
10
i
X(
t)
(6.154)
X ( f)e-"nftdf
If these transformations are made d~gitally,this is done with the aid of the Fast Fourier Transformatton
(FFT) which IS at present readily available in hardware.
If the I-input-I-output model shown in Figure 6.34 is composed of a lrnear physically realisable system, the transfer
function H(f) can be expl~c~tly
determrned on the b a s s of the
system parameters For a measured input x(t), with the corresponding X(f), an output value Y(f) can be calculated for any
f as follows.
i.i
%i
pi
2
17--
Y(f)= H(f)X(f)
X (f)
(6.155)
117
-77
Modein Ra~iwayTrack
If, however. both Input and output are measured. ~tmlght be wrongly inferred from (6 155) that the
transfer functron would follow from the quotlent of output and lnput However.
Both the real and the imaginary parts of the complex Fourier transformations have, in general, a
rather Irregular shape. Therefore. it is necessary to use quadratic spectral density functions, which
must first be subjected to an averaging procedure, so as to obtain an acceptable statlstlcal degree of
reliability. Only after this may an estimate of H(f) be made. Thls will be discussed later on.
r
I,
[
P1
The relationship between rnput and output IS described In the time domain as the convolution product
of h and the lnput x according to (6 1 5 7 ) In the frequency domain this complicated procedure IS
reduced to a slmple multlplicat~onaccordlng to (6.155)
y(t
f--h ( r ) x ( t- r ) d r
Y(f)
H(f)Xjf)
convolut~on
(6.157)
multipl~cation
(6.158)
In these expressions h(r) represents the unit impulse response and H(f) the transfer functlon, ~nterrelated as follows:
H(f)
htr)
(6.159)
fl
hi
--~ ( f ) t ? - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ d f
(6.160)
fl
h
From the Fourler transformations, spectral density functions may be deduced by multrplylng the two
moduli wlth each other and by subsequently dividlng them by the record length T. Thls leads to the
complex cross-spectrum Sxy(f). If y 1s replaced by x, a real valued auto-spectrcrm Sxx(f)is obtarned In
(6.161), stands for the complex conjugate of X.
S x y ( f ) = 6m ! ~ ( f ) ~ ( f )
TT
(6.161)
(6.162)
PJ
R x Y ( t )= 11m x ( t ) y ( t+ r ) d z
7-.. T I o
Here, too, an equivalent operatron In the tlme domaln exrsts and, thus, leads to the cross correlation
functlon Rxy(t)shown in (6.162) From the po~ntof vlew of the calculatron technique, thls expression IS
very simllar to the convolutron process discussed before By replacing y by x, the a~~tocorrelatron
functlon R
,, IS calculated.
kiw
In an absolutely analogue way, as In (6.159) and (6.160), Sxy(f) and RXy(t)are interrelated by means
of a Fourler transformation. These expressions are known in literature as the Wiener-Kintchine relationshlps whlch read as follows.
S x y ( f )=
R X y T)
(
--
-12nfr
F"1
dr
~ ~ ~ ( f ) e - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ d f
(6.163)
(6 164)
F
hs
An Important feature of the auto-spectra IS that they are symmetrical wlth respect to the line f=O,
which IS illustrated ~nFigure 6.35 I\/loreover, the area equals the variance according to.
i
FD4
4-
:
,J
a-4
I~~
'""1
bruri
i""l
d
Is"*r
0,2=
Figure
aiea
35 Symmetrical auto~rpectrum
maxlmum correlation
lag
From the relationship between ~nputand output, the following relatron on a spectral level may be
deduced:
r
6 DYNAMIC TRACK DESIGN
A simulation study of the influence of non-correlated contr~butionsto the output on the error in estimating the transfer function, p~~blished
in 12051,has shown that about 10% of non-correlated data in
the output leads to an error of about 10% in the transfer function est~matethe coherence being
reduced to about 0.8 Seen from this angle, wh~lstalso allowing for other possible causes, only estimates of H(f) for which y:,(f) > 0.85 should be accepted.
L
F"!
i l
iI
F"I
ytf)
rC
6.6.3
(6.171)
Cy,(f)
F"I
,=I
ht i
IF!
h , ( t ) x ( f - ~ ) d ~(6.172)
Flgure 6 37 MIS0 model
S,,(f)
x~,ifj~,(f)
(6.173)
(6.174)
iuu
(6 175)
F"i
Id
/=I
krrsi
~ , , ( f )= /im 2 ~ ( f~ )( f )
T + -T
~ , , ( f )= ~ r n q ( f ) ~ , ( f )
T-~-T
In matrix notation (6.173) reads as follows:
( Sx,:
(6.176)
[Sxxl Hj
IS
(6.177)
The reliability of the transfer functions thus estimated follows from the multiple coherence function
f
which depicts the ratio between the output spectrum calculated on the basis of (6 177) and
the measured output spectrum according to
2
'iY.,(f,
' v y calculated
' y y measured
LE
0 5 ~ ( , , . ~15
(f I
(6 178)
F
1
h
p
"rrui
FA
[GXX]
R + IQ
Modern Ra~iwayTrack
(6.197)
1-
1-i
(6.198)
7
id
(6.199)
Q~ = -Q
(6.200)
Q,,=
(6.201 )
Lk
r"
IL
Ax
(6.202)
in which, by virtue of (6.199). (6.200), and (6.201). matrix A is symmetrical. This set of equations can
be solved using the decomposition method of Crout-Cholesky briefly described in the follow~ngsection.
Solving equations
In set (6.202) matr~xA describes the inputs while the output only occurs in the y vector In practice, a
full series of output signals is usually involved. implying that the (6.202) system would then have to be
solved just as many times In the solution technique of Crout-Cholesky, the arithmetical operations
are therefore split up into two parts, i e. into one part which is independent of the output. thus only
bearing on matrix A, and Into one part affecting the whole system The single-time operation on matrix
A is designated to factorize and splits up this matrix into two triangular matrices and one diagonal
matrix, according to.
U ~ U
D
(62 0 3 )
where.
U,,
D
= O f o r i < j ; U,, = 1;
P!
iru
This is executed in the subroutine FACBAN. The solution proper is now carr~edout in two steps by
means of the subroutine SYMBAN:
T
U z = yDUX
Fkpi
rn
iu3
(6.204)
ms,
(6.205)
Lit#
In equation (6.204) vector z is solved from top to bottom, after which vector 3 , the solution vector of
set (6.202). IS found by going through (6.205) from bottom to top.
bn
1
W
gh
I
6.6.6
Applications
e*i
The M I S 0 applications described here are primarily confined to the field of ~nteract~on
between vehlcle and track. The method is aimed at determining the relationships between track geometry compo-
...
__Z
1
1
ud
nents, servlng as Inputs, and a vehlcle response magn~tude,represent~ngthe output. The model
descr~bingthe approach by means of M I S 0 is dep~ctedin F~gure6.39. The geometry components
cant, level, al~gnment,and gauge const~tutethe Input whereas so far only car body acceleratlons
have been considered as output.
Within the scope of the ORE C 152 work
program a great number of measurements were carrled out, during which the
track geometry and the vehicle response
were recorded on magnetic tape. Durlng
evaluation of these measurements the
coherence turned out to be much too low
In various cases. In most cases this could
be ascrlbed to problems in the signal-tonoise ratio For example, on some measured line sect~onsthe quality was so high
that car body accelerations were barely
measurable If, in addit~on, the signals
were not fully ampllf~ed before b e ~ n g
recorded Onto tape' little else but noise
remains for analysis.
2
I
b"l
4
Track
BMS
Cant
Level
* hz
Alignment -+ h,
Gauge ----+h,
- h,h,h,h,
calculated with
MIS0
over
- 10 km
f
- predicting response
via convolut~on
Another ~mportantfactor IS the frequency range within which the measured signals fall If this range IS
different for input and output, the correlat~onbetween the two cannot be expected to be good eliher.
Such problems occur, for example, if low frequency car body accelerations which have a wavelength
of 30 - 40 m in the hlgher speed ranges are compared with track geometry measured with a conventional track recording system capable only of measuring wavelengths up to 20 - 25 m.
lrri
"t
wi
Conversely, however, problems will also arise I f a n attempt IS made to relate vehicle reactions of high
frequency, such as axle box accelerat~onsand dynamic Q and Y forces, to the track geometry measured In the waveband between 0.5 and 25 m. In this case the geometry will have to be high-pass filtered to remove the long waves w ~ t hrelatively h ~ g henergy.
Some examples
The NS track recording car
P"1
rn
2
rn
bid
F"1
"n(
Level
Ioo0k
G,,[rnrn21n-~]
G,[mm2ml
750
500
250
0 0 0 5 1 0 1 5 202.5
f [m-'1
15 30 45 60 75
Wml
6'40
the power spectrum of
Figure 6 40 Geometry spectra recordsd by BMS
the track geometry component "level" as a
funct~onof the spat~alfrequency f [m-'1
and the wavelength h [m] The response spectra at 80 and 120 kmlh are shown in Figure 6.41. These
spectra were calculated using 20 records of 500 m length and a frequency smoothing factor NA = 4,
so that the bias and random errors remaln wlthln the limits mentioned In (6.191).
lsrd
145
i
As an example Figure 6 . A 2 shows the transfer functions Hz between level and vertical
car body response; the other transfer functions are negligibly small.
01
44
-V =
80 krnlh
.01
00
00
oo
0 0 05 10
15 20 25
f
[rn
15 30 45 60 75
'I
:Il&=
-v = 120 kmih
06
03 I
03
:8 kmlh
00
00
0 0 05 10 15 20 25
f
Is
,
30
45 60 75
[m 'I
h[m]
unit ~rnpulse
response
28
42
56
70
- 02t
;
To quantify the deviation between the two signals, the RDS value (relative difference between standard deviations) is determined for each 200 rn sub-section. The RSD value is defined as:
=
Cirneasured-
ocalculated
F"&'
k_
/HI [ m ~ - ~ m m - l ]
RDS
F
id
Yf
rn
e
Fa
iw
1 1
lllsl
(6 206)
Grneasured
This value roughly coniorms i o the value 1-1-1,2. x [ f ) /, w ~ t hrespect to whlch the mean value of ly;, , r f)l
must be imagined over the area In which the energy in the slgnal IS concentrated. In fact, RSD
denotes the error In standard deviation if the latter has been calculated using the transfer functions
obta~nedfrom MISO.
iw
FA
e
I AC
F
I
_3
1
\
il
I
41
.6
<
- V = 80 krnlh
ry
I
L d
Figure 6 42
00
0 0 05 10 15 20 25
f [rn-l]
urn1
[lkQ
I
id
cian
I
wri
"Ai
uui
-1
I =
'2
RSD=O 03
20 m
Figure 6 45 Comparison between measured and calculated response based on the estimated transfer fiinction in Figure 6 42
b
d
i
rn
irrl
"i*1
i
rarA
I
mi
ruon)
krj
f?
bipl
:k
The last example concerns measurements on two-axle wagons of KS design taken by the Hungarian
State Railways (MAV). Despite the rather non-linear sprlng characterlstlc of thls type of rolling stock,
the coherence turns out to be fa~rlyhlgh. Figure 6.50 shows the coherence vert~callyw ~ t ha peak
value of 0.95. The response calculated according to Flgure 6.49 consequentlv conforms very well to
the measured vehlcle response. Considered laterally, the coherence shown In Flgure 6.50 turns out
to be somewhat lower wlth a peak value of about 0.8. As can be seen from Figure 6 51, the agreerrient between the measured and calculated response figures is nevertheless qulte reasonable
R""9
147
SNCF Cora11coach
P
calculated
measured
RSD = 0 76
Flgure 6 47 Comparison between measured and calculated response based on the data in Fig~ire6 46
F
i
C
10
0 95
P
h
08
06
04
01
02
03
04
05
02
00
f [m-'1
-calculated
-measured
-- 0 95
RSD = 0 12
20 m
Flgure 6 49 Comparison between measured and calculated response based on the data in Figure 6 48
In 1986 a short BMS measuring car campalgn was carried out in Sweden to provide SJ with geometry
data for vehicle model input. On this occaslon SJ also recorded Q and Y forces on a locomot~vewith
the a ~ dof measuring wheelsets. With these data and the geometry recorded by BMS some M I S 0
analyses were carried out. These results are summarized in Figure 6.52. In the vert~caldirection the
multiple coherence is suffic~entlyhigh for wavelengths shorter than 8 meter. The transfer function
increases progressively with frequency. This reflects the strong influence of the unsprung mass whlch
contributes to the transfer function in proportion to the square of the frequency. In the lateral d~rection
the coherence is somewhat lower. The shape of this estimate has a peak at about 16 m wavelength.
remalns more or less constant between 13 and 14.5 m and then Increases progress~velyfor shorter
waves. Although the theoret~caltransfer functions presented in Figure 6 28 and F~gure6.30 refer to
much lower unsprung masses. the shapes resemble the estimated transfer funct~onsqu~tewell.
148
rCi
P
i
F@
PIt
b
400
300
1"" "
200
&I,
100
1/h[m
----+-+
11
0 25
G,[kN2m]
v=130km/h
2
'i
1600 -1200 --
--
800 -400
--
3 $
1 '
:!
2%
i
'.
'-
.-.
.
--.
ihasrarr-
0 05
01
0
0
005
:i
->/'
:,
-d-
400-
02
v=130km/h
;;
I
'
&
,?%, +; -? ,
L-?-%!
&"-
LkZ1-Z1-Z1-
l/h[m '1
L
*
015
G,[kN2rn]
025
F"
i
01
;
;
005
01
a#-
as,---1/;\ [m-']
o z
0
*z-/-- 9
015
02
025
r n
w
i
F
1
F
a
i
t@
F"
B
I L J
I
I
- 1
STRAINS
STRAIN
x2
F,
7
LA
F2
R'3P1
h&
"*1
Figure 6 53 Pnnople of
force m e a s u ~ ~ nby
g means
of a wheelset
Measur~ngpr~nctpleIn the
frequency doma~n
F,(f)=H,,(f)X,(f)
F4
Callbration of wheel-set
via MISO
pnT
k i
rn
wi
7
irrwl
Figure 6 53 shows the arrangement of the strain gauges and the forces acting on the measuring
wheelset. The conventional quasi-static approach remains invariably valid and must be considered
separately from the dynamic calibration.
FS
In order to estimate the transfer functions between the strain gauges and each force component, the
forces exerted by the test rig on the wheels must be varied randomly in the frequency range of application. If sampling is carried out as a function of distance or revolution, these realisations should be
i"a(
repeated at different running speeds. Using these measurement series, the different transfer functlons can be estimated for each speed by means of M I S 0 by considering the strains as input and
each force as output, as indicated in Figure 6.53.
uagi
During actual measurements the Q and Y forces can be derived from the strans in real time by applying the estimated transfer functions. These should be continuously adapted to the actual running
speed by interpolation.
~7
id
id
@!
In practice, a hybrid solution may be feasible in which a M I S 0 estimate is made for one or two
speeds After adapting the model parameters in such a way that the M I S 0 estimates are approxlmated as well as possible, the transfer values at other speeds can be obta~nedby means of calculation.
r-
klodern Ra~iwayTrack
oI
o 06
o
m-11
r
I
P%,
V=120 krnlh
6.7
AE"
:i
I:
04
o2
o
""m'l
0 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 0 0 8 0 1 0.12 0 1 4 0 1 6 0 1 8 0 2
A G,,,.,
lmm2ml
; ,
300
200
100
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
,[
<
(BUS-1)
*-
."",
-.
.,
m.,l
-H
0 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 008 0 1 0 1 2 0 1 4 0 1 6 0 1 8 0 2
m-l]
Figure 6 54 Transfer function between level and.car body accelera t ~ o ntor NS record~ngcar estimated by means of MISO and caicuiated w ~ t hmodels
From the BMS-1 signals cant, level, alignment, and gauge in the 0 - 25 m waveband
and alignment In the 0 - 70 m waveband
VRA calculates the vehicle reactlons lnd Icated
F~~~~~
6 . 5 5 F~~ 3 types of rolllng
stock and 5 speeds the horizontal and v e r b
cal car body acceleration, werghted according to I S 0 2631, and the vertrcal and
horizontal track load are computed
LJ
r@
'k
1"
k
P
'Clrrl
F
io,
e
W
C
P
iru
t
1
4 rq
IF
hlodern Ra~iwayTlack
u i ! v n l v l l L TRACK
l K H L K DESIGfiI
UtSIGfiI
6 DYNAMIC
Y
Car
acceleratrons
- Back transformation
responses
per
of selected 12
- Deterrnrnation
of exceedences
I
i;
r
I
ibloclern Ratlway Track
P-
Li
iru
% [rnis?]
q [rn/s2]
0 8--
o 8--
o 6--
0 6--
o 4--
0 4--
02--
0 2--
. :.. /.
,.'
/
'
o 0 * 0 5:
32..'
Gcani
:p:
.:;,-:; -.-
.,
.,..--
'
1 1 5 2
25
,c?
[mmI
*
'0
0'5
-,
[mmI
G~eve~
1'5
2'5
[rn~sz]
0 8--
0 6-0 4--
G,,
0'5
1'5
2!5
[mml
rCIi
T"
Obviously, large variations in vehicle reactions are found for the same geometry values It will be evident that the dynamlc responses of railway vehicles are by far a better criterion for the actual malntenance status of a railway track than the pure track geometry. From this point of vlew it IS expected that
VRA will contribc~teto significantly better control of the track maintenance process
C
C
154
F""
I
I
i
$3.8
7
r
am
rd
IT
The Wz Ride lndex Introduced by Sperling IS the classical way of evaluating vehicle ride quallty and
passenger comfort [ I 001. Using modern analyslng tools, the Wz factors are evaluated by mult~ply~ng
the power spectral denslty funct~onof the acceleration G,(f) wlth the squared modulus of the weightlng function H(f) and lntegratlng thls result over the frequency range of Interest to obtain the variance
in that band according to:
6
F
o2 =
"7
(6.207)
~~(f)i~(f)l~df
prui
Wii
Wz
-, 1 / 6 6 7
(6.208)
[o']
In this expression a has the un~tscm/s2. For passenger comfori In the vertical direction:
H(f)= Hw
irrrJ
"1
hi
1.911f2+ (0.25f2)'
( 1 - 0.277f2) + (1.563
f - 0.0368f3)'
0.588[
(6.209)
In lateral direct~on:
(6.21 0)
For vehicle rlde qual~ty,the weighting In vertical and lateral dlrectlons is the same and reads:
J
H(f )
[ ( 1 - 0.056f2)'+ (0.645
f2)'](355 f2)
I"'~
1 - 0.252f212+(1.547f - 0.00444f3)']( 1 + 3.55f2)
(6.211)
$"i
4
The transfer functions are represented as a funct~onof frequency in Figure 6 59 and F~gure6.60. The
evaluation scales for the Wz factors were constructed based on v~bratlontests on people and were
s u p p l e m e n t e d by other test results
The assessment can be summarized as follows:
Wz passenger comfort
Just noticeable
Clearly noticeable
More pronounced but not
Unpleasant
3
Strong, irregular, but st111tolerable
3.25 Very irregular
3.5 Extremely irregular, unpleasant,
Annoy~ng,prolonged exposure
Intolerable
4
Extremely unpleasant; prolonged
Exposure harmful
1
2
3
4
4.5
1
2
2.5
"F"i
Very good
Good
Satisfactory
Acceptable for running
Not acceptable for running
Dangerous
Id
155
6 DYNAMIC TRACK
DESIGN
Modern Ra~lwayTack
r
4.
6.9
6.9.1
Introduction
In the preceding chapters we discussed how to model and analyse dynamic track problems. Many
methods were relaled to single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems, sometimes more complicated
systems were discussed. These methods are valuable in that, wlth the limited support of some computer power, they are easy to handle in a design process. The disadvantage is that the structure and
loadings are sometimes oversimplified and much experience is required to interpret, if still possible,
the results In a meaningful way.
ih
#ring
~3
4.4
d
7
"I
d
rial
The appl~cat~on
of much computer power
makes it posslble to apply 3 0 finite element method (f e.m.) models. However,
the use of 3D f.e m. models is very time
consuming, both of computer power and
manpower The time necessary to prepare, to execute, and to interpret one
single problem is prohlbltlve in a design
process Unknown matenal properties
and lack of homogeneity limit the meaningfulness of a 3D analysis
On the other hand, the support of computer power makes it posslble to apply
more sophisticated models than were
used before Here an example IS given of
such a model, called RAIL, in addition to
the models discussed in section 6.3 The
posit~onof RAIL rn the f~eldof track models is ind~catedin Flgure 6 62.
Simp'e
Linear theory
Limited number of parameters
Complex models
Complex theories
Unknown material parameters
Figure 6 62 Overview of available software and railway track models for
static and dynamic calculations
i**
Isi
'149
d
""1
d
9
-3
rl
6.9.2
The RAIL-model
To assess the vertlcal dynamlc behavlour of railway track due to moving rallway vehicles, an Integrated model called
RAlL was developed at Delft University
of Technology The model was built up of
two structures, namely the moving train
and the rallway track
The coaches were schematised by rlg~d
bodies, plvoted at the bogles by springs
and dampers. Bogies and wheelsets
were also modelled as r~gldmasses connected with springs and dampers. The
vehicle model and the track model are
schematically depicted In Figure 6.63.
Only vert~calforces and d~splacements
etc. are considered.
Pr~marysuspension
SleeperslBeamlConcrete slab Be
R a ~and
l
track ~rregular~tles
are one of the most important sources of dynamlc loads generated by a
movlng traln In the RAlL model the loads were introduced by means of Hertzian springs travelling
along a s~ne-shapedor irregularly shaped rail and track surface as explained In F~gure6.64
d
157
. ..
F-I
6 DYA/Ab/IC TEACK DESIGAI
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
The equations of motion were formulated on the b a s ~ sof the discussed structural models and were
evaluated according to a d~rectintegration procedure. based upon the concept of t~me-spaceelements During a time step At the tram moves over a distance Ax, which is dependent on the train
velocity v, and 'crosses' the time-space elements as Indicated in Figure 6.65.
L,
F-
Moclern Ra~lwayTrack
m4;
$,
Fh
IEn
F
lvli
yd
F"
Pd
k
0.0
0.5
I.o
1.5
T ~ m e[s]
20
25
p
b
?rYi
t
y
'"4
'
Modern Ratlway Track
I
1
i'
-1 I
_J
~d
rg
l$i
qq I
n(
k
d
hi
""I
m
I
i*i
2
m1
When comparing different track structures, ERS on a cont~nuouslysupported slab or a slab with small
prle distance (3.00 m) performs much better than the classic ballast track or an ERS track on a slab
wrth large prle distance. Continuously supported ERS shows a factor 2 between static and maxrmum
dynamrc contact forces, whrle the class~cballast track and an ERS on a widely spaced pile foundation
(6.00 m) show a factor 3. For the elastic displacements of the rarl head under the wheels, the size of
the variatrons is even more d~stinct:here the classrc ballast track shows the poorest performance as
well.
The performed analyses confirm,
of course, many observatrons
Maxrrnum d~splacementsof rallhead under wheel
v=90 mls, L=3 m, A = l 5 rnm
that are made by intu~tionor by
simple hand calculations The
2 E - l _ _ t 0 9 8 7 8 7 6 5 U M
analyses make it possible to
compare the performance of a
classic ballast track wrth respect
to the ERS track, and the effect of
pile spacing on an ERS track
support. Certainly wrth respect to
the contact forces and the rarl
head drsplacements, the ERS
track performs better than the
classic ballast track
Besides full train simulations, a
srmpler approach is also avarlable withrn RAIL. Mov~ngloads or
movrng lumped mass models can
be a surtable simplificat!on of a
train whrle running over predefrned surfaces and structures of
rarl and track (see Frgure 6 72).
This gives e.g. vertical body
acceleratrons
in Figure 6.73,
whrch are comparable to those
already
shown
earlier
in
Figure 6.69. Please note that the
track structure IS different from
Io o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ l c _ d ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ S ~
ERS r ~ g ~ d
2.00j
O0
4 00
5 00,
-*
oo;
1"
mm I
Max~mumcontact forces
v=90 rnls, L=3 m, A = l 5 mm
1,615
1413
1211
10 9
8 7
6 5
4 3
2 1 wheel
stat~ccontact forces
..........................................
-100I
ERS r ~ g ~ d
-30
k
rL
1i-
Eigen peiiod
6
Figure 6 72 Simplihed lumped mass vehicle
model m RAIL
-0 11
0
05
A'
Time [ s ]
15
,I
T~me-invariantper~od
Figure 6 73 Vert~calbody (iipper lumped mass) accelerat~onsat different saeeds on L = 3.0 m and L = 6 0 ni and A = 3 0 mm la11surface
geometry
6.9.4
For the theoretical solution, finlte element routlnes are available since a certaln tlme, enabllng to model and
calculate the behaviour of tralns at a
transition.
E = 100x1O6 N/m2
p = 2000 kg/m3
E = 25x1 O6 N/m2
v=o2
PC
The change
In stiffness causes
increased dynam~cforces, the extent of
whlch is determined by speed, stiffness
ratlo, damplng and the length of the transition In [254] a study is descr~bedinto
the effects of changes in vertlcal stiffness
on the dynamic response
F"
p
&
ivpl
hi
P
F
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
I
I
-?
I
dd
d
'"1
hf
0
1
d
mni
lal
d
w
aul
"1
d
w
uut
7Y
T
l2
11 0
10 0
'$
9.0
= O 46
8.0
7.0
"
C.
5.0
4.0
30
20
10
0.0
00
50
10 0
15 0
20 0
Flgure 6 76 Dynam~campl~f~cation
wlth~nthe st~ffnesstransltlon
mrn over 30 m.
??
E
gm
&
-
05
.-;
2m
3 -o
25.0
i
\
r
L
C
r
"L
6.10
In railway transport, the continuous demand for capacity increase as well as for more extensive
mobility networks automatically requires critical assessment of the effectiveness of currently operating and newly built ra~lwaylines. In order to meet the high standards regarding effectiveness. in many
countries train cruising speeds of 200 kmlh and more have been employed. As a result of such high
train velocities, the track response in these high-speed lines has a typically dynamrc character.
In order to reliably predict track safety and track deterioration, it is necessary to develop and util~se
appropriate track models that cover the relevant vibration effects and wave propagation phenomena.
In this sect~on,the influence of the train velocity on the dynamic response of a railway track IS considered. Accordingly, some models are discussed that consider the elasto-dynamic wave propagatron
under a moving load These models provide further insight Into the dynamic behaviour of a rarlway
track, revealing typical effects that can only be captured by means of advanced analyses
PA
lvLli
Track r e s p o n s e a t t h e critical train velocity
6.1 0.1
Fi
I-
VX
FI
v,
+
\j1
Beam -
Wlnkler springs
r 7
Halfspace
I7
F
I
L
k
r"@
7k
"Jni
J
I
I
I
1
LAi
i
--!
1
In the current sect~on~tis ~llustratedwhat kind of results can be obta~nedfrom a moving load model
and how these results relate to rallway practrce. F~rst,the model presented ~n[255] will be discussed
w h ~ c hconsiders a Tlmoshenko beam supported by a two-d~mensionalhalfspace and subjected to a
movlng load wrth a constant force magnitude. Here, the Timoshenko beam simulates the elastic
bendlng and shear~ngbehav~ourof the superstructure, while the halfspace simulates the elastic
response of the subgrade. It is reasonable to assume that the structure behaves elastically, since the
response of a railway track during the passage of an indiv~dualtrain axle is almost completely reversible (see for Instance 12471).
191
I
d
if7
>d
P"l"i
d
'h
""1
In order to analyse the wave propagation In the beam-halfspace system, In [254] the corresponding
boundary value problem has been elaborated on. This elaboration was based on combining the
equations of mot~onof the system with the boundary condit~ons.By searching for harmonic solutions,
the characteristic waves in the system have been computed where two body waves (compression
wave, shear wave) can be distinguished and a wave that propagates along the surface of the track
system (surface wave).
The surface wave commonly conveys the !argest part of the energy generated by the train. When the
velocity of the surface wave IS of a sim~larmagn~tudeas the veloc~tyof the train, the generated energy
remalns close to the train. Thls leads to accumulation of energy under the tra~nas time progresses.
Thls phenomenon can be identified as resonance. Because t h ~ sresonance may result in large track
ampliflcat~ons,the train's velocity is often designated as 'critical' when resonance occurs.
m
Although several critical velocities may be identified for a specific track configuration (see for
instance, 1501, [254]), the lowest critical velocity is the most Important since this is the first one to be
met by an accelerating tra~nvehicle. As confirmed by 'in-situ' measurements, rail deflections can
increase to more than three times the static deflectron when a train reaches the lowest cr~ticalvelocity
([I 261, [I 641). It is easily understood that for reasons of safety and limitat~onof trainitrack deteriorat~on
such track amplificat~onscan not be tolerated.
The main features of a train that reaches the cr~tlcalregime will be illustrated by assuming the halfspace In Flgure 6.79 to be softer than the Timoshenko beam. Accordingly, the rallway superstructure
is considered to be supported by a relatively soft formation of clay or peat. In the model [254], the load
starts to move from zero velocity and accelerates up to a velocity larger than the lowest critical velocity
The analysls of the response has been performed by means of a finite element model w ~ t hd~menslons b x h = 180 m x 37.5m, see Figure 6.80. The movlng character of the load IS simulated by
means of a set of discrete pulses which act success~velyon the element nodes at the surface along
which the load is supposed to propagate. Furthermore, the half-infinlte character of the halfspace IS
simulated by means of viscous damping elements that are connected to the artificial model boundarles (energy-absorbing boundary). By providing the damping elements w ~ t hdynamlc impedances that
are similar to that of the adjacent cont~nuousmed~um,the energy of the waves which encounters the
artificial model boundar~esis (almost completely) absorbed. For more detarls on the finite element
model, see [254].
F
~moshenkobeam
r-
Figure 6 80 lvloving load F subjected to a T,moshenko beamhalfspace configiiration Waves amving at art~ficialmodel
bo~itidariesare absorbed
Energy-absorblng boundary
I<
180 m
>I
.=
L-
r
i
--- -5
!
-4-m
S -3i
o
'0 -2-m
, statq
0,
5~
20
40
$0
;state ,
80
$'
is
r""
LA
$P"
h
[
urn
Obv~ously,In the supercritical range the system response decreases under increasing load velocity.
Thls IS because the load propagates faster than the energy transm~ttedby the rad~atedsurface
waves. Correspond~ngly,the energy can no longer accumulate under the load.
When the load velocity is strongly super critical, the amplitude of the response appears to be of the
same order of magn~tudeas that of the statlc response. The characteristic behaviour sketched in
Figure 6 81 IS, actually, simllar to that of an aeroplane passing the sound barr~er,This results from the
fact that the phenomenon of an aeroplane catching up with a sound wave IS completely analogue to
that of a train catchlng up with surface waves.
Horizontal distance
[m]
space
In order to study the response at the crrtical stage In more detail, In Flgure 6.82
the dynamic ampl~ficat~on-has
been plotted for a load veloc~ty(v,) ~n between
0 88 and 1.20 t~mes the shear wave
veloclty (cs) of the halfspace. Obviously,
at vX=0.88cSthe response is st111approxlmately symmetric. For larger load velocrt ~ e s ,however, the response becomes
increas~ngly asymmetric. This IS the
result of the appearance of osclllatlng
Mach waves upon reach~ngthe critical
regime. These Mach waves have also
been monitored durlng 'in-sltu' track
deflect~onmeasurements [164], thereby
revealing a maximum upward deflection
of 9 mm in front of the front tram axle and
a maxrmum ampl~tudeof 12 mm beh~nd
the front tram axle.
I@
e
hP
4ikl
P
Y
Fa%;
m\ I
pni
I
i*ii
FA
_i
I
,A
I
I
For obvlous reasons, the generation of Mach waves may have a detrimental effect on both the track
and the traln. It may, In addition, cause the train to derall. This can be motivated from the supercrrtical
response at v, = 1 20cSwhlch shows that the response directly below the load positron (1.p.) acts in a
dlrectron opposite to the loading direction. In other words, the train axle is lifted up by the surface
waves.
7
'
1
I
1
dl
The analysis above has illustrated that in the case of a railway track built on a relatively soft subgrade, the critrcal regime is reached when the traln velocity is near the shear wave veloclty of the subgrade. The magnitude of the shear wave velocity IS determined by material properties, as computed
from
4"1
1 4
149
(6.213)
Id
For a subgrade of soft clay or peat, the shear wave velocity commonly lies in between 150 and 250
kmlh. 'In-situ' track deflection measurements In Great-Brltarn [I 261 and Sweden [164]) confirmed that
the track response may become critical in this velocity range. For a railway track resting on a subgrade of relatively soft clay, the measurements demonstrated that the track response IS ampllfled to
more than three times the static response when the train reaches a velocrty of about 200 kmlh.
@4
Track amplrficatlons are decreased when the soft subgrade is replaced by a stlffer structure s ~ i c has a
sand embankment of considerable thickness. Accordingly, the shear wave velocity of the supporting
subgrade can be increased to a value that lies outslde the veloc~tydomain of the high-speed train
vehicle An alternative solution is to disconnect the railway superstructure from the soft subgrade by
means of a p ~ l efoundatron. The soft subgrade then will not affect the track response anymore, slnce
the plles convey the generated waves rnto the stlff soil layer that supports the piles. Another optron is
to leave the soft subgrade as ~tIS and limlt the train velocity to a level at which the track amplif~catlons
are acceptable. However, this option is certainly not preferred as it may considerably Increase the
transportation time on the specific railway line.
3
I
cs
kid
P"r
id
I
'
As already pointed out In Figure 6.79, moving load models may be divided Into two categories: beamsprlng models and beam-halfspace models Because the analysis of a beam-halfspace model IS considerably more complicated than the analysis of a beam-spr~ngmodel, there may be a strong preference to use beam-spr~ngmodels when examlnlng wave propagation phenomena in a rarlway track.
Nonetheless, it should be realised that a dlscrete spring support IS not able to transmlt waves. As a
consequence, incorporation of the commonly accepted spring properties for modelling the track subgrade results In an inadequate description of the track dynamics. In fact, the dynamic amplrficatron
predicted by a beam-spring model then becomes significant only for velocities far beyond the range of
operational train speeds. Thls may lead to the m~sconcept~on
that the dynamlc track amplification
caused by the tra~nis generally negligrble
6.1 0.2
1
Ballast layer
Reflectron of waves
Strff substratum
r
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
1-
This is because a strff substratum reflects body waves of all wavelengths back Into the superstructure, see Figure 6 83. Consequently, a ballast layer on a concrete bridge or tunnel acts as a
waveguide, conveying waves of both long and short wavelengths.
The shorter waves In the ballast layer can have a wavelength of the order of magnitude of the ballast
particle size whrch may perturb the individual particles. In order to model relative motions by the ballast particles, rt IS necessary to incorporate the particle size Into a mechanical track model. Thrs can
be done elther by employing continuum models that are derived from the mlcro-mechanical partlcle
behavlour ([256], [257]), or by using discrete partlcle models ([258], [259]). In these models the partrcles are assumed to have an Ideal spherical shape The interaction wlth neighbouring partlcles IS prescrrbed at partlcle contact pornts by means of a contact law. Moving load analyses carr~edout with
these models have demonstrated that a ballast material consrst~ngof large partlcles Increases the
Intensity of the wave radiation, especially when the damprng capaclty of the ballast is low. Hence, to
suppress such effects, the damping capaclty of a ballast material should be sufflcrently high.
The damping capaclty of ballast generally depends on two effects. the ~nter-particlefriction and the
d~strtbutionof partrcle sizes. As far as the first effect IS concerned, when the frlctlon between the particles is high (i.e a coarse-gralned ballast) a relatively large amount of energy is dissipated at the particle contacts, thus causing the ballast to have a high damping capacrty The second effect stems
from the fact that a wide partlcle size drstribution excludes a domlnant appearance by large particles
that may act as a resonator Accordrngly, a ballast material wlth a random drstrlbutlon of varlous partrcle sizes has a better damp~ngcapaclty than a ballast material which consists of Identical partlcles of
a relatively large sue.
In general, dynamic amplificatrons are not only caused by the train velocity, but also by impact loads
such as those generated by the sleeper dlstance effect or by other track irregularrtres. In the case of a
ballast layer supported by a strff substratum, the energy transmitted by the track vrbrations remains
for a large part Inside the ballast layer as a the result of (multlp!e) wave reflections at the stiff substratum, see Figure 6 83
Consequently, reflected waves may rnterfere with other (reflected or non-reflected) waves This
causes the amplrtude of the response either to Increase or to decrease depending on the motron
character~strcsof the interfering waves. When superimposing the dynam~campl~ficationby load
rmpacts on that by the train speed, ~tmay appear that the track response becomes 'crltlcal' at a considerably lower velocrty than the crrtical velocity w h ~ c hrelates to the effect of train speed only ([98];
[2571, [2591)
The extent to whrch this occurs depends on the characterist~csof the impact loadlng (e g frequencres
and durat~onof the rmpact loading) as well as on the geometry and materlal properties of the track
structure (e g. thickness and stiffness of the ballast layer). An adequate way of reducrng the dynamic
amplificatron by load rmpacts is to apply ballast mats between the ballast layer and the stiff substratum In fact, the damping characterlstlcs of the ballast mats will reduce the wave reflection deplcted In
Figure 6.83
6.1 0.3
P
$rrl
%a
L1
3
,id
Stiffness transitions
Stiffness transltions emerge when a relatively soft substratum of clay or peat changes Into a relatively
stiff substratum of sand or concrete (or vice versa). Such transitions appear nearby concrete ra~lway
bridges or railway tunnels, but also when the characterist~csof the natural soil formation (I e. the substructure) change abruptly. Stiffness transrtions form the basis for the emergence of differentlal settlements, whrch, once initiated, may grow considerably as trme progresses.
The growth rate of differentral settlements is governed by the dynamic propertles of the trarn, 1.e. the
mass and velocity of the tram in comb~nationwith its spring and damplng character~strcsThe mechanism of growlng differential settlements can be explained as follows A stiffness drfference Increases
the dynamic load~ngon the track. As a consequence of the rncreased dynamic loading, drfferential
settlements may emerge. Differential settlements actrvate addltlonal train vibrations whlch cause the
dynamic loadlng to become larger the next trme the traln passes the strffness transltlon. Accordingly,
I CP
F""1
k
I
1 rn
!h
P
I
1I
E = 100 MPa
:I
r-
1iq
di
I
3
rm
La
iT
180 rn
>i
the d~fferentlalsettlements grow further and the above mechanism repeats Itself.
Since dlfferent~alsettlements may cause excessive track deterioration, they should be controlled as
much as possible. Therefore, rt IS of practical Importance to understand how the dynamlc response of
a stlffness trans~tlon,whlch forms the basis for the emergence of settlement d~fferences,IS influenced
by a passing traln axle Thls IS demonstrated by means of a finite element model, see Figure 6.84,
that has been d~scussedprev~ously~n[253].
The model conslsts of an elastic halfspace comprising a relatively soft materlal of E=25 MPa (e.g
clay) and a relatlvely stlff materlal of E=100 MPa (e.g. sand), in whlch E represents the Young's modulus of the materials.
The stlffness transltion L between the soft and the stiff materlal occurs In a stepwlse manner, with a
step-s~zeequal to the transltlon length divided by 0.75 m (= element size). The modelling of the movIng load and the absorption of the wave energy at the artificial model boundaries occurs In the same
manner as explained for the model In Figure 6.80.
r;*.,
For an Ideal homogeneous halfspace, the crltical velocity IS equal to the Rayleigh wave velocity cr
which has a magnitude close to that of the shear wave velocity [I]).
The rnfluence of the load velocity v, on the dynamlc stress amplification at the transltion L has been
examined by considering a relatlvely low load veloclty and a relatlvely high load veloclty. Here, the
low load veloc~tyvx=30.0 mls IS about half the crltlcal veloclty of the soft medrum, whlle vx/cr~' O R
m e d ~ u m=
0.46 The h ~ g hload veloc~tyv,=59.0 mls IS very near the crltlcal veloclty of the soft medium,
V x ~ C soft
r , m e d ~ u m=
0.90.
12 0
rnedlum = 0 46)
V, = 30 0 mls (V,l cr
V, = 59 0 mls (V,I cr YJftrnedlum= 0 90)
1
i ;
1
I
I
.+-
$OH
= 0 90)
50d a i =
~O;-------------------2 51
2 0 -\\
da f= -- --10
121
0 0 - ~ ~ ~ " " " " ' " ' " " " ' 00
50
100
150
200
250
--------
Length of st~ffnesstrans~tron( L ) [ m ]
d
169
F'
6 D Y ~ l A h l l CTRACK EESIGl\I
The effect of the transition length L on the dynamic stress amplificat~onhas be-on depicted in
Fgure 6.85 Clearly, for both load velocities the dynamic ampl~ficationfactor (d.a f.) at the stiffness
transit~ondecreases with an increasing transitlon length. As for the prevlous analyss. the dynamic
amplification factor has been computed by dividing the dynamic stress 0, at 5.68 m below the surface by rts static counterpart.
For the high load veloclty vx=59.0 mis. the dynamic amplification appears to be significantly larger
than for the low load velocity v,=30.0 mls The depicted horizontal lines d.a.f. = 1.21 and d.a.f. = 2.51
represent the dynamic amplification for vX-30.0 mis and vx=59.0 mls in case the halfspace would be
homogeneous, with E=25 MPa. Hence. these lines act as asymptotes to which the dynamic amplification factor approaches when the transition length increases. Obviously. for the low load veloclty
v,=30.0 m/s the asymptote is reached much faster than for the high load velocity vx=59.0 mis.
From the current analysis two important conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, in order to adequately
reduce the dynamic amplification at a stiffness transition, the length of the transition should be sufficlently large At a certa~nstage. a further increase of the transition length will no further reduce the
dynam~campllfication Secondly, railway lines constructed for fast(er) trains require a large(r) transition length to reduce the dynam~ctrack amplification. Apart from these two effects there is another
effect that influences the dynamic amplification: the magnitude of the st~ffnessdifference. Trivially, an
increasing stiffness difference increases the dynamic amplification at the stiffness transition so that a
large stiffness difference should be bridged by large transition length L The quantitative effect of the
magnitude of the stiffness difference on the dynamic amplification is exemplified in [253] by means of
fin~teelement analyses and energy considerations.
6.10.4
Brief discussion
rI
1-1
TI
I,
F"
Ll
P'
kd
!@
kw
R
bryii
In conventional non-welded tracks the rails are connected by means of jolnts to allow for length
changes caused by temperature fluctuat~ons.Using joints prevents the development of axial forces
and the consequent risk of track buckling at high temperatures. However, the penalty for thls IS the
care for maintenance-intensive joints which generate hlgh dynam~cloads during train passage. These
loads are responsible for many problems like rapld deterloratlon of vertlcal track geometry, plastlc
deformation of the rall head, dangerous rail cracks as well as damage to sleepers and fastenings.
These problems increase progressively as speed increases. As a rule, jolnts have a very conslderable negative effect on the service life of all track components.
Tracks with continuous welded rails (CWR)
do not possess the above drawbacks. Owlng
" ---.-"
--".".."
.. .
to the absence of jolnts the quallty of the
track geometry is better by an order and this
results in a substantial decrease in the total
life cycle cost. CWR does not, however, only
have advantages. As was pointed out in
Chapter 5, the stresses resulting from t
plane strain situation may be of the order
I 0 0 N/mmz and should be added to the
residual rail stresses and bending stresses
caused by train loads which are of the same
order of magnitude. Temperature stresses
especially are responsible for failure of
welds with small imperfections at low te
peratures. On the other hand, lateral stability
should be sufficiently great to resist compression forces developing at temperatures above the neutral temperature of 25"C, as buckling may
otherwise occur as, for example, illustrated in Figure 7.1. The principle of this phenomenon is
sketched in Figure 7.2 showing the compressive forces and the resistance forces on the track and the
resulting typical buckling shape.
----^.--
d
ma
km
Pnr
u
m
___M""
On bridges and viaducts the deformation regime deviates from the plaln track situation. The rails follow the construction whlch can undergo large displacements with respect to the adjacent track. Without adeqclate measures thls would result In hlgh rall stresses. To avo~dthese stresses expansion
joints are applled.
Thls chapter IS devoted to track stablllty and track long~tud~nal
problems whlch, in the case of compresslon forces, are strongly Interrelated For both fields analytical and flnite element modell~ng
approaches are presented with examples The last sect~ondiscusses recently developed advanced
models w h ~ c hdescribe safety conslderatlons about track buckllng or deal w ~ t hmore general or complicated track systems.
lui
T
1.1
171
7.1.2
If applled to rall track sltuatrons, the value of PC,,, In (7.13) I S only slgnlficant when the lateral ballast
resistance IS very low and approaches the Euler buckllng load. However, thls situation IS not representatrve for railway track, for in the elastic model there IS always sufflcrent resrstance and according
to the above-mentioned example unrealistic hrgh values of the buckling load would be calculated
With respect to railway track two Important factors should be taken into account.
P"
'
-l 5
5
r
0I:
+.
:5
-$
2
a
In Figure 7.6 a recent measurement of the latera1 shear resistance characteristic of a track
panel In ballast bed IS given, expressed in force
per sleeper. The curve could, for instance, be
approximated by a bi-lrnear function, but for our
purpose here we will approximate the curve by
a constant plast~c shear resistance which
opposes the axlal displacement and therefore
can be defined as:
T =
0
Lateral dlsplacernent v [rnrn]
F'gure
resistance measurement
1
~,s~gn
v )(
(7 15)
The bending stiffness El is represented here by the horizontal bending stiffness of the track panel.
Thrs stiffness ~ncorporatesthe bending strifness of the rarls, the sleepers, and the rotational resistance of the fastenrngs It IS assumed that this bendlng strffness IS constant. The stralght track is supposed to possess an lnltial sinusoldal misalignment In the unloaded situation (Figure 7 7), glven by
f
f,sin-
2TCx
L
(7.16)
2nx
L
= v O s l n-
= ~~sign(v)
C
P\
ivri
fl
(7.17)
Lid
,m
b
P
Under these conditions the energy parts can be
calculated analogous to the scheme in the first
example
loj
FA
hw
1 'sign' refers to the mathematical function signum meaning here slgn (v) returns 1 if v>O,
.-.
0 ~fv=O, and -1 if v
<O
P
b
r
7 TRACK STABILITY AND LONGITUDINAL FORCES
El
fo
r-
P [kNl
= 10 kN/m;
= 8000 kNm2;
= 0.025 m.
500'
\
LC,,,
PC,,,
= 12.51 m;
= 20 18 kN
4 . 5 \ , . ',
1 '.
\
vOif0 0.5
'\
0 0
The crltical value of the compressive load
lies well wlthin the range of possible values
(under rat her extreme
see former
section).
, , ,=
15
20
25
! Z S : Z ~ : ~
* L [ml
Figure 7 8 Buckhng diagram in case of plastic resistance and misal~gnment
7.2
7.2.1
General considerations
In the 1950's and 1960's ORE Committee D l 4 Investigated the stability of tracks w ~ t hCWR under the
influence of temperature loads on various geometrical lmperfect~ons[203], [209] For this purpose
analytical models were developed as descrlbed In reference [ I 91 Although these mathematrcal models had been ver~fiedby many field tests, several limitations and assumptions still had to be accepted
in some areas. One of these llmltations was that the mathematical model was only allowed to be
IS
applied to curve radil greater than 500 m.It IS a fact that in tlght curves an increase In temperat~~re
followed by a lateral displacement over the total curve length. This decreases the axlal compresslon
force In the track In such a case the longitudinal ballast resistance forces play an important role,
especially In transition curves, and thls aspect was lacking in the analytical models
The above-mentloned limitat~onsdo not apply to calculations based on the fin~teelement method
(FEM) Uslng the model descrlbed In [115], the stability of a number of track structures under the influence of a temperature load was analysed. The non-l~nearit~es
rn this process require an ~ncremental
approach In which temperature loads are increased step by step Moreover, the model allows for any
design geometry for the track, including geometrical deviations Boundary cond~tionsare no longer a
llmitlnau factor
7.2.2
The railway track is considered to be an elastically supported beam with a constant bending strffness
(El) and a torsional resistance of the fastenrngs at the sleepers. The ballast resistance is represented
by springs in the lateral and longitudinal directions. Displacement occurs in the two-dimensional, horlzontal plane.
Each of the three sprlng types mentioned has a speclfic bi-llnear characterist~c according to
Flgure 7 9 T ~ I S
means that In the first part of the diagram the resistance Increases In proportion to
the displacement and in the second part the resistance IS constant wlth d~splacement This is known
as the plastic phase.
I*ri
'usu
bd
F"I
kit#
F
kit#
_J
bledern Ra~lwayTrack
3
The mathematrcal model permlts an elastic spring
react~onon removal of the load when the spring
has already reached the plastic phase The beam
element length IS constant for the overall track
construction and corresponds to the sleeper spacing. As lndlcated in Figure 7.10, the joints possess
three degrees of freedom u, v, and @ and are connected to two ballast springs and one rotation
spring.
L4
I
,i
,d
The equations of equilibrium for the track constructlon, composed of the beam elements, provide a
system of equations in terms of the unknown displacement ~ncrements accordlng to the matrix
equatron:
'7
I
I'7'9b
lirvsl
[Sl[Avl
"al
(7.27)
[AFI
where.
[S]
= tangent stiffness matrix [Nlmm];
[Av] = dlsplacement increment vector [mm];
[AF] = load increment vector [N].
The tangent stiffness matrlx [S] consists of the following components:
rd
T
"1
~ s l
Wi
tpyii~\A~
$cY (
e
El, L
,,.
nm
!&mi
K$
Flglire
,$
3
-+>,ww+
cx
y&
BeamelemenfappliedinFEM
LS,I[V"I
(7.28)
[Fe1
rn I ~ h i c hthe dlsplacement vector [ve] contams the three degrees of freedom u, v, and @ per jolnt.
The drsplacement field u of the truss element is governed by the differentlal equation:
m
I
bi
d2LI
dx2
EA-
P"f
(7.29)
-!
w
'
L l i ~=)
C,
+ c2=
u:
+ X- (uZ - ule)
L
(7.30)
i"l
nsrrl
The bending part in the displacement field, associated with v and @, IS based on what are known as
shape functions These are thrrd degree polynomials In x whlch satisfy the differential equation.
hi
1 n
d4LI
El-
(7.31)
dx4
fl
li
177
rn
{I&
6 E
-3i
26u
3'dv
N o - ax -
- q,6v
dx
dx
, ,, ->
6 EPot,2
dx
n,
'
&=<A
du
u+-dx
ax
wl
I4
a?-$"-.
'
-.
;
J
'
.
"
(7.41)
c-
,-,, "?-#
*c
.!,p :
i
3v
v+-dx
(7.42)
rn
tively :
hur
62~,,1
p(=) I
'36u
3I
I ~velT[s;][ave]
d x t - E l [ 2.]2dx
2
(7.43)
m
I
(7.44)
i"*1
a4
6'~pot,2 =
p,(=)
(7.45)
1 [ v " ]T [ S ; ] [ 3 v e ]
(7.46)
21
36v
dx
L
F*i
Y
I
The matrlx [ S y ] is the symmetrical element stiffness matrix. The matrix [S,"] contams factors whlch
depend on the normal force. It creates the extra part in the matrlx [S] whlch expresses the geometrlcal non-linearity
The bi-linear springs at the joints contribute to the total construct~onstiffness However, they do not
add extra degrees of freedom to the system. As long as a spring is in the elastic phase, the matrix
relation for a linear spring applles according to.
I
I
nq
isvi
p""i
ivvr
or:
- [FI
(7.48)
[s,l[vl
cy
d
4
\
rx cj[]: :1
(7.47)
F""9
d
(nm,
1
lpri
d
I
As shown, the matrix [S,] contains the stiffness of ballast and fastenings which are placed on the
matrix main d~agonalAfter having reached the plastic phase, the spring force no longer increases but
remains constant wlth displacement. The spring's contr~butionto the track stiffness equals zero for
the next loading Increment.
By direct summat~onof these three matrlces the tangent st~ffnessmatrix [S]1s formed. The support
conditions are taken into consideration when reduclng the matrlx [S]. The calculat~ngprocess IS as
follows:
d
1
kd4
179
r
7 TRACK STAGILITY AND LOI\IGITUDIfilAL FORCES
$??Q
b .6!
c. b5\
%a~04&r,g0
@
.
3
Force F
+++
dF
s
m
I
I
I
I
I
I
Fa:
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I~
I
I
I
!
1
I
1
I
1 1
I 1
I 1
I
'7
Jv
*I
D~splacernent
1
I"
'
Thls load is due to a temperature rrse which causes compressive forces rn the track. One of the consequences can be lateral track lnstabilrty (buckling). This load IS active along the total track. According to Section 7.3.2, the following formula (7.54) for the normal rarl force N due to a temperature
change AT with respect to the neutral or initial temperature IS found.
N,,
-EAuAT
(7.49)
2EAalATI
(7.50)
in whrch:
P = compressive force on the track, taken as positive value rn subsequent calculations [N],
E = Young's modulus for the rail [N/mm2];
A = total cross-sectronal area of one rall [mm2];
a = coeffic~entof expansion [/"C];
AT= Tactual - Tneutra~[OCI.
External joint loads
1*&anr
P
k
The possibil~tyof applying individual joint loads In the lateral and longitudinal directions is created.
This was done in order to verlfy the mathematical model by means of data from lateral resistance
measurements described rn [73].
Both load types can be applied individually or in combination.
7.2.3
Results
After a thorough and comprehensive verification of the mathematrcal model and computer program.
efforts were made to reproduce the results presented in [19]. In order to do this. the necessary input
data were derlved from the measurement data or~ginally u s e d The results are presented in
Figure 7.15 and show a high level of similarity. The same figure also indicates the existence of a criticat wavelength which refers to a minimum buckling force in the relation buckling force/bucklrng length
(= half wavelength L ) It also refers to a lower critical compressron force (buckling force) when the
amplrtude y of the misalignment is larger.
P"bvvri
-1
'
_d
I
!
Buckl~ngforce P [kNl
P
J,
I*
';
*! 2
BIJI
FEM
7500 -
pn
i
Al
1
ad
P4
I
rYI
5000
2500
"
I
I
I
4
I
6
R
J
n
lui
m
ui
A"1
r 9
'
L
_I
I
h
L
A
1
1
'
I
lid
b&
fl
w
1
rs3
"9
rn
kt4
1
I
I
&d
~4
I
td
R [ml
7.2.4
In the case of continuous welded switches, the axial forces in the ralls connected to the common
crossing should be relleved by the sleepers so that they have vanished at the start of the switch
blade. Depending on the sleeper stiffness, these forces are partly transferred to both continuous rails
and partly to the ballast bed Sleeper loads and corresponding displacements have been measured
by DB for a 1.12 switch. These results, obtained from reference [146], are presented in Figure 7.21
As a result of the react~onforces exerted on the continuous rails the axial compression force in these
rails is reduced in the vicinity of the common crossing. Near the front end of the switch blades the
axla1 compression forces in the cont~nuousrails increase According to Figure 7.21 this increase may
amount to approx~mately40% DB have also carried out measurements at 1.12 crossovers. Owing to
the limited transition length, an increase In ax~alcompression force of only 7% was found
m
I lp3
I
k
" +'2
9
3
Sleeper ciefiect~on
F--\
i -
.
.-- -- _ - -
-------
200
0
----
--.
18 m
:I
d
R
dd3
a7
9
bA
Figure 7 21 Forces in
CWR 1 12 sw~tchmeasured by DB
200 0
I+
24 m
:I:
15 rn
:
I
183
--
"
r
7 TRACK STABILITY AND LONGITUDINAL FORCES
7.3
7.3.1
Generai considerations
i=-
In the previous section lateral track stability under the Influence of longitudinal compressive forces
was discussed. These forces consisted of temperature loads. There are, however. also other types of
track load in the long~tudinaldirection. These loads originate from braking and acceleration forces. On
bridges and viaducts differences in temperature between track and fixed installation may also occur.
Obviously. rails respond much faster to temperature changes than solid concrete and steel constructions do causing relative movements between the parts.
From the point of view of track design. two load classes may be dlstlngulshed: longitudinal compression forces at high temperatures combined with traction forces which can ~ntroducetrack buckling;
longitudinal tensile forces. associated with low temperatures. in combination with traction forces
which may easily lead to rail failure. In the design of bridges and viaducts the tensile load cases are
normally the determining factor.
7.3.2
F"
AS was already remarked in Chapter 4, free expansion or contraction of the rail due to temperature
differences does not occur. A long~tudinalresistance force distribution emanating from the rail fixation
limlts the rail displacements. but may cause h g h forces.
To ~nvest~gate
this problem. a simple yet instructive model is presented to determne the axial dlsplacement of the rail under temperature load as well as a shear force d~stributionrepresenting the
longltudrnal resistance.
In Figure 7.22 a small rail element is given which is subjected to a temperature increase AT with
respect to the neutral or Initial temperature, as well as a shear force r(u)dx w h ~ c hopposes the d ~ s placement u ( x ) The longitudinal force in the rail IS N(x).
Equ~libriumdemands:
dN
(7.51)
z(x)dx
The total stra~nis the sum of temperature strain and strain according to Hooke's law
k
d" - a * T + - N
(7 52)
EA
dx
I&@
in which.
e
+-r[-.
dx
N + dN dx
4%
dx
4ia---
~dx
-
=---------*.^
- u
.-.
kd
u + -ddux
dx
---_-
"+
Fig~~7
r e22 Differentla1 rail element meant to
srudy the temperature effect
,3
J
I
In general r IS a functlon of u, w h c h In turn, IS a function of x. Using the formulas (7 51) and (7.52),
the following differentlal equat~oncan be der~ved.
_
d 2 u_~ ( LI )
dx2
(7.53)
EA
Once the displacement function u(x) is found, the normal force follows from (7.52):
I
9
1~1d
(-
du
E A cix - R A T )
(7.54)
llll!
b
I
lk
q?
lid
'7
In the case of continuous welded rail (CWR), the length of the rail is so great that a plane strain condltion exists in the central part of the rail preventing axlal displacement of the rail completely. The
force caused by a temperature increase IS, according to (7.54).
N,,
(7.55)
-EARAT
which means that a temperature increase results in a compressive normal force, as could be expected.
Special case I : Plastic shear resistance
p""l
hi
a
k
d
%"r,
bd
Sometimes it may be assumed that the shear reslstance is constant while the sign of the reslstance
depends only on the slgn of the displacement:
r,sign(~~)
(7.56)
A N,u
A
I
Normal force
j lNmaxl
Ax~ald~splacementu,,,
= %ubTPa 20 mm
= EAu,ilt -700 kN
9
d
m
Id
"I
'Y
U(X)
r0x2
2EA
(7.57)
wi
fit
P
*O
isri
- - '
(7.58)
IS
Confined length
-
(theoret~callb)
Long Res~stancet,
I0 - 20 kNlm
length 0,
- 70
no
p = - Nm,,
a
(7.59)
To
The expressions for the maximum normal force and maximum axial displacement are also indicated
in Figure 7.23
The results in this case are very plausible and may in fact be deduced heur~sticallyThis
t ~ o noften found In text books.
IS
the solu-
AS the plastic reslstance characteristic IS inherently non-linear, residual stresses remain at the rall
ends if the rail system is sub~ectedto more than one temperature cycle, e . g consecutive warming up/
cooing down periods In this case the rat1 end displacement follows a hysteress loop
135
F ?
In the case of elastlc rall fastenng systems the assumption of a linear shear resistance is more appropr~ate'
(7.60)
t= ~ L I
--euil T -ux
I-(
=> u = 0 can
(7.62)
Fa
rn which.
P
=&
(7.63)
(7.64)
-EAUAT(I-~-'~~)
!?
iur
IP
bll
;ulu
6
1
YYU
x
Ids
b
Bur,
Figure 7 24 Distrrbution of temperature force and displacement in
CWR (elastic shear resista~lce)
C
P
irsi
7.3.3
In Section 7.3.2 the effect of temperature forces in rails was examlned usrng a simple model
(Figure 7.22). To assess the complex temperature effects in the system track on a brldge or a vladuct,
we will use a more generalised model, shown in Figure 7.25.
P
I
I t
'
\
I-)
N-+--
I
I
-1
LJ
'l"d1
Rail
=I>
-*
N+dN
du
__P
~ d x
'7
hd,
-d+ 2
t(Ub-U)
dx2
2
d ~1~
--
id
dx2
PI
1~Y
"?
-0
EA
~ ( L / ~ - L I )
fEAj,
E A ( -~
\
dx
Nb = ( E A ) ,
AT)
(9
- ( AT)^)
(7.65)
(7.66)
F~gure7 25 R a ~and
l
bndge element
(7.67)
(7.68)
dx
t3d
I
I
rn which
*@I U,
ub
Ld
N,Nb
iwu
*q
I
*?a
= ~ ( L I ~L I )-
(7.69)
lwll
flv
ild
I !
1
dl
13
Moreover, it is assumed that the normal st~ffnessof the r a ~ISl much less than the correspondrng pait
of the bridge.
EA
((
(EA),
Lib
=
=
(7.70)
expansion
C , s i n h p x + C 2 c o s h j l x + C 3 + C4
C 3x
+ C4
(7.71)
in whrch:
(7.72)
187
Modern Ra~iwayTrack
I
Col-~s~der
two special cases:
case 1.
C3= 0,C4= 0
=>
ub = 0;
Nb = Nmax= -(EAaAT)b
In t h ~ scase the bridge is conf~nedcompletely and the solut~onof the rail IS, with appropriate boundary conditions, ~dentlcalto the solution (7.55).
case 2:
C3= (cY.AT)~;
C4= O=> ub = (aAT)bx; Nb = 0
The brldge now has a fixed point (support) at x = 0 and can for the rest expand freely.
i"1-
r:
7.4
7.4.4
General considerations
h
I
is
The relatively simple analytical approach, as discussed In Section 7.3, of the longitudinal problem is
instructive In order to understand the temperature effects in the track. It should be noted, however,
that the modelling used there is based on a number of limitations and assumptions, viz.:
lateral bending stiffness El is constant;
lateral shear resistance IS constant;
compresslve force P = constant;
no vertical loading;
no longitudinal resistance;
no axral strain,
misalignment sinusoidal;
additional bending slnusoldal;
no curves.
7.4.2
Finite element m o d e l
To obtain a more realistrc descriptron of the problem, a finrte element model, called PROLIS [281],
has been developed to calculate longrtudinal track forces in a similar way to the model described earlier regarding track stability. This model comprises track elements, ballast elements, and elements
representing the bridge construction including abutments and plllars. The model allows for an arbltrary number of parallel tracks. Flgure 7.27 shows the element composition whlch can be used to
model a tracklbridge construction.
The ballast spring IS, as in the case of the stabllrty program discussed in Section 7.2.2, also modelled
as a bl-llnear spring according to Figure 7.28. The maxlmum force, i.e. the force at which ylelding
starts, depends on the current vertlcal track load Two varlants have been investigated to descr~bethe
plastlc behaviour. The first one is sketched In Figure 7.29 and assumes that the elastic limit always
coincides wrth a frxed displacement up,. Thrs means an increase In ballast stlffness In accordance with
a growing vertical track load. This assumption does not exclude discontinurties from occurring in the
sprlng force ~fvertical loads are added or removed. The second vanant, shown In Figure 7.30, consists of a spring w ~ t hconstant stlffness in relatlon to the vertlcal track load. In this case, the displacement at whlch plastic deformations start grows linearly wrth the track load From the physlcal point of
vlew this approach is more consistent However, srmulatlon tests have shown that there is no significant difference between the results of both methods as the displacements In the areas of Interest are
often substantially greater than up,.
r
7 TRACK STABILITY AND LONGITUDII\IAL FORCES
u [mm]d
\
I
~8
I
1
30
Track 2
'
L$
20 -
s 6, s
+%@ +%@
2,
'7
Bind
" ,
10
-..".-.."..'
pT
""3
F [kNl
2000
"'
80
40
160
120
&.*e*"
.--.
-m.-v
-. ., Track 1
"
--'""
. " ..
".*llll
""-111.11
L.-"
200
1 600
"-.e*-"--r
.A
1200
800
400
;r.l
r'
'7
1
d
'"I
w
&qu
Oe3
s,.'?~u
/?be,".
'
Track 2
"
>
[ml
1\-
-i
.
%
.
40
80
I20
160
200
rx
d
m
--/Ballast
F,
.,
.-
. ,."
Bailas;
Ballast
10 kN1mm
k
-,
--
I 0 0 kN/mm
The results of these calculatrons are presented in Figure 7.35 and Figure 7 36, showing the axial rail forces and the axial rail
displacements
respectively.
The
peak
stresses and displacements are summarlzed
in Table 7.1. Without expansron joints the frozen ballast, comb~nedwith drrect fastenings
on the brrdge, causes the hlghest rarl
stresses of the order of 180 N/mm2. Thrs
means an Increase of over 60% compared to
Fig~ire7 34 Utrecht flyover bridge
the undisturbed temperature stress. In the
case of normal ballast condrtrons and direct
fastenings on the brldge, the maximum stress drops 8% compared to the frozen situation. Obv~ously.
a continuous ballast bed smooths the peak stress substantially as IS demonstrated n load case 4.
~ n ?
i-
I
7 TRACK STABILITY AND LONGITUDIfiIAL FORCES
Modein Ra~lwayTrack
I
7.4.3
E x a m p l e s o f longihudinai f o r c e calculations
r""
I
This construction consists of 3 br~dgeswith a length of 20 m each. The bridges carry 2 ballasted
Ll,
$'I
tracks The tracks are continuous welded although track 2 is provided with expansion joints at the
beginning of the first bridge. The temperature loads consist of AT= - 45C for the tracks and AT= 25C for the bridge. A braking force of 8kNlm is applied to track 2. The situation is sketched in
Flgure 7.32. The maximum ballast force for the non-loaded tracks is taken as 12 kNlm and for the
loaded tracks 36 kN/m is used. It is assumed that the temperature loads are first applied during which
all tracks have the same ballast yield force. Subsequently, the ballast yield force for the loaded part of
track 2 is raised and the braking loads are applied.
The resulting track forces and track displacements are presented in Figure 7.33 Obviously. the largest d~splacementsare achieved at the expansion joints in track 2. At this location, by definition, the
longitudinal force is zero in track 2 and has its maximum value in track 1. The longitudinal force of
track 2 has been partly transferred to track 1 by means of the ballast and bridge elements. This effect
shows great similarties to the force transfer observed in the swltch discussed in Section 7.2 4.
The calculation was repeated for two variants In the first variant the spring characteristic, according
to Figure 7.29, was replaced by a ballast spring with constant stiffness as described in Figure 7.30.
Comparing the results for the d~splacementsof track 2 and the forces of track 1 revealed that the
spring character~sticwith respect to the vertical load does not influence the calculated forces. The displacements are 6% higher.
Expans~on
joints
EA,,,,, = 2 91
1O6 kN
Stiffness support
blocks 15 kN1mm
bL
Fql'l
Fkd
b
-t
1
I
track AT = -45 OC
loading'
dL
computat~onalresults
ax~aly~eldforce
load
case
I i1 16
bridge. AT = -25 OC
rnaxlrnum
rall stress
[N/rnrn2]
plaln track
br~dge
24 kN/m
(frozen ballast)/
48 kN/m
181
rwlri
12k~lm
48 kN/m
167
8%
Rail
163
1O0/0
138
24%
;hLi
~llll*
rnaxlmurn
d~fferential
d~splacernent
[mml
lllW
1
rt
\
W
12kN
12 kN/m
113
37%
74
as 2, but wlth
94
48%
69
Table 7 I
expansion
jo~ntsat x = 0
"?
The stress overshoot IS reduced by about 50% compared to the dlrect fastening system. The penalty,
of course, IS a greater construction helght and increased dead weight.
In the case of expansion joints, according to load cases 5 and 6, the axlal forces by definition drop to
zero at the joints However, the displacements are qulte considerable, namely of the order of 70 mm.
The ralls on the cont~nuousballast bed dlsplace by about 7% more than In the dlrect fastenlng solutlon One of the major drawbacks of the use of expansion jolnts is the introduction of hlgh detrimental
~mpactloads. As an alternative, sllding facilities between rall and sleeper were created over 7.5 m
From load case 3, whlch refers to thls situat~on,~tcan be deduced that the peak stress IS reduced by
about 1% per metre of released track.
kid
1
Y
9
a,,, [Nlrnm21
7w
I
I
m
lcri
D~splacement[rnm]
b2
\c3
150:4
A
/%,\
--
hid
.+
$--->;
,
\ *.~
=,
,"
j'
.%-*
50 -
Undisturbed
temperature stress
1 12 N/rnm2
6-i2
/.
L
u./'
3xL5
.,f
,., ~-H-,
.. .
'
f
r'
lcli
/\
!iiL
p- 4
100-
At track - 45 " C
btbr1dge-25~C
\\I
r
l
2
"
'
*.
Bridge 100
Expans~onjo~ntsfor 5 and 6
x [rnl
50
100
I&!
193
I
I
- .
-.
,
7 TRACK STABILIT'/AND LONGITUDiNAL FORCES
Modern Railway ~ m ~ k
r
I
::::A
orar,[~imm21
?,"do--
300
1-
-Rail
- - - - -glade
- - ------------1300 NimmZ
Direct fasten~ng,
I froozen ballast
- 250 -1_1_OP_>!m?12-_
Dlrect fastening,
Normal ballast
4 Cont~nuous
ballast
3000-2000--150
- 100
1000-
- 50
Temperat~irestress,
undisturbed situation
100
200
~ ~ , S UOndye
S
400
Length
To conclude this section on longrtudinal forces. it is worthwhile to mention that. in the case of compression loads, both finite element programs discussed here can be used n cascade The longitudinal force program can determine the load distribution along the track or in a switch. This distribution
can be used as input in a subsequent analysis using the stability program to verify whether or not the
lateral track resistance is exceeded.
7.5
7.5.1
Introduction
The above-mentioned examples help to understand the mechanrsm of track buckling using simple
mathematical means It should be noted. however. that the theory is based on a number of limitations
and assumptions, viz..
- lateral bending stiffness El IS constant;
- lateral shear resistance is constant,
F"I
t
P"P"b
l"p
t
1"IA
b
- misalignment slnusoidal;
r"4"
In order to get a more accurate assessment of the safety limits of CWR track. a lot of research has
been carried out recently by the ERR1 Committee D202, Improved knowledge of forces in CWR
track' The theoretical part of this research consisted of a finite element method called CWERRI
(acronym for continuous welded (Rail); European Rail Research Instituts). This program was developed at the TU Delft and describes the mechanical behavlour of the railway track much more realistically and can cope with complex situations. The program was based on a discrete element program
194
&
P
i rvri
F
I
V a
+-+
Figure 7 40 Classical track on bridge (a) and its FE model built Lising CWERR (b) Loading cases tenipe~atui-evariation and
bi-aking of tram
The rarls and bridge are modelled by beam elements, whereas the long~tudinalbehav~ourof ballast
and fasteners IS described by sprlng f~niteelements (stiffness
). Since the bridge Itself can also
move in the longitudinal drection, sprlng elements under the bridge (stiffness K , ) , represent~ngthe
long~tudinalstiffness of bridge supporis, have been introduced. It should be noted that other track
structures such as slab track with d~rectfasten~ngor embedded rail structcire on a br~dgecan be modelled as well by adjusting the spring st~ffnessK,
4-
The effect of the tram's brakinglaccelerating is modelled by distributed loads which are applied to the
rarls over the length of a train as shown in Figure 7.40. In order to slmulate the behav~ourof the structure caused by a temperature variat~on,thermal loads are applied to the ra~lsand bridge Another feature of the 'track on bridge' model 1s the possib~lltyto take the effect of eccentricity In the top and
centre of the bridge deck into account as shown in F~gure7.41
Figure 7 42 shows numer~calresults of a study
case regarding a classical track on a concrete
brldge (Figure 7.40).The brtdge has a length of
125 meters and is subjected to the vertlcal loads
due to braklng of a train (along the track length of
20 meters) and temperature variation (35" C for
ralls and 20" C for a bridge) The results In
Figure 7.42 contain long~tudinald~splacementsof
ralls and bridge as well as normal forces occurring
In ra~ls By analysing the resulting displacements
and stresses, i.e checking whether the maximum
allowable values of displacements and stresses of
ralls and other components of a track have been
a track
exceeded, the quality and
design can be estimated. Practical applications of
such a model Include analyses of flyover budges in
Utrecht and Maartensdijk In the Netherlands [262]
-?
P"
'YIll
lrri
2 70
zY 1 8 0
<
:
-12 00
c
Eslrpi
il
a,
090
Z -18 00
?
ruw
1 00
-24.00
0 00
-0 50
3 50
7 50
X[1 OA2]
11 50
-0 50
3 50
7 50
X[1 OA2]
11 50
0 00
45 00
50 00
55 00
60 00
X[lOA1]
65 00
1-
r
AT ("C)
AT ("C)
r
I
f
F""
6,
P
t
Lateral Deflect~on,rnm
ia""
Yivri
Approach 1 for d e f e r m ~ n ~ n
LIT
g
In this approach, the buckling energy versus temperature Increase relatlonshlp is used as a crlteron
for choosing AT, e.g Level 2 Safety IS based on an allowable temperature whlch corresponds to a
temperature at which a finlte buckling energy exists that n larger than zero but less than the maxlmum value at TBjMIN Determination of the buckling energy is based on a program called CWRBUCKLE from US DOT (Department Of Transportation). Research to date suggests uslng the 50Sb
Buckllng Energy Level (BEL)
T~~~ =
P:
F
k
Fi
lvoii
i
IS
nltion of AT may be based on the model predict~onof TB,Mnx and TB MIN. The program CWERRI can
be used to determine these levels. This safety concept was recently ihcorporated into UIC Leaflet 720
through ERR1 D202 The results can be summarized as follows:
For all CWERRI calculat~ons:first calculate AT = TB,Mnx - TB,MIN:
if
AT 20 'C TALL= TBIMIN+ 2546 of AT,
~f 5 'C < AT < 20 'C TALL= TB MIN,
if 0 'C < AT < 5 "C.TALL= TB bllN - 5 OC;
If
AT < 0 "C Not allowable ~nmarn lines.
'
I?
R
4rsi
?'@
In the last case progressive buckling (PB) occurs which means that elastlc and plastlc lateral defoimaticn easlly fade Into each other. PB IS common in low ballast quality structires
1
'?7
J
F I ~ L I7I48
~ Study case stability of train c i i n ~ etrack
7.5.8
*I
In the following example the stability of a tram track on curve is investigated (see Figure 7.48). A tram
track turn is characterised by a relatively small radius of curvature Therefore, in case of loss of stabil-
ity, a progressive buckling of a track occurs To analyse the track structure, the model given in
F~gure7 43 has been used The parameters of the model are given in Figure 7.49 The effect of some
of a track structure's properties, such as quality of ballast (Fp) radius of curvature (R), and amplitude
of m~salignment( h ) on its stability is shown in Figure 7.49. From these results it can be deduced that
quality of ballast, which is defined by the degree of compactness of ballast particles, is crucial for
track stability As expected, the chance of buckling is higher on sharper (smaller radius of curvature)
curve tracks for ballast of the same quality Misalignment of the rail also has a negative effect on the
track stability
Track geometry
R=50m
h=8m
h=O01m
Tcr=9 G
-7-
Ballast propertles
Fp = FI = 20 kNlm'
Kl = 5 MNlmlm'
Wp = 0 005 m
Kv = 70 MNlmIm'
WI = 0 02 m
Kt = 141 kNlm1radlm'
cp=086
good ~Fp=ZOkNirn)
Tcr=ZL 5
00
'
0 05
01
Displacement (m)
Effect of rn~salignment
,-3-h=001rn
Tcr=225 '
2,
0
ma,
0 05
01
Displacement (m)
0 05
Displacement (m)
01
201
1
&*1
I
"
P I O C I ~Railway
~IJ
Track
8EALLASTEDTR.ICK
i
BALLASTED TRACK
8.1
Introduction
L,
This chapter deals with the principles according to which ballasted track. also called 'classical track'
Or 'conventional track', is constructed. A detailed discussion of every type of track structure and its
variants IS beyond the scope of this book. Only a few examples will be given wlth the main intention of
illustrating the principles.
The classical railway track basically conslsts of a flat framework made up of rails and sleepers which
IS supported on ballast. The ballast bed rests on a sub-ballast layer whlch forms the translton layer to
the formation. Figure 8.1 and Figure 8 2 show the construction principle of the classical track structure. The rails and sleepers are connected by fastenlngs These components and other structures
such as switches and crossings are all considered as part of the track. The particulars of sw~tches
and crossings are discussed in Chapter 11
r
p-
i,
L
P
b
P
lliu
I
Figure 8 2 Principle of track str~icture
longit~idinalsection
I
1
I
.I
Since the beginning of the railways. the principle of the ballasted track structure has not changed sub-
stantially Important developments after the Second World War include: introduction of continuous
welded rail. use of concrete sleepers. heavler rall-profiles, lnnovatlve elastic fastenlngs, rnechanlsatlon of malntenance. and introduction of advanced measuring equipment and maintenance management systems As a result. the traditional ballasted superstructure can still satisfy the high demands,
as demonstrated by the TGV-tracks In France.
eW
IA"
Ld
7n1
T
-I
-1
4
3 BALLASTED T P 4 C K
-I
l
a
- proven technology,
- relat~velylow construction costs;
"1
I
uop!
&
- good elast~city;
tvrl
'"E"I
I
iPu
"T
rn
I
The type of strclcture chosen depends not only on the expected axle loads and speeds, but also on
the required servlce life, the type and amount of maintenance, local conditions, and availability of
baslc materials. Thls means that the choice of track system is a technical and economical questlon
whlch has to be answered according to each individual case Of great importance here IS the relatlon
between costs for laying and costs for renewlng the track, not forgetting the continual maintenance
costs The eventual aim is to arrive at minimum costs for total maintenance and renewal, or In other
words, m~nlmumtotal I ~ f ecycle costs
br!
I":
I
vsrl
Due to certaln disadvantages of ballasted track which are becoming more and more prominent in
modern railway operation, slab track design IS evolving into a very competitive alternative. The discussion whether slab track should prevail over ballasted track is discussed separately ~nChapter 9,
as well as the technological details of the slab track design.
a
yll
P"1
IS
ur'
8.2
Formation
""1
!A
The substructure or subgrade consists of the formation which includes slopes, verges, ditches, and
any structures with~nthem.
The formation must have sufficient bearing strength and stablllty, must show reasonable settlement
behavour, and must provide good dralnage of rain and melted snow from the ballast b e d If the exlstIng subgrade cannot meet these requirements properly, the soil can be improved by e~therdigging a
trench, consolldatlng the ground by mechanical means, or stabilizing the ground by chemical means.
In Chapter 5 a classification system IS presented for the quality of soils.
I
I
I
The formation must be well consolidated and must have adequate bearlng strength Furthermore, the
profile must not differ too greatly from the design profile
3
D
1
,
97% Proctor;
204
9
ki
10 mm.
8 BALLASTED TBACK
To promote good f~lteringaction an intermediate layer IS placed between ballast bed and formation
This consists of a layer of gravel ballast about 10 cm thick with a grain size of 5140 mm The function
of the intermed~atelayer is to separate the coarse-grain ballast from the fine sand. Thls layer also
contr~butesto better load distribution and provrdes protection against frost. The global requirements
for the sub-ballast layer are:
- bearing strength
PI
hi
8.3
Ballast bed
The ballast bed consists of a layer of loose, coarse grained material which, as a result of ~nternalfriction between the grains, can absorb considerable compressive stresses, but not tensile stresses. The
bearing strength of the ballast bed in the vertical direction IS considerable, but In the lateral direction rt
is clearly reduced.
The thickness of the ballast bed should be such that the subgrade IS loaded as uniformly as poss~ble.
The optimum thickness IS usually 25 to 30 cm measured from the lower side of the sleeper.
In addition to its load distributron function and provision of lateral res~stance,the ballast bed's dra~ning
effect is important as its storage capacity during downpours IS an aspect which should not be underestimated.
When finishing the subgrade and ~nstallingthe layers of ballast, great attention must be paid to detail
in order to prevent d~fferentialsettlements with deviat~onswhich are lrmited to 10 mm
Contamination of the ballast bed may have external or internal causes, such as attrition and weatherIng of the ballast material or upwards penetration of fine particles In the form of a clay (loam) m~xture
referred to as slurry
A contaminated ballast bed hinders water dralnage which results in reduced shear resistance and
freezrng during frost The most important requirements to be met by the ballast mater~alare hardness,
wear resistance, and good particle size distribution. The partrcles themselves must be cubic and have
sharp edges.
- cr~ished
stone: broken, sol~d,or sedimentary rock such as porphyry, basalt, granite, gneiss, lime-
stone, sandstone, etc. Grading is 30160 m m for main l~nesand 20140 mm for switch and crossing
work and level crossings. Generally speaking, crushed stone has many favourable properties
Some propert~esare, however, susceptible to weathering, giving rise to the possibility of mud formation.
- gravel: obtarned from rivers; 20150 mm grading. Gravel is very hard, but IS made up of round
grains which means that a gravel ballast bed has a low Internal friction level
TIn7
'
' J-1
_J
-7
I
8 BALLASTED TRACK
11
Figure 8 3
shows the
result of a comprehensive study into ballast
IT
ud
m
w
w
par(
*---a
Recommended hmit
1
r
d
m
k
8.4
Rails
8.4.1
Functions
an(
The rail can be seen as the most important component of the track structure and has the following
functions.
"I
- it accommodates the wheel loads and distributes these loads over the sleepers or supports.
wi
mI
- it guides the wheel in a lateral direction, any horizontal transverse forces on the rail head being
Y
- it provides a smooth running surface and distributes accelerating and braking forces by means of
adhes~on;
- it acts as an electrical conductor on an electrified line,
1k7
"1
8.4.2
Profile types
- flat-bottom rail. This is the standard profile used as a general rule in conventional track.
- non-standard profile This type differs from the flat-bottom rail in that the web thickness is greater
p
J
0
a
In order to cater for switch and crossing components, expansion devices, etc;
- grooved rail. This type is used in enclosed track structures such as roadways. yards. etc
rn
L
8 BALLASTED TRACK
r
C-
d
Figure 6 4 Rail profile types
standard rail
track
grooved rail
block rail
c r a n e rail
i"
The block rail is part of the Nikex-structure. The crane rail is designed to support hoisting cranes with
high wheel loads. In order to reduce the noise emitted by rails, new rail designs are nowadays proposed which are very compact and are used as embedded rails in slab track.
8.4.3
G e o m e t r y of flat-bottom rail
The Vignole rail (or flat-bottom rail) is derived from the I-profile in which, for the purposes of suppod
and guidance. the upper flange is converted to form a rail head. Rall profiles which are used extensively in Europe include the 54 E l (UIC 54) and the 60 E l (UIC 60)which are shown in Figure 8 5
and Figure 8.6. The numbers refer to the rounded weight in kg per meter.
F ~ g i ~ 8r e5 V~gnoletype ra11prof~les
From the point of view of function, flat-bottom rail can be divided into three parts.
-
rail head: the form must be such that good contact with the wheel tire profile is ensured. The
dimensions of the rail head must be sufficient to provide a h ~ g hwear margin;
- rail web: the thickness of the web is determ~nedby the requirement for adequate stiffness against
bending and buckling, even when affected by corrosion. In jointed rails the holes for the joints are
made in the web To allow fish-plating, the areas of trans~tionto rail head and rail foot, known as
the fishing surfaces, are inclined The fillet radii must be grsater than 6 mm in order to prevent
stress concentrations;
foot. the width of the rail foot must be large to provide for the stability of the rail profile. load
distribution to the sleeper. and the required moment of ~nertiain the lateral drection
- rail
- -.
e
P
ktd
C
P
l 1
I
8 BALLASTED TRACK
-1
IJ
The rail foot also serves to fasten the rail either directly or indirectly to the sleeper When replacing
the rail with another profile, it must not be forgotten that different foot widths cannot always s~mplybe
accommodated by the existlng fastening.
Shape and dimension deviations in r a ~profiles.
l
which arise during the manufacturing process, must
not exceed certain limits as these may cause problems during processing and can result in high
dynamic forces.
rql"ll
When building the track it is also recommended to use rails from the same batch and to assemble
idw'
these rails in the same rolling direction. For this purpose. the rails are marked with a coding system
flnl
The metallurgical, wear, and failure aspects of rails are dealt with in the special Chapter 10.
w
Fm
8.5
8.5.1
Introduction
ri
7
ri
Joints and welds are used to form a connection between separate lengths of rail. Geometrical deviations must be small enough to limit dynamic effects Strength and stiffness must be approximately
that of the complete rail. The following options exist.
w
II*
b*al
d
6m
bad
Iri
metallurgical welds, such as flash butt welds, thermit welds, and electric arc welds,
rarl
I
d
~"al
uri
In order to be distinguished from metallurgical welds. the other types are described as fishplated
joints
8.5.2
fishplated joints
Fishplated joints are used to connect rails in jointed track. The joint is made by means of fish-plates
and fish bolts as shown in Figure 8 7. Axial displacements as a result of changes in temperature must
be accommodated.
On account of the high impact effect, fishplated joints are often fitted to double sleepers. I e two coupled sleepers. Although the load is distributed over two sleepers, the joint still requires a great deal of
maintenance Moreover, the different sleeper pattern demands extra attention during mechanical
tamping
In view of the large amount of extra maintenance required, fishplated joints are used as little as possble.
208
h/ooer,n Ra~iwavTrack
8 BALLASTED TRACK
8.5.3
r1-
These features serve to keep certain structures stress-free if the track on the structure is subject to
large displacements as a result of temperature differences or creep
On some ra~lways,l ~ k eBR, expansion jo~ntsare made from suitably mach~nedstandard rails The
expanslon jornt, shown In Figure 8.8, IS constructed from a non-standard r a ~and
l
allows a maximum
axial displacement of 120 mm Expansion joints are expenslve and are only used in jo~ntedtrack near
the moveable bearings of falrly large structures, at the end of CWR track, or at changes in structure
such as sw~tches,crossings, and br~dges
fl
bli
IYPd@
Figure 8 8 Expans~onjomt
The expansion device conslsts of a fixed stock rall and a blade, as illustrated In Figure 8.9, which can
move parallel to the stock rail over a maxlmum dlstance of 220 mm Thls device IS used on CWR
track on structures wlth a large expansion length.
I"
LE
F
iulj
---
i"
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
8 BALLASTED TRACK
8.5.4
Bridge transition s t r u c t u r e s
These structures take account of the lifting or turning movement of the bridge. A dist~nctionis made
between two types The transition structure with a skew joint is used in bridges which move vertically
and is s~milarto the expansion joint. The filler-type transition structure, depicted in Figure 8 10, is
used in bridges which cannot be raised such as bascule br~dges.In this case. the wheel rests partly
on the filler which can be pushed back before the br~dgeis opened.
I
d
T
i
nr
8.5.5
Insulated joint
In order to separate track c~rcuitswhen operating the automatic block system, insulated jo~ntsare
used Such rall joints must be used exclus~velyto insulate each adjoining rail. for the mechanical
properties of the plain r a ~ must
l
be matntained as much as possible The jolnts are made of fishplates, bolts, and insulating material
For the most part a dlstinctlon IS made between two kinds of insulated joint:
I
d
'B
This jont Includes a 6mm nylon end post in the gap between the rails and a synthetic Ilnng
between the fsh-plates and rails. The fish bolts and the fish-plates are insulated too Since large
l~ngitudinalforces cannot be w~thstood.this structure is not suitable for CWR track.
"1
.d
This joint IS made in a similar way to the non-glued joint except for the linings The insulatng effect in
this case, as shown in Figure 8.11, is obtained by using synthetic adhesive This joint is capable of
transferring forces in CWR track of up to about 1000 kN. These jolnts can either be made in the workshop or can be prefabricated in a piece of rail which is then later thermit welded into the track On NS
rail the electrical res~stance(~mpedance)must be at least 10 R at 100 kHz
Nylon 66 bar
Spacer
Lined thread
Reinforced
fishplate
Synthetic glue
7
d
8 BALLASTED TRACK
IS
as follows:
I'
I
pl'~
iilll
e
/@
1
r"
Thermit weld
ik
Therm~twelds were developed to enable a good metallurgical weld to be made in the track using relatively simple equipment The method makes use of a m~xtureof aluminrum powder and iron oxrde
whrch at a high temperature is converted to alumina and steel. The heat released causes the temperature to rlse to about 2500 'C [ I 8 5 1 The process, which for as far as the speclfrc welding part is concerned lasts about 15 minutes, is basically as follows.
C"
P"
La
- crucible is installed,
r"p
FB
- mrxture IS rgnited, reaction: 2AI + Fe203-> AI2O3 + 2Fe + 850 kJ;
k%
'
ia
Electric a r c weld
("
In the electric arc welding process the weld is built up from the rail foot inside a copper "casng" using
electrodes The procedure lasts 15 to 20 minutes and is basrcally as follows,
F
I
Modern Ra~lvbay7iach
8 BALLASTED TZACK
fI-
Timber sleepers
8.5.2
hardwood sleeljers (beech. oak. tropical varieties). This type is stronger and has a longer service
11fe Hardwood sleepers are used, for instance, in switches and crossings and where fastenings
are applied without baseplates.
Switch and crossing sleepers, called bearers, have a normal cross-section yet are longer. up to 5 50
m, and should be completely flat to accommodate switches. Bridge sleepers are specially dimensioned timber sleepers for use on steel bridges.
Once delivered, timber sleepers have to undergo a number of treatments, as described below, before
they can be laid in the track.
- diying period of at least 9 months until the motsture level has fallen to 20 -
E
F
k;
P
&
lid
Pt@
- processing such as
iiu
- creosoting (conserving) timber sleepers against biological attack (fungi. insects etc.) The creosote
/@'
is ~mpregnatedinto the wood under high pressure after which some of the oil is recovered by
applying a vacuum;
ir%i
I '
Moder~iRa~lway7; 3ck
8 BALLASTED TRACK
I
-J
i
I
" 17
On the whole, the service life of treated sleepers does not depend on weathering but on mechanical
effects
8.6.3
Concrete sleepers
IJ
The development and use of concrete sleepers became sign~ficantafter the Second World \Nar owing
"3
to the scarclty of wood, the introduction of CWR track, and the improvements in concrete technology
and pre-stressing techniques.
id
Advantages:
3
9
U
- heavy weight (200-300 kg), useful in connection with stability of CWR track;
- long service llfe provlded fastenings are good or can be replaced easlly;
- great freedom of deslgn and construct~on,
- relatively slmple to manufacture
Drawbacks:
b*i
- susceptible to corrugat~onsand poor quality welds;
P"i
isllr
25% higher,
- res~dualvalue IS negative.
""i
ipi
F"1
1
I*rJ
tvri
twin-block sleeper This type conslsts of two blocks of reinforced concrete connected by a coupllng rod or pipe. Unt~labout 1990, NS made use of the UIC 54 concrete sleeper, shown in
Figure 8.1 5 with DE fastenings The blocks are connected by means of a synthetic plpe filled with
re~nforcedconcrete The upper surface of the blocks has a 1.40 inclination whlch corresponds with
[he rail inclination. The weight IS approximately 210 kg. Figure 8 17 shows a TGV track on SNCF
with concrete twin-block sleepers provided with Nabla rail fasteners (F~gure8 26),
"9
1Po
i
7
Y
!lid
f7
b
Fig~ire8 14 Pans-Est TGV track w ~ t htwtn-block concrete sleepers and Nabla rail fasteners
214
r
-
8 BALLASTED TRACK
p--
L-I
monoblock sleeper This is based on the shape of a beam and has roughly the same dimensions
as a timber sleeper Since 1990, the NS has used this type of sleeper ~nnew lines and renewals
because it is considered to endure the higher and intenswe loadings better than the tw~n-block
sleeper. This pre-stressed sleeper, coded NS 90, is shown in Figure 8 16. The rail is fastened
using Vossloh clips. Figure 8 17 shows an example of a track fitted with pre-stressed concrete
sleepers The rail IS fastened uslng Pandrol clips.
r
i
i
k
lncl~nat~on
1 40
2250
I"
k~
v
hr
abt
FM
F
irPvi
e
--
225
835
--
400
2520
&ri
sleeper on dellvery
-.-- - -
sleeper ~nservice
F
iirri
la:
L
Esri
Figure 8 16 Prestlessed monoblock sleeper
P
kd
The advantages of the twln-block sleeper over the monoblock sleeper are
FM1
ks
- high lateral resrstance in the ballast bed because of the double number of surface areas.
PW
'IrpI
315
3 BALLASTED TRACK
There IS a direct lhnk between the level of pressure and the deterloratlor of the track. Decreasing the
average pressures on the ballast w ~ l lead
l
to a lower rate of detertoratron. To achleve thrs, one can
use a heav~erra~l-profllewhich spreads the load over more sleepers, decrease the drstance between
the sleepers, or Increase the bearrng surface of the sleepers themselves by making them longer or
broader. Several attempts have been made with broader sleepers and slab sleepers, but these were
not successful.
8.7.2
Wide sleeper
Because the track can now be consrdered as a continuous slab of discrete elements, tamplng can
only take place at the end of the sleepers or the edge of the "slab". The tamping devlce must be
turned 90 degrees.
id
The ftrst trials started in Waghausel Germany in 1996 with 450m. After 50 MGT, the Q-value was
deterrn~nedat 28 meanrng a 'good' to 'very good' track geometry Afterwards, a track of 6-km between
HomburgiSaar and Bexbach was reconstructed and completed In October 1997 next to a tradltlonal
reference track The maxlmum allowed speed was 120 kmlh with traffic loadlng of 18.500-21 000
tonneslday, curve-radii up to 350 m wlth maximum cant of 135 mm.
The continuous measurements show the following results
- Hlgh track bed stabil~ty;
- Increase of 15 % ~nthe sideways-stability;
Lab
P
luu'
- lncrease of the alrborne notse emlsslon by 2 d 6 (A) whlch can be halved by applyrng noise-reductlon measures;
PI
bi
F
&
The construction costs are approximately 10 to 20 % hlgher than for normal ballasted track. These
addttlonal costs w ~ l be
l compensated In the medrurn-term through the decreased amount of malntenance
if@
Fn
I
1
8.7.3
Frame sleeper
wu'
""1I
bol
The double H-shaped concrete sleeper (Figure 8.19) was tested in Austria These elements can be
considered as two sleepers whlch are connected at the fastening systems with 'bridges' The same
principal as with the wide sleeper IS used to Increase the bearing surface of the sleeper and, thus,
decrease the pressure on the ballast The elements are 2.4 m long and 0 95 m wide w ~ t htwo sets of
rail fastenlngs per element Between the fastening system, the rall Itself IS supported by the concrete
bridge whlch provides a quasi-continuous rall support. Underneath the sleeper elements a 12 mm
thlck polymer layer will provlde a better spreading of the loading and additional damplng Test results
showed a reduction in settlements of two-th~rdscompared to a normal sleeper
pnsh
kid
pn,
I
d
p"l
I
4
d
A parallel Austrlan development IS the frame sleeper deplcted In Figure 8 20 [237].The arrangement
of 4 fasteners per frame-sleeper creates a very high stiffness In the horizontal plane, supportrng the
stability of the alignment and Increasing the buckling strength beyond the llmlts presently in existence
An elastic pad is ~ncorporatedlnto the concrete structcire at the frame-sleeper-bottom to lmprove the
ballast-concrete interface
Very high lateral resistance and frame stiffness offer best provisions for a durable alignment. The
reduced settlements and settlement-differences indicate a much more durable track geometry and
thus a higher avallabilrty of the infrastructure.
i\/iocle~n?ai/wav Tiack
8 GALLASTED TRACK
8.7.4
Using a mrxture of lrquid resins and hardeners, ballast IS glued together. Glueing occurs only at the
points of partlcle contact, transformrng loose materral Into a high-resistance compound material and
preventing lf from loosening and subsrding from the sleeper front.
Ballast bindrng is appied in order to prevent damaging of the ballast bed caused by Ice blocks falling
off tralns. In winter Ice forms on the underside of rarlway carriages whrch means that extremely heavy
blocks of Ice can build up due to the considerable clearance below the carriage. When those blocks
become detached from the carnages at hlgh speeds, they can cause consrderable damage When
the blocks of ice strrke the ballast they cause explosion-lrke reactions on the ballast stones
There IS an rncreased risk of blocks of Ice comlng loose In long tunnels due to temperature changes
or abrupt changes In alr pressure. Therefore, In long tunnels the track ballast in front of the sleeper
ends is stabllised through an Inert, non-toxrc blndlng agent. Thrs agent allows the danger caused by
depressrons In the ballast bed around the sleepers due to the dispersal of ballast stones to be prevented to a large degree.
Thls klnd of ballast stab~l~sat~on
IS also belng applred at transition zones between slab track and ballast superstructures, road crossings, track stops, switches, in order to prevent ballast whirlrng on
hlgh-speed Ilnes, as general ballast stabrllsation, to improve the cleanlng properties of tracks at statlons and to Improve dralnage properties at shuntlng emplacements.
8.8
Fastening systems
P,
I
u[lJ
8.8.1
Introduction
The term "fastenrng systems" or In short "fastenrngs" IS consrdered to includa all the components
whrch together form the structural connection between rall and sleeper. All over the world a great varlety of fastenlngs exlsts to which new types are regularly added In order to keep up wrth changes in
requlrements and opinions or due to the avarlsblllty of new materials The cholce of fastening also
greatly depends on the propert~esand structure of the sleeper.
Ff
- To absorb the rall forces elastically and transfer them to the sleeper The vertlcal clamplng force of
the rail on the sleeper must be suffic~entIn all load sltuat~ons,even In case of wear, In order to provide the necessary longltudrnal reslstance to llmlt the breathing length in CWR ra~l,to lrmit gaps In
the case of r a ~fractures,
l
and to resist creep,
P
icrrJ
s0"lI
Y
rn
The longrtudinal resistance between rail and sleeper should be at least 15 kN so that rt is much
greater than the longitudrnal shear resistance of the sleeper In the ballast bed. This would amount to
5 kN for half a sleeper Thrs means that In the case of large axlal rail forces the fastening remams
rntact and the sleepers move In the ballast bed.
In the case of CWR track wlth drrect fastening on viaducts, rt IS necessary to ensure that the longltudinal force caused by d~fferencesrn temperature, which the flxed support of the viaduct has to transfer,
is not too great. This longrtudrnal force IS, at the most, the sum of the slldlng forces over the length of
the vraduct. By usrng specral nylon rarl pads the longrtud~nalreslstance can be reduced
F*l
F1
lp
P41
kd
3
_J
8 BALLASTED TPACb'
8.8.2
Modern Ra~lwayJiack
Subdivision of fastenings
the same fasteners. D~rectfastenlngs also include the fastenlng of track on structures w~thoutballast bed and sleepers;
- indirect fastenings entail that the rail is connected to an intermediate component, such as the
baseplate, by other fasteners than those used to fix the intermed~atecomponent to the sleeper.
The advantages of lnd~rectfastenlngs are that the rail can be removed without having to undo the
fastenlng to the sleeper and the rntermed~atecomponent can be placed on the sleeper In advance.
dU
m
kd
m
1
irri
8.8.3
Baseplates
The rails can be fastened to the sleepers with or without the use of steel baseplates Baseplates are
provlded w ~ t hsloping upper surfaces and upright ribs between which the rail is locked The force
components are depicted in Figure 8 21.
Using baseplates has the follow~ngadvantages.
- The vertical load IS d~stributedover a larger area of the sleeper. This lengthens the servlce life of
the sleeper;
- The horrzontal load IS absorbed better because of friction and because it is distributed over all the
fastenings anchored in the sleeper. Baseplates are excellent for susta~nlnglarge lateral forces if
large cant deficiencies are provided,
pa*
b
rzr*,
tPu
- The overturning moment causes less force on the fastenings in the sleeper;
- Baseplates have a high bend~ngstiffness and grooves In the r ~ b sprovide good fastening locat~ons
for the r a ~ l ,
- Baseplates glve extra weight to the sleeper
p"i
Blrl
Id
0
3
F"1
Sleeper l ~ f ein combination with baseplates can be dramatically extended by applying an araldite
compound b e t l ~ e e nbaseplate and sleeper The NS experience was that sleeper life could be doubled
to tr~pledthrough this measure Figure 8 22 clearly shows the d~fferencebetween treated and nontreated sleepers whlch came from the same test sect~on
73n
8.8.4
Elastic fastenings
The introduction of CWR track gave rise to the need for fast
ings with greater elasticity. Certainly in the case of concr
sleepers, which are susceptible to impacts, this is an absolute
necessity. Since the end of the fifties the i\JS has used the DE clip
(Deenik, Eisses). This component is fitted to both timber sleepers
and concrete sleepers as shown for instance in Figure 8.15. The
DE clip, which can also be used in combination with baseplates,
is usually fitted in a holder. The clip holder is fixed to the sleeper
by means of pins which are cast into concrete sleepers or, as in
the case of timber sleepers, are pushed into pre-drilled holes.The
DE clip is installed using special equipment.
As tnere is no threaded screw connection, in principle no maintenance or adjustment is theoretically required. 6ut this so-called
'fit-and-forget' principle also implies a drawback. If manufacturing
tolerances are not met or if excessive wear occurs, there i s n o
means of adjusting the fastening.
Figure 8 22 Effect of sleeper treatment
wit/?araldiie
kbJ
Other examples of elastlc fastenings are the Pandrol standard cl~p,shown in F~gure8 23, the Pandrol
Fastclip. shown in F~gure8 24, the Vossloh fasten~ng,shown in Figure 8 25, and the Nabla cllp,
depicted In Flgure 8 26
I
i"'
L
8 BALLASTED TRACK
rI
C
Soft
Normal
Hard
TYP~
Stiffness k [kNImm]
(Fc.584)
(Fc846)
970
(Fc9)
1420
2990
3032
Damping c [kNslrn]
32
34
29
29
Table 8 7
EVA
F"
I
P
I
k
fibp
I
Throughout thrs book rail pads are mentioned wrth respect to thelr specific applications and important
contrrbution to the dynamrc behavlour of the track on structures with a continuous ballast bed and
sleepers
hi.
p
La
8.9
On short non-moveable bridges and viaducts it IS worthwhrle to continue the ballast bed on top of the
adjolnrng subgrade onto the structure In order to avold discontinuit~esat the transition. Although this
causes an extra static load on the structure, the train load is dlstrlbuted more uniformly. In addition,
the usual methods for layrng and marntaining ballast track can be applled w~thout~nterruptlon.The
ballasted bed also smoothes the differentlal drsplacements due to the differences In temperature of
the conttnuous welded rails and the structure itself. To conclude, the ballast bed has good noise and
vibratlon damprng properties.
To Improve the structural behavlour of ballasted track some developments are discussed.
- Ballast mats;
- Soffit pads,
- Super-elastic fastenings.
n
8.9.1
Ballast mats
Yru
p
b
lvPli
l*n
U
Figure 8 29 A~pItcationof bailastmat
P"1
C
i t
? B4LLASTED TRACK
td
I
I
'1
1
id
rq
iI
Ballast mat
type
Track deflection
Found modulus
[N/mm3]
[mml
13
Mat A1
0 030
22
Mat A2
0 025
30
Mat B
0.025
35
No mats
O5
0 045
:o 04
E
%"
O3
0
Excitation frequency [Hz]
F~gure8 30 Dynamic stlffiless of ballast mats
Table 8.2 lists some results of static deflection measurements of a track preloaded by a 210 kN axle load Two knds of ballast mat and two
degrees of stiffness were involved in the test.
The dynamic stiffness of ballast mats depends on the preload, amplitude, and frequency as demonstrated by Figure 8 30, which shows the almost linear relation between dynamic stiffness and frequency
Comparative measurements revealed that the stiffness amplification factor. which is the ratio between
dynamic and static stiffness, is of the order of 3
Soff~fpad
Another way to attenuate track vibrations is to use sleeper soffit pads. The pads are placed between
the sleeper and the ballast according to Figure 8.31 The composite pad comprises 22 mm of rubberbonded cork with a hard facing to prevent damage by the ballast particles.
UIC 54
774
Ballast
Soffit pad
a BALLASTED TRACI(
r
iI
L
F-
I
I ,
Section A-A
C
f"
k,
F"
Ck,
fl
8.1 0
Reinforcing layers
Figure 8 32 Elast~csuppod of rails by means of "Cologne Egg"
F"Fi
Cllbl
k
him
6 BALLASTED TPACK
8.1
Level crossings
These are constructed when road and rail cross at the same level Only the most important types
used on main line track are considered liere
Universal plates.
Figure
a 34
For moderately heavy road traffic the universal structure is provided with heavier plates with a thickness of 19 cm
For heavy road traffic the universal structure is too light, thus enta~linga huge increase in maintenance In such situations it is worth installing much heavier and more expensive structures which
require very little maintenance.
Harmelen crossing
This monolithic structure. shown in Figure 8 35, was developed on Netherlands Railways to cope with
moderately heavy to heavy road traff~cThe slabs are prefabricated. The covering is made of a material which has the required surface roughness and is resistant to the impact loads produced by road
traffic at the locations of the grooves provided for the train wheels
During installation the slab is positioned as required and the space underneath the slab is filled with a
fast-setting mortar whlch is injected through holes in the slab so that within a few hours the structure
is ready for operation The rails are sunk into gutters lined with cork-rubber pads and filled with a speclal polyurethane castng compound For details reference is made to the embedded rail structure
described in Section 9.8
8 BALLASTED TRACII
r
L
8.12
Tramway Track
8.12.1
'
ri
Tramway track differs from national railway track considerably The railways mainly operate on open
track, generally consisting of continuous welded rail on sleepers embedded in stone ballast. The only
l
ports and at level
places where the railways have to deal wlth the combination of road and r a ~ are
crossings, In those situations a modified type of track structure is used (see 5.1 0). Most of a city tram
operators' network consists of paved-in structures, 1.e. tram structures where trams and road traffic
share the same space Grooved rails are used in this situation. to ensure that the tram wheel flange
has sufficient space in the road surface. The same goes for light rail (in fact an upgraded tram system).
- Exclus~vetram way
dl
track
IS
TUI
Ulllli
P
Lu
This type is built as 'closed' track, which means that only specific categories of road veh~clessuch as
buses (public transport), publ~cservices and sometimes taxies are allowed to make use of this trarnway
ivir
F:
5 SALLASTED TFACK
Trams and road vehicles use the same traffic surface This IS always a closed track structure.
For tram, speed and axle loads are much lower comparing with railways. Light rall IS a name for a
system that is in between normal railways and trams. You could see it as an upgraded tram system.
Trams usually have an average speed of 20 kmih, while light rail in urban areas aims for an average
of 25 to 35 kmlh or even higher.
Track geometry for tram and l~ghtrail differs from the common rail system: the curves of the track will
have a much smaller radius, making it possible for the tramllight rail vehicle to be integrated in the
existing city infrastructure.
For trams, normally a minlmum of 25 m radius is used for tracks used in exploitation, while even
smaller curves are possible near the depots Of course the absolute mlnimum radius for the horirontal curve is depending of the construction of the vehicle, especially the nowadays commonly used
articulated ones For light rail, speed is an important issue and therefore curves need to be as large
as possible. When the local situation won't let t h ~ slarge curve to be constructed. the technical conditions of the vehicle will be decislve
For vert~calcurvature, also the vehicle construct~onis decisive for the minimum curve Eiit passengers are demand~ngcomfort and this should be taken into account when designing the track The
maximum acceleration for the passenger should be determined, and depending on the speed of the
veh~cle,the minlmum curve then can be calculated. For tram, a radius of 250 m for vertical curves is
very low but in most cases technically poss~ble,better is to a m for a radius of 1000 to 2000 m as a
minimum
I
Instead of using a tram system, many transport companies switch to the use of Light R a I The advantage is a much higher average speed, for which more free track or better, more exclusive track is
needed The capacity of light rail is higher to, as is the maximum speed. When the track is for 100%
exclcisive and there IS no possibility for the public to walk on the track, it IS even possible to make the
system fully automatic (for instance like the Docklands in London).
Fig~~8
r e41 A v ~ e w011 the tracks from the front c a b ~ nof a
Docklands light iail vehicle Docklancls, London
I
I
3 BALLASTED TRACK
Fi
8.12.2
E x a m p l e s of paved-in t r a m w a y track
Figure 8.42 shows a frequently used constructlon The supportrng structure consrsts
of a 30 cm thick contrnuous slab track. The
grooved rarls are fastened on synthetic
plates wlth an elastlc rail pad in between.
Vossloh rail clips are used.
i"
Joint f i l l
R160
7
Asphalt laver
Before casting the upper concrete layer the rail is covered wrth an elastrc coatrng. The fastenngs are
spaced 100 cm and are provlded wrth a plastrc cap to facilitate the unfastenrng at rail replacement.
The gap between rallhead and adjacent pavement is filled wrth a brtumrnous product, the joint fill.
Figure 8 43 shows the constructron In
progress Clearly vrslble are the synthetrc
plates wlth the Vossloh clamps already
mounted, but not yet under ,t ~ n s r o n
A technically outstandrng but expensive
solution IS the embedded rail principle, grven
In Flgure 8 44. Here the rarl is secured accurately In a steel or concrete gutter after
whrch an elastrc mrxture IS poured rn Thrs
method results In a perfect separation
between rail and pavement. The burlding
procedure should be carried out very accurately and requlres special treatment of the
surfaces The noise and vlbratlon reductron
IS conslderable
The structure IS supposed to be maintenance free Thrs constructron prrnclple is
also used in the Harmelen level crossrng In
The Netherlands. Moreover the embedded
rarl prrnciple 1s consrdered as a strong candrdate for h~gh-speed rallway track (Flgure
9 46).
Pavement
Rubber strip
Nlkex rall
/
Concrete slab
8.13
Crane Track
Cross sectlon
Cross-sect~on
Reinforced
230
M o c i e ~ Railway
i~
fiack
9 SLAB T44CK
PI
i
SLAB TRACK
9.g
Introduction
Although most of the current railway tracks are still of a traditional ballasted type, recent applications
tend more and more towards non-ballasted track. The major advantages of slab track are: low maintenance, high availability, low structure height, and low welght. In addrtion, recent life cycle studres
have shown, that from the cost point of vlew, slab tracks mrght be very competrtive
Experiences In hrgh-speed operation have revealed that ballasted tracks are more maintenance
rntensrve. In particular, due to churning up of ballast particles at high-speed, serlous damage can
occur to wheels and rails, whrch IS of course prevented In the case of slab track.
W ~ t hthe design of railway lines factors like l ~ f ecycle cost, constructron time, availabilrty and durabrlity
play an rncreaslngly important role In thrs respect non-ballasted track concepts offer good opportunlties. Wrth the growth of traff~crntensrty ~tbecomes more and more difficult to carry out maintenance
and renewal work On European networks, night time possessions often last no longer than 5 hours,
or even less Seen agarnst thrs background, the current increase In the popularity of low-maintenance
track designs IS ev~dent
In the past new projects were marnly assessed on the basis of investment costs, whereas today the
principle of lrfe cycle cost~ngis strongly emerglng As a result of these new atirtude, ballasted track
concepts bvlll loose attractiveness In favour of slab track systems
9.2
r""bl
m
&If
FFT
iruid
F
&
The general problem which occurs wrth ballasted track IS the slow deterroratron of the ballast materral
due to traffic loadrng Ballast consrsts of packed loose granular materral of which the grarns wander,
wear, and break up causing rncreaslng geometrical unevenness and clogg~ngof the ballast bed by
frne particles which cause drarnage problems. Therefore, regular maintenance is time after time
needed to restore the track alrgnment.
hlodern Ra~lway?ac,k
9 SLAB TRACK
In ballasted superstructures the sleepers support the rail at every 60 to 80cm distance (Figure 9 I ) ,
Each sleeper can give cause to aberrations in the track geometry In case of a slab track (Flgure 9 2),
the rail supports or rail fasteners are In fixed position
It IS clear that slab track provides far higher lateral and long~tudlnalstability, and deviations of the
track alignment are smaller and less llkely to occur, given a good slab foundation. The condition of the
track geometry is, therefore, very good and will remain likewise, Improving passenger comfort and
considerably decreasing the amount of maintenance.
9.2.1
Ballasted track
In comparison to slab track, disadvantages of ballasted track are (see also Chapter 8, [122], [161])-
- The tendency of the track to "float" in both longitudinal and lateral direction after a period of time;
UL
- Llmited non-compensated lateral acceleration in curves caused by the limited lateral resistance
provided by ballast;
ian;
wheels;
permeability due to contamination, the wear of the ballast, and intrusion of fine particles
from the subgrade;
- Reduced
- A relatively heavy and high track structure requiring stronger constructions for brldges and via-
ducts
R
Yul
I
*b
&
I
'Bn,
, u'
The rate at which the track deteriorates IS closely related to the quality of the track components and
the way they are assembled (at construction), the track geometry, the homogeneity of the subgrade
layers, and the supporting capacity of the subballast.
In the case of continuing ballast beds on bridges (or in tunnels), additional elasticity must be provlded
by.
- Application of ballast mats;
'
@I
rrAi
9.2.2
Slab track
In comparison to ballasted track, the advantages of slab track (or ballastless track) are in general
reduction of malntenance and a higher stablllty of the track [42], [242]:
- The track
- lncreased service Ilfe, and possibility of almost full replacement at the end of the servlce life,
- Near maximum
w"
f7
li
to a large extent maintenance free. Maintenance work like tamplng, ballast cleaning,
and track linrng is unnecessary. Maintenance costs amount to 20 - 30% of the malntenance costs
- e f ballasted track;
IS
li
hi
availability and hardly any hindrance to residents due to scarce nightly malnte-
nance works;
7L,
9 SLAE TRACK
F
L
FI
- Simple corrections up to
La
P
I!&
/&J
n"i
vibration nuisance;
- Pre\~enting
the release of dust from the ballast bed into the envrronment.
fl
iruur
r
In comparison to ballasted track. the disadvantages of slab track or ballastless track are in general.
snl
amounts of work;
- Adaptability to larger displacements in the embankment is relatively small;
- In case of derailment, repair works will take much more time and effort;
The appl~cationof slab track may require extensive measures concerning the preparatron of the foundation The sublayers must be homogenous and capable of bearing the imposed loads without significant settlements The resulting h ~ g hconstruction costs have prevented widespread use of slab track
for main lines so far [119], 12421.
hani
C
Pkruli
9.3
Currently, slab track is mainly being used on high-speed lines, light rail, and civil structures.
r""
Id
T
I
9 SLAB TRACK
i
'-3
L
1%
Without sleepers
Sleepers on
top of asphaltconcrete roadbed
Prefabricated
concrete slabs
Embedded rail
Clamped and
cont~nuously
supported rail
Rheda
Rheda 2000
Zubl~n
LVT
AT D
Sh~nkansen
Bogl
Paved-~ntrack
On civil
structures
Paved-in track
Light r a ~ l
Road cross~ng
DeckTrack
CoconTrack
ERL
Vanguard
KES
94
95
9.6
597
598
5910
Table 9 1 An overview of the possibilities regarding the construction methods for ballastless track
iui
<->
<
<
S 9.8
<
Embedded r a ~(paved-in
l
track, DeckTracka)
>
<
supported rall
<
>
>
>
>
Table 9 2 A possible division between siiperstructures with high and low flexural stiffness
Slab track systems with a low flexural st~ffnessdepend solely on the bearing capacity and the st~ffness of the soil The superstructure, e~therprefabricated or monolith~cslabs, can hardly be exposed
to bending forces In case of unreliable and soft soils, a flexural stiff, reinforced slab can provide extra
strength as it will be able to act as a bridge across weaker spots and local deformations In the subl possible to apply embedded rail (Sect~on
structure In the case of reinforced monol~thicslabs, it w ~ lbe
14.2).
Examples of several specific slab track systems will be glven In the next 6 sect~onsreferred to In
Table 9.2. In Sect~on9.9 the general and top~calsubject about flexural st~ffslabs on top of soft solls
will be d~scussed
9.4
j
m
l?A
Structures of concrete sleepers embedded in concrete are most commonly used In Germany for
newly constructed high-speed lines In general, the track conststs of sleepers cast into concrete
~ n s ~ da econcrete trough or d~rectlyon top of a ccincrete roadbed Examples are the "RhedaU-system
and the "Zub11n"-system
234
9 SLAB TRACK
9.4.1
Rheda 2000
The Rheda system has been under contlnuous development since rts first application in
Vertical sp~ndle
for adjustment
durlng constr~iction
1"1k
Hor~zontalspindle
for adjustment
C
Rhi
lu
!?
b
9 SLAB TRACK
'wJ
FI~L9
I I6~ Tw~n-blocksuppotfing p o ~ n (5
t 355 WGOPl-5s)
The Rheda 2000 system was first rnstalled in July 2000, as part of the German high-speed section
between Leipzrg and Halle. Moreover. variants have been designed for commuter traffic applications
(known as Rheda Crty)
The Rheda 2000 superstructure requires a settlement-free foundation because its rernforcing bars
are appl~edat the centre of the concrete slab wrth as main function to regulate crack-wrdth and transmit lateral forces, not with the purpose of providrng a stiff slab.
Development goals and characteristics o f Rheda 2000
In the Rheda 2000 system the known weak spots of previous d e s i g ~ shave been eliminated, whereas
the princrple of a cast-concrete track layer. consisting of rarls and a framework of sleepers (including
elastic rarl fastenings), was retained. The track IS installed top-down using the top and inner edge of
the rarl as reference surface to achieve high precision track geometry. This technique furthermore
neutral~sesthe effects of unavordable tolerances of track components. In addrtion, the rail fastenrng
system allows for adjustments to compensate for long term differential settlements of the substructure.
The primary development goals for the Rheda system can be listed as follows:
- lmprovement of the monolithrc qualrty;
- Design optrmrsation;
- Uniform system archrtecture;
f7
'
In order to enhance the monolithic quality of the concrete slab, the sleepers in the Rheda 2000 systern were changed from a monoblock desrgn to a precisely dimensioned concrete filigree twin-block
design as seen in Figure 9 6 The geometrically exact supporting points precisely secure the rails in
therr required position In addition, they guarantee an optlmal bond in the cast concrete of the track
layer. d ~ r eto the considerable amount of steel reinforcement, which protrudes from the concrete supporting points
The hrgh concrete qualrty of the supporting points furthermore ensures a strain-resistant bond
between the rail fastenrng system and the concrete track layer This solution consequently guarantees safe, long-term transfers of the hrgh static and dynamic service loads encountered In high-speed
traffic
236
Modem Ra~iwapTrack
9 SLAB TRACK
P-
i"concrete sleeper
6301 W60 and
8302 W60
alternating
3200
2600
rail UIC 60 w ~ t hr a ~fasten~ng
l
system IOARV 300-1
RHL = +O 00
-271
--------@..
-631
.'": ;+@"
l1k
- A
-----_
.:.A;::.*-
CT
6-7
--
concrete trough
(635)
I
i
separating layer
m
h1
HSBl
-931
r,\
Id
19
k
track concrete
3800
hllonolithic qualltes have furthermore been enhanced by elimination of the concrete trough used in
earl~erRheda applications Ideally, the long~tudinal ~nterfacebetween trough and filler concrete
should be fully closed and lmpervlous to surface water. In actual practice. however, several cases
have arisen in which a gap has in fact formed which allowed water to penetrate If such occurrences
continue. Rheda systems which have already been applied will require the necessary maintenance
measures to prevent reductron of sewrce life.
fl
lvdi
Design optimization
By elimnatlng the conventional concrete trough, a slgnrficant simplrficat~onof the overall system configuration was achieved. As a result. the entire cross section of the slab has become one monolithic
component. whereas in the earl~ertrough configuration the filler concrete d d not play a structural role
Due to the elimination of the trough and the use of twin-block sleepers. a considerable reduction of
the structural height could be achreved as is revealed by the height figures in Figure 9.7.
P,
For reasons of cost-effectiveness in planning, engineering, and dimensloning. the Rheda 2000 system design had to fit a varrety of track srtuations encountered in practice. From this objective. soluIlons have been developed for track systems on earthworks, on long and short brldges. in dr~lled
tunne!s. and for cut & cover tunnels. F~gure9.8. Frgure 9.9, and Flgure 9 10 present examples of system cross sections which in actual pract~cecan also be effectively adapted to drfferent conditions
61
I
9 S U E TRACK
M o d e ~ nRailway Tack
turnout cross-section
Ballast
dlvision 60 cm
B 70 W 60
Ballast trans~tst~ckedballast
dtv~sion60 crn 26 x
B 320 W60U
15.60 m
-,
5.20 rn
I
I
I
I
UIC 60
'
\,foam plate
F~g~ii-e
9 1 3 Transit~onbetween ballasted tiack and R~heda2000 on an embankment
Longitudinal section
Slab track system w ~ t h
bl-block sleepers
B 355 WGOM-SBS , I
240
plodem Ra~lwayT;acii
9 SLAB TPACK
-i
,i
- By means of sprndle and spreader bar alignment (se
rn
1d
After t h s post-compactrng the track panel is released from fixation and after another 6 hours the formwork IS removed from the monolrthic slab with sleepers (Frgure 9 18) A cycle time harmonised with
the individual operations enables a daily track production of 500 m
9.4.2
Ziiblin
'
""Z
~
,
I
?l
The Zublin system also consists of concrete twinblock or monoblock sleepers which are embedded in
a monolithrc concrete slab [42], [ 1 9 i ] , [293] (Figure 9 19) In 1974, developments started and directly
focused on finding a highly economic constructing method. One has tired to achieve a high level of
mechanisation combined with a low cost of labour and a high daily turn out of track.
Thrs resulted in the fabrrcation of a continuous concrete slab without berng bothered about a pre-posrtioned track framework. The main difference with other methods of slab track constructron is the fact
that the concrete sleepers are pushed into the fresh concrete by means of vibration The concrete
must be of a consistency which allows the sleepers to be pushed and vibrated into it, but does not
allow the sleepers to srnk (due to their mass) in
241
F
I
Modeln Ra~lwayTrack
9 SLAB TR,4CK
Cross section
B 360 W 60
Ir
C
i
L
7L,
Flg~lre9 19 Closs-secbon of a Zublln s~~perstrilcture
The wish for a high level of mechansatron lead to the development of a successron of machrnes, a
slrpform paver, a machine to vibrate panels of 8 sleepers into the fresh concrete. and a wagon for the
supply of sleeper panels attached to frames.
C o n s t r u c t i o n of Ziiblin slab t r a c k
After so11 improvement a frost-protectrve layer I S
placed On top of that a concrete roadbed IS constructed upon whrch the monolrthrc concrete slab IS
made wrth a slrpform paver The production
machrnes move over a rarl whrch IS Integrated with
the formwork elements necessary for the srde of
the slab (F~gure9 20) The reinforcement is placed
on top of the concrete roadbed between the formwork yet before the slrpform paver levels a n d f~lls
the shcitterrng w ~ t hconcrete (Frgure 9 21) Wrth
thrs system there IS no need for a concrete trough
Modern Raill~vayTrack
9 SLAE TRACK
'Ill 1
I
After the paver has laid the concrete slab, a machine follows which picks
sleepers are connected and pushes them into the freshly pocired concrete
exact, predestined posltion (F~gure9 22 and Flgure 9 23). The preceding
for the follow~ngframe. The exact posit~on1s determined by computerised
blLui
The surface of the slab IS finlshed off by hand and after a given period, during which the concrete has
hardened suff~ciently,the frames are disconnected from the sleepers (Figure 9.24 and Figure 9.25)
Afterwards the elastic r a ~fastenings
l
and the rails are put into place Within an 8-hour shlft a product ~ o nof 150 to 200 m can be ach~eved.
Fig~ire9
hand
2d
~LlociernRailway Track
9 SLAB TRACK
Reinfcrcement principle
The use of the steel reinforcement In the Zublin slab IS
malnly to achieve a regular crack pattern and acceptable
crack-wldths With the Zublin method, the reinforcrng
rods are not placed In the neutral line, but more to the
bottom (Figure 9.26) of the slab giving it some flexural
stiffness too By increasing the height of the slab and the
amount of reinforcement, the Zublin method lends itself
to be constructed as a rigid slab in areas where uncertaintres exist regarding the bear~ngcapacity of the soil.
9.5
1
W
F
With this kind of ballastless structure. classified in the group of slab track structures though without a
slab, sleepers are placed on top of a layer of asphalt-concrete roadbed. This roadbed is made wrth
ordinary pa vng machines It is possible to reach level accuracy of k 2 mm and cant-deficiencies of up
to 130 mm. Hence. the asphalt provldes a strff and level base for the sleepers The space between
the sleepers can be filled with ballast providing extra stability and reducing noise production There IS
also the possibility of applying slabs on top of a layer of asphalt-concrete Asphalt does not requrre
hardening and can be subjected to loading immediately after cooling, so high construction productrvity can be achreved
L
F
l"i
d
Diie to ~ t sspecific material properties, asphalt can be surtable for slab track structures The used
asphalt mixtures do need alteration compared to the mixtures used for roads. In road construction.
the important properties regarding the surface (high friction-resistance and resistance to wear and
tear) are subordinate to resistance to deformation and stability. In the case of ballastless superstructures. resistance to deformation and stability are the required most [I 601
fl
irsi
Asphalt will adapt itself to stresses caused by loading and temperature changes which cause yielding. Therefore, asphalt can be applied as a continuous roadbed. Noise and vibrations are less compared to concrete due to the internal damping properties of asphalt. The material is moreover
reusable In several countries promising experiences have been had with this kind of track.
b
I
7
w
rn
In Germany. several tests have been conducted with stretches of sleepers directly applied on top of
asphalt: 1993, 11500 m at Nantenbach; 1994, 4000 m at Gotha-Elsenbach, 1996, 10260 m at BerllnHannover
lPrv
W
ht#
I he so-called ATD-system consists of a concrete roadbed with a layer of asphalt on top and directly
rra
I
V
P
9 SLAE TRACK
The asphalt IS applied in a similar fashion to roads with a +I- 2 mm accuracy Special mixes have
been developed to guarantee a 50 to 60 year life span under extreme weather condit~ons The thickness of the layer vanes on average between 25 and 30 cm.
In the middle, a ridge provides resistance to lateral forces (Figure 9.27 and Figure 9 28)
After horizontal adjustment of the rall, the remaining free space between the ndge, the roadbed and
the sleeper is filled w ~ t han elastlc synthet~cmaterial. Results have shown that asphalt layers can prov ~ d ea stable and supportive layer suitable for ballastless sciperstructures
stnlction
246
hloc1e1i-iPailwav Tiack
9 SLAE TRACK
-'i
I
morter
- Concrete sleeper
1
I
Elastomer bearm
Pre-cast element
,,,
bll
Many urban rail systems have comparable prefabricated slab systems installed on particular network
segments This system is being applied in vulnerable areas with respect to noise and vibration nuisance Although t h s system is very effective. it consumes consderable height and is expensive
9.6.1
S h i n k a n s e n s l a b track
In Japan. bad experiences with the 516-km long Tokaido-ine wh~chwas opened in 1964 and consists
of traditonal ballasted track led to the development of slab track in prefabicated slabs. In 1975, the
Sanjo-line (562-km) was opened as an extension from the Tokaido-line to Hokkaido. In 1982, design
improved w ~ t hthe 470 km Tohoku-line and the 275-km Joetsu-l~ne The amount of earth embankments in those lines is less than 5 % [I611
The Japanese Shinkansen slab track consists of a sub-layer stabilised with cement (concrete roadbed), cylindrical bollards or dowels to prevent lateral and longitudinal movement, and reinforced prestressed concrete slabs measuring 4 93 m x 2 34 m x 0.19 m and only 0 16 m thick in tunnels The
slabs weigh approxmately 5 tonnes The slabs are adjusted on top of the concrete or asphalt-concement mortar is Injected underneath and in
crete roadbed with spindles Afterwards. a bit~~minous
between the slabs (Figure 9 30).
Yruliu
3 SLAB TRP ZK
9.6.2
Track structure
Slab
Ballast
Total
Table 9 3
Length (krn)
210 452
37.1 84
247 636
Legend
kN.
The normal value for all fastening types type
8 is 60 MNlm.
The machine whlch tests the rail fastening
device for loading In two directions is shown
in Figure 9.36
The followrng items are tested by this
machine:
Static peiformance
Figure 9 36 Two axial loading machine
b
v
l
P
b
(lmb
li
PW
Dvnamlc ~erformance.
- Fluctuating stress of the clip,
- Lateral d~splacementof the rail;
- Tilting angle of the rail,
- Dynamic test in obllque loading;
- Endurance test of rail fastening device
P
b
Installing m a c h i n e r y
Laying the slab track on Hokurlku Shlnkansen is ~llustratedin Figure 9 37.
This method called "Moving plant on running rail method" was initiated in the construction of Sanyo
Shinkansen and it confirmed in the construction of Oshimizu Tunnel on Joetsu Shinkansen that it 1s
the fastest method for laying slab track in long lengths in one drection.
The rails, whlch are welded in the depot and are 200 m long, are brought to the location where they
will be laid on trolleys These trolleys are drlven by a motor car running on the temporarily laid rails
which have a gauge of 1435 m m The temporarily laid rails are used to follow the slabs as ihey are
being laid. and for putting CA mortar under the slab in a neighbouring line. In thls method, the temporarrly laid ralls are also used on the completed track too
The rails are also l a d on the road bed of the neighbouring track. Slabs are transported to the site and
laid by widening the rail gauge to 3000 mm As the rails w t h a 3000 mm gauge are used to transpoit
slabs from the trolleys onto the rails laid wlth a gauge of 1435, it is necessary to double the rails at the
location of the trolleys using additional rails for a section of 75m long,
e
e
fl
p
bid
rU
r"
I
1
J
r l
Moc'ern R s ~ l w a vi7ack
3 SLAB TPACK
The CA mortar 1s travsferred from the moving plant runnlng on rails with a gauge of 1435mm onto :he
neighbouring track. T h ~ smoving plant fabricates CA mortar at the site by mlxlng llquld asphalt,
cement, sand, etc After putting CA moitar under the slabs and sol~d~fying
it, the rails are put on the
slabs and fastened \ ~ l i h
the normal rail fastening devices
_ .-"_-
_-__a.. -----*_,. - 3 . 7
I
"I
_"
--
-_
"
--
------._.
-.
.-.- .-
I. . .
-.. _.....-.
l_,
__,
-_.
1
.
-
-*
'-
^,
--
-,
j:
..I_
__
/_,
Laying ra~ls
--.
FY
L.
9 SLAE TRACK
F'
9.6.3
Bijgl s l a b track
nio~tar
Lbi
The first application of the Bogl slab track was at Karslfeld Germany, in 1977. The goal was to produce a long-endurance. maintenance-free track specifically meant for high-speed traffic with an
enduring high track quality and the highest possible track availability. Ongoing developments have
lead to a high quality slab track system (Figure 9 39)
The Bogl slab track system is largely similar to Shinkansen slabs except that the Bogl slabs are made
of 655 steel fibre reinforced concrete and are 20 cm thick, 6.15 m long. and 2.55 or 2 80 m wide. The
slabs are pre-stressed in lateral direction; in longitudinal direction traditional reinforcement is applied
Spindles integrated in the slabs provide an easy and quick adjustment of the slabs (Figure 9.40)
m
L
b
A
I&
r
Y
F
b
9 SLAB TRACK
J
I
9.7
For the application of direct rail fastenings, one could think of track on clv~lslike bridges or of track on
continuous monolithic slabs without sleepers. The dlrect rall fastening (Section 8 9) systems are
bolted straight onto the concrete or steel decks or floors.
An example of a direct fastenlng system 1s
the Vossloh DFF 300 system w ~ t hc l ~ pSkl 15
(Figure 9 43)
This system can be adjusted by approximately 50 mm In vertlcal and by 46 mm In
lateral direction. The rall IS permanently fastened wlth two clips which have a long run
elastic sprlng deflection The steel base
plate ~tselfis fastened on the concrete slab
w ~ t hfour screws in plastic dowels or, alternatively, with anchor bolts In steel decks.
-J
[2001
Several slab track systems with direct rail
fastening have been developed over the
years (Figure 9 45) In the case of these systems, a slipform paver places a monolithic
slab on top of a concrete roadbed.
Sim~lar to the applicatron on concrete
bridges, bores are afterwards drilled inside
this slab In order to anchor the base plates.
Alternatively. track panels are aligned together with base plates and fasteners and poured Into concrete.
Thls method of construction lends itself perfectly to create a continuous stiff and rigid slab, w h ~ c hwill
react like a continuous supported elastlc beam under traffic loading
The advantage of this I S that it will become possible to apply slab track on top of weak and soft layers
The rigid slab spreads the loads across a much wider and longer surface and across local defects
fl
id
I
1
9 SLAE TRACK
1-7
LA
1 I-?
l,,i
- Top-down alignment of the ralls;
- Fixation of the rarl proflle by an elastic poured compound;
I
I
I
Tl
- Design optimization of the groove dimensions, elastlc compounds, and strlps for speclfic elasticity.
&W
The advantages of an elastic continuous supported rail are the absence of dynamlc forces due to
l
reduction of noise production. increase in llfe span
secondary bending between single r a ~supports,
of the rails, and further reduction of maintenance. The construct~onheight can be reduced for road
crossings, so that embedded rail provides a smooth and obstacle free surface for crossing traffic
9.8.2
1 m
steel bridges or U-steel profiles cast in concrete For paved-~ntrack or main-line track,
a concrete slab provides the support for the
embedded rail Figure 9 46 shows the crosssection of a detail of a slab contaln~ngthe
embedded rail
"i
Figure 9 47 ~ i i p f o~n
i paver
Using a slipform paver, a continuous concrete slab IS made Because there IS hardly
any possibility to readjust the rail afterwards,
the soil must be free of settletnent
After adjustment, the rail is made stress free by means of heating before the compound is poured Into
the groove ( F I ~IrP
I q 57)
9.8.3
9 SLAB TRACK
Many p~lottracks of embedded rail have been applied over the last 30 years. 246 m paved-n as well
as main-line track Nearby Deurne (The Netherlands) In 1976. a pilot was constructed in heavrly iised
track w ~ t hspeeds up to 160 kmlh The track existed of a serles of 6 meters of prefabr~catedslabs containing the gullies supported underneath with old NP46 rails [201]. The experiences were qualified as
posltive In 1994. the rails were renewed. but the wear of those ralls was considerably less compared
to the adjacent track
IR '
rL
r1
r"bi
Another large pilot concerned 3 km track nearby Best (The Netherlands) which came Into operation in
October 1999 and IS currently being monitored.
The superstructure consists of a 42 cm thick slab wlth long~tudinalreinforcement provding the slab
with a high flexural strength The slab lies on top of a concrete road bed and stabilised subsorl
The cross section of this track structure is shown in Figure 9 48, while the construct~onprocess of this
test track IS illustrated In Figure 9.49 up to and including Figure 9 54
F
1
&M
P
iski
Embedded Rarl
da
L.
P
!id
f--
-!,
*L
.
7
-_
,
.
Fsnl
b
Figure 9 49 Installing of the rails
wedges
P
irur
P
i
Explanation:
As the rails are fully embedded the
maximum rail temperature remains
substantially lower than with a built-up
structure. This, in combination with the
large lateral rail resistance, was the
reason to lower the neutral temperature from normally 25 O C to 17 O C .
Figure 9.52: Pouring of the compound inio the
groove
9 .5L.4
E Tl3ACrK
I
1
I
iIll"7
' lid
IF,
i~
1
I
9.9
Most of the currently applled slab track systerns are based on the principle of a slab of relatively low
flexural stiffness on top of a stiff substructure The adaptability of slab track to different~alsettlements
in the s~lbstructureis relatively small which is why extensive soil improvement is conducted, which is
time-consum~ngand expensive.
In Section 9 13, an overvlew of the German geotechn~calrequirements concerning the stiffness of the
substructure is given The req~iiredstiffness on top of the frost protection layer Ev2 = 120 ~ l m m is
'
~ .
soil improvemeni, a method to
equal to a foundation m o d ~ ~ l uofs K = 0 15-0.20 ~ / m m Besides
decrease the r ~ s kof different~alsettlements is to increase the flexural stiffness of the superstructure,
i e by applying a concrete slab
In general, the reinforcement in slabs is applied in the neutral line to provide a regular crack pattern
due to ihe shrinkage stresses Bending reinforcement increases the flexural st~ffnessof the slab and
miist be able to withstand long-term normal stresses dcie to shrinkage and dynamic bending stresses
caused by trafflc loading
258
n/iodeii? P a i ~ ~ v aTiack
y
9 SLAE TRACK
-,
Reinforcement
Aq.",d
U
FA
* t
F i g ~ i i e9 61 Typical stiess levels in reinforcement steel under
dynam~cloadlng
For an arbitrary slab of 035 concrete, the in[tial steel stress after cracking (G~,,,,,~) and the fatigue limit for 2 mrllion dynamrc Ioadng cycles (us,,
(n))are given in Frgure 9.62 plotted against the percentage of eccentric re~nforcement.The slab is
designed to withstand additronal stresses caused by temperature loading and shrinkage
The shaded part marks the difference between the init~alsteel stress (inside cracks) and the fatigue
limit for steel; it marks the amount of stress avarlable for bendrng. The figure clearly shows that 1 0 %
of reinforcement is not sufficrent
Slabs with a high bending strffness are able to bear bending moments and to spread traffic loading
over a larger track length. thus decreasing the stresses on the siibsoil The slab 1s able to bridge
weaker spots or local subsdences without alterat~onof the track geometry
Besides fatigue of steel, an mportant constraint is the maximum permrssible stress on the subsoil
which is determined uslng the equaton of "Heukelom and Klomp" (Secton 5 8) The emprrical reia-
FA1
1
rai
14
9 S LA 6 TRACK
blodern R a ~ ~ a an ya c k
Type of so11
9 SLAB TRACK
Cone resistance
Foundat~onmodu-
Elastlc~tymodu-
CBR-
vc
lus K')
lus Edyn
value2)
~lrnrn'
~lrnrn'
Yo
~/mrn~
Peat
0 1-03
0.01-002
10-35
1-2
05
100
Clay
0.2-25
0.02-0
04
15-60
3-8
1-2
7.5
Loam
1 0-30
0 03-006
50-100
5-10
Sand
3.0-250
0 04-010
70-200
8-18
Gravellsand
10 0-300
0.08-013
120-300
15-40
IS
4-7
25
15
50
characteristics
Research has shown [308] that it is possible to apply continuous concrete slabs wrth bending reinforcement on soft sorl. The regular amount of 1 % of reinforcement s not sufficient; the necessary
percentage will amount to up to 1.5 % spread over the top and bottom layer of reinforcement. A 835
concrete slab with a he~ghtof 350 mm can be applred to soft so11with a foundation modulus of K 2
0.01 ~ / m m and
'
at least 1.35 % of reinforcement by slightly modifying of the traditional concrete slab
track design
I
9.10
Clamped a n d c o n t i n u o u s l y s u p p o r t e d rail s t r u c t u r e s
This section highl~ghtssome examples of non-conventional slab track structures. The advantages of
cont~nuouslysupported rail have already been ment~onedin Section 9 8 Embedded rail provides a
continuously supported rail. a groove is needed to contain the elastic compound when it is poured
Besides embedded rail there are other alternatives that can provide a continuous supported rail without a groove Attention 1s p a d to two alternatives for paved-in light rall track. Cocontrack and Continuously s~rpportedgrooved rail
Besides these two structures, two examples of rat1 fastening systems are given whrch contarn rails
that are clamped in their webs A large benefit of these systems is their very high resilience The systems are in general applied In slab track and light rarl
9.10.1
CoconTrack
9 SLAB TZA CK
L_
9 SLAB TRACK
F-
I-
Pour~ngcompound
9.10.2
The cont~nuouslysupported grooved rail system (called ERL) developed by Phoen~xconsists of contlnuously and elast~calysupported rall with or without rail fasteners. Underneath the foot of the
grooved rail a rubber strip with air chambers provides the elast~csupport Both rails are adjusted on
top of a high-grade concrete roadbed and mutually connected with steel bars to guarantee track
gauge (Figure 9 67)
In the side chambers of the grooved rall, rubber chamber profiles are inserted (Figure 9.68) The purpose of those rubber chamber profiles IS to reduce arborne and structure-borne noise production.
Moreover. they act as a transit~onbetween the rail and the pavement on the road.
Beforehand. a concrete roadbed is constructed to act as a level and rigid bear~nglayer On top of this
roadbed the entire track framework is assembled with the elastc footing and the rail chambers The
framework is adjusted (top-down method) with wooden wedges.
The v o ~ dbetween the slab and the elastic footing is filled with a fill~ng-compound Afterwards. the
pavement is applied (Figure 9 69).
b""
be
9 SLAB TF?,4CK
9.1 0.3
MocIer17 Railway T r x k
Web-clamped rails
264
9.q1
9 SLAB TEAZK
The construction of relatively heavy slab track structures on soft soils requires improvement of the
bearing capacity. The con\~entionalapproach consists of replacing part of the poor soil by sand as
well as soil improvement. Even if pre-loadlng is applled, relatively large settlements are llkely to occur
during the initlal phase of the structure's I~fe.Wlth the application of ultra-light materials, such as
Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), a so-called equ~libriumstructure can be created (see also DeckTrack,
Sectlon 9.8) which w ~ l prevent
l
the Increase of grain stresses In the subgrade and reduce the chance
of differentlal settlements. Globally speaking, the weight of the track structure plus the light-weight
material should balance the weight of the excavated material Due to the small value of Young's modulus of EPS, a concrete slab will be requ~redIn railway structures wlth an EPS subbase to obta~nsufficient stiffness and strength.
I
I
9.11.2
S l a b t r a c k s t r u c t u r e s with an
II
Phi
mi
bi~
Pi'
E P S subbase
$"
Compared to tradit~onalsubbase materials, EPS has very low values for denslty, for Young's modulus, for water absorpt~oncapacity, and for thermal conductiv~ty.As EPS has a relatively low strength, a
concrete slab on top of the EPS layer was inevitable. In fact, t h ~ smade an integrated slab track solution very attractrve For this reason the slab track was comprised of a concrete slab with an embedded rail str~ictureas presented in Figure 9.73.
rn
C
7e
Subgrade
i1
9.41.3
I
I
The minlmcrm thickness of the concrete slab on top of the EPS layer was determined by a statlc analysis carr~edout w ~ t hGEOTRACK. On the basis of the maximum permlsslble rail deflection and the
maxrmum acceptable stresses and stra~nsin the different layers of the structure, the minimum thickness of the concrete slab was found to be 25 cm. The stress in the EPS subbase remalned wrth~nthe
linear-elast~crange.
i
I
I
?w
Static p e r f o r m a n c e
265
L
P
k
9 SLAB TPAZK
la
Hor~zontalstress
V e r t ~ c a stress
l
- o,,(EPS 20)
Stress [KPa]
Stress [KPa]
2000 4000
- c, (EPS20)
.-. aLz(Sand)
Another ~mportantresult,
shown In Figure 9.74, was
that the drfference In
stress between EPS20
and EPS35 is negl~gibleunder all pract~calcond~trons.T h ~ smeans that EPS20 suffrces
2000
3
I
P!
Dynamic performance
9.11.4
17wd
I
The Influence of an EPS subbase on the track dynamic behaviour was investigated uslng the RAIL
program of the TU Delft [253]. In this program real track geometry whlch was obta~nedby download!ng track record~ngcar data from the NS can be modelled. Model calculat~onshave produced
response values for car body accelerations, wheel-ra~lforces, track deflect~ons,and stresses in the
track structure caused by movrng train sets The damping coefficient of EPS was not determined
exper~mentallybut was est~matedusing l~teratureon the damprng ratio.
The
overall
dynamic
behav~our of the track
structure, expressed In
the so-called Frequency
Response
Functions
(FRF), was determ~nedby
apply~nga pulse load As
an example Flgure 9.75
shows the FRF functions
for the Embedded R a ~ l
Structure w ~ t h the concrete slab restlng on a
base of sand, EPS 35,
and EPS 20 respect~vely
Average FRF
x 10"
4
35
' p
z.
-E 2 5
LL
I
m
E
LL
3
in
< 15
T
.L
'7
h
05
9
iPPr
50
100
150
200
250
Frequency
300
350
400
450
[Hz]
fl
J
1
266
500
9 SLAS TilPCK
In the second case, a two-mass spring system is effectwe, with a primary and secondary spring, analogous to a vehicle F~gure9.76 shows an example of a block system.
9.1 3
System requirements
System requirements for the permanent way vary per country. For slab track there are specific
requirements concerning the superstructure, the appl~cationin tunnels, embankments (the substructure), bridges, and transitions as well as specific requirements concerning signalling and electronic
systems, safety, noise production. and dynamic effects This depends as well on the applied system
and materials and the type of traffic
kii
9.73.1
9 SLAB TRACK
P'
i
concerning slab track the requirements for the substructure are in general very high. The ability to
make adjustments to the track geometry after construction is finished IS relatively limited, therefore,
any settlement must try to be avoided.
Looking at applied substructures, for instance in Germany. a lot of effort is being made to obtain a stable embankment. The regular com~osltionof layers consists of improved ground (through compacting
or hydraulic stabilising) followed by a frost-protection layer of granular material.
On top of that a concrete roadbed or a layer of asphalt-concrete is applied, depending on the system,
before the actual slab track IS constructed. In advance of the preparations for the embankment,
extenswe geotechnical research is necessary into the ground conditions and the deformation behavlour. For the geotechnlcal assessment. at least every 50 m ground-probes are required ([14], 1421).
The criteria for the Ev2 modulus (Section 5.8.4) at the top-surface of the substructure are:
EV22 60
- Exlsting track.
Ev22 45 ~ / m ' .
rL
F""
L~
f
"
lihil,
m
1,
~/rn~;
r_
This is achieved by dynamic compacting and by mlx-ln-place ground-improvement, for instance with
chalk and cement or by ground-replacement. The geotechnical requ~rementsfor the embankment are
satisfied for a depth below the rail head level when the Proctor-denstles are:
- Exlsting track
e
t
?"
krri
I
I
Requirements regard~ngquallty
Bearing layer
Reinforced
Concrete roadbed
,qsphalt roadbed2)
Exlstrng track
Concrete quality B 35
Reinforcement percentage') 0.8- 0 9
crete cross-surface
Oh
of the con-
Layer thickness
depends on the measurements of
the EVZvalue
(approx. 200 mm)
rn
irPrl
if necessary
(approx 300 rnm)
E~~= 120MNlm2
- existrng track
Embankment
Ev2= GO 1 \ / 1 ~ l r n ~
2.50m
EV2= 45 ~ N l r n '
"
A bearlng double frost plotection layer wlth the top layer of ballast mater~alcan replace the lower concrete roadbed
Table 9 6
r
rvli
P
Overv~ewof the major requirements for the beanng layers of the substructure
9 SLAS TRACK
I
I
I
New
Existing
or w ~ t hmlxed and flne granular solis
lower unbound
0=
4 s
E,, = Deformat~anmodulus
~tterDIN 18 131
tme>bures ~nIn
0-
ours? <!toms
1) GW GI GE SW SI
2)GW GI GE SW SI (SE)
I)
GU GT SU ST
6) GU
31GE GI GE SVf SI SE
13
S% ST
UL UH TL (n.20 I?)
7) GW GI GE SW Sl (SE)
F ~ g u r e9 77 R e q ~ i ~ r e m e nfor
t s the unbound beanng layers
The German requ~rementsconcerning substructures of exlstlng tracks and newly constructed tracks
are collected in Table 9 6 [42] (Figure 9 77)
In Japan as well as In Italy, extenswe efforts with improved ground and a reinforced concrete roadbed
contribute to the hlgh construct~oncosts of slab track systems
Espec~allyin areas where the so11has low bearing capacity, such as in The Netherlands and in parts
of Japan, the subgrade often consists of weak solis with critical speeds far below the Intended operational speed (Section 6.10) In such cases measures to Increase the vertical stiffness are unavoldable Posslble solutions include so11improvement, deep mlxing, grouting, and plllng
Figure 9 78 illustrates the principal of lime
treatment for large-scale stabillslng of the
subgrade. Stabllrsing using grouting or deep
mlxlng can be applied to the soil very precisely. Grouting involves injecting l~quidmortar (based on cement or Ilmestone) which
then hardens, whlle deep mlxing conslsts of
mixlng the materlal already present with a
liquid or dry mortar based on cement, I~mestone, fly-ash, etc
Figc~ie9 78 P r ~ r ~ c i pof
l e so11~ m p r o v e ~ nby
e ~11me
~ t beatn~ent
770
P
Modein Railway Pack
9SLABTZACK
In Japan, considerable experience has been acquired applying this technique, especially where
houses and business premises have to be made earthquake-proof In the case of ground impro~ e m e n t s ,it is possible to achieve a cons~derableIncrease in supporting capacity and a reduction in
the subsidence of various thick layers incapable of supporting loads.
9.13.2
L_
r"
beneath the trough or asphalt- Fisvre 9 79 A tunnel cross-section mth the reqiilred dimensions of free space
concrete layer The available
free space in the tunnel cross-section may influence the decision which type of slab track to apply
(Figure 9 79).
9.13.3
Continuation of slab track across bridges could pose problems if certain typical mechanical behaviour
is not considered. A bridge provides a solid foundation for slab track, but acts in fact as a discontinuity Due to temperature changes longitudinal movements of the bridge-structure w ~ l loccur Traffic
loading causes the spans of the bridge to bend and the edges to twist over the supports. The superstructure must be able to cope with these movements 1421. (1901.
By applying slab track systems on short bridges, several solutions are possible:
(1
L
kof
- Fasteners with reduced clamplng force: the movements of the bridge are compensated in the rail
fastenings with reduced clamping force if the sleepers on top of the re~nforcedconcrete roadbed
are rigidly connected to the bridge deck or direct rail fastening systems are used.
Fikt@
- Embedded in bridge decks: in case of a continuous rail-support rigidly connected to the bridge,
maximum active extendable bridge-spans up to 15 m are permitted. Larger spans are possible by
applying extension devices and joints
- Sliding slabs. the br~dgestructure can freely move underneath the slab track which "glides" on top
This option is limited to freely extendable bridge-spans up to 25 m.
- Track frame on roadbed- the track lies freely movable on top of a concrete or asphalt-concrete
roadbed. This solution exists due to possible motions and twisting of the sleepers on top of bridgestructures and spans up to 10 m with framespans limited to 25 m,
P"U
P
rPui
F"I
iu?
Y SLAB
'1
TPACK
'I
9.1 3.4
Transitions in the substructure and superstructure occur, but also between different types of each
sort In the substructure transitions between embankments, bridges. and tunnels occur. In the superstructure there are transitrons between slab track and ballasted track. Transitions demand special
measures to smooth out the difference in the elastic properties of both track structures.
With transitions from one type of track to another, forces caused by traffic loading and temperature
must be transmitted smoothly. Problems can occur with differences in construction height: it could
even be necessary to use a joint in between and apply both ends with a special anchoring. In the
case of transitions between a track structure with sleepers applied on top of an asphalt-concrete
roadbed and a slab track system wlth direct rail fastening or embedded sleepers, the sleepers must
be anchored to the substructure/roadbed over a distance of at least 10 meters.
Regarding transitions from slab track to ballasted track, two structures must be connected which are
principally different regarding stiffness. flexibility. and settlement behaviour. This adaptation can be
achieved in several ways
fastening;
- Settlement and flexibility- extension of the concrete roadbed instead of the subballast over a length
of at least 10 metres;
m
iui
m
rslj
F%i
- Settlement. the application of a reinforced anchor at the end of the slab track in combination with a
"I
=?
3
4
7
5 Concrete cover of 6 cm
2 Cont~nuousre~nforcedconcrete slab
3 Foll
2 layers of b~turnrnouscardboard
272
6 Seal~ng
7 Br~dgestructure
Figure 9 80 A tra~~sitiotl
with
an elastic-plastic intei-nlediate layer (Rheda system)
Modern R a ~ l i ~ ~Tracii
~ay
9 SLAB TRACK
PT1-
9.14
Q-valbes of track-geometry
70
60
50
40
Q-value
30
20
10
m
m
ivll
F"
_1,
9 SLAE TRACK
9.A5
- \
The constructed sections of slab track In Germany have, in general, shown what was expected of a
track in need of little maintenance. The lasting good track-quality throughout the periods observed
does not only guarantee a minimum of required maintenance, the improved drlvlng-comfort for the
passengers as well as the hlghly available track have proven to be beneflts of slab track.
-nlll
If the track stability is provlded by means of a rigid slab, the amount of maintenance will decrease dramatlcally or become almost superfluous. Although the overall experiences concerning ma~ntenance
are very prom~sing,due to the limited application in relation to traditional ballasted track, too Ilttle is
stdl known to provide empirical rules concerning predictions for progress of deteriorat~onIn the case
of slab track systems.
In the network of the DB AG, approximately 360 km of track and about 80 switches are constructed In
slab track systems [40],[123].Experience with maintenance of slab track goes back to 1972 when
the Rheda pilot-project was accomplished Concern~ngthe Rheda-system, in general the malntenance work was restricted to changlng of the synthetic rail pad. A further maintenance measure was
preventwe r a ~grlnding
l
a
m
rn
k
d
1I
wi
By means of preventive rail grlndlng irregular~tiesin the rall and at the rail surface are removed This
IS an important condition for smooth running and a decreased nolse production. Preventive grlndlng
will also stop the beglnnlng of rlpples, further growth of headchecks, and damage to the rall surface
by imprints Ripples develop much slower.
Compared to ballasted track, failures like dents near welds or near (insulated) rall joints will evolve
considerably slower as the dynamic forces are lower and hardly cause progressive deterioratlon at
the rail supports. The cost of maintenance of a Rheda-track IS approximately only 10 % of the cost
~nvolvedwith ballasted track.
Bad maintenance experiences with the 516 km long Tokaido-line in traditional ballasted track on
embankments, which was opened in 1964,lead to the development of slab track [I191 The maln part
of the Shinkansen-track which was constructed after 1972 has been applied on top of bridges, viaducts, and tunnels The amount of earth embankments in those lines I S less than 5 %.
Maintenance costs in the Japanese experiences amounted to 20-30% of the costs lnvolved In the
case of ballasted track, and yet had a better track-geometry and alignment [4],[I611 The Improved
track deslgn of the Tohoku-line which was opened In 1982 and had an Increased slab-height, applicatlon of prestressing, improved frost-proof cement-bituminous under-pouring, and a better dralnage in
tunnels, made it nearly maintenance-free The main requirement in using thls design IS a settlementfree foundation
irri
sai
~2
C17 A
P-
n/ioderr~Ra~lwayTTZ?C/(
10 THE PAIL
F-
?O
0.3
THERA9F
Introduction
the rail is the most important part of the track structure a separate chapter is devoted to it. In
Chapter 8 several basic functions have been discussed. In this chapter some fundamental aspects of
the quality of ralls are discussed, such as the rail manufacturing process, acceptance procedures,
mechanical propeitles, flash butt and Thermit welding, control of weld geometry, required standards,
rail failure types and rail defect statrstlcs.
AS
P
I
k u
r
m
10.2
llnl
Modern rail manufacturing technology is considered In the new standard Ehl 13674 of the European
Community Different to exlsting specifications, it is a performance based stapdard Some of the manufactclring techniques are defined in order to ensure that the rail shows good service properties. The
steel may be produced elther by the baslc oxygen process (BOF) or in an electric arc furnace,
although the latter is currently not used in Europe Ingot castlng is no longer allowed Secondary metaliurgy is more or less standard practice Vacuum degassing 1s mandatory In order to avoid rall breakage caused by flakes and non-metallic inclusions The manufacturer has to apply a quality
management system to ensure consistent prodclct qcrallty and to pass a qualifying procedure to
become approved for delivery
Fa
The rail manufacturing process consists of the follow~ngmain parts as indicated in Figure 10.1
- Blast furnace,
i@
- Steel-making,
- Continuous casting,
- Rolling,
- Straightening,
- Measurements (ultrasonic, geometry, manual inspect~on);
- Flnal acceptance
In the next part of this section some of these processes will be discussed in greater detail
10.2.1
Blast furnace
Steel is in fact iron whlch has been refined with carefully measured amounts of other elements added
to i t Iron is found as iron oxide in rocks, known as iron ore. This only occurs in suffic~entlylarge quantlties and with reasonable accessibility In a few scattered areas of the world, for the most part In Scandinavia, the Americas, Australia, North Africa, and Russia.
The ore is graded and crushed and some of the finer ore 1s taken to the sinter plant where it is mixed
with coke and limestone and hiiatsd to iorm an iron-rich clinker known as slntei Thls sinter IS fed into
the top of the blast furnace together with more iron ore, coke and limestone in controlled propoltions,
and the whole is fired. Great heat IS generated and fanned to white hot Intensity by blasts of superheated air
fl
I
1 1 ;
I
10
THE R A i L
M o ~ l e r nRailway Track
'
A,
I
"
I
TI\
I
<ill
lrll
.if
I
The r a ~mantif;;crtir!ng
l
process ar Thysseq.
@ Bbs: rilr!wc.
@ Hot !7?&?%/
GZSLIIi?,7~,r~ZL~7,-.:IT'?
faahty
Q Rdsic-ouqen :t~~.lrndA,i;i?
si?oL7
Degzss>ng;idr.r
Q C.ont!r;uaui L ~ I < : , I I UDIJ::(
8 I~~;~~trn~-t'f;'~i))
~-'PW[:~G,
TI I:'?JCcl
@ R~~i,ch:rlc~
n-11'1
0 F ~ ~ C , I I 5:;~ I C ; 1
Q h.~.sr~inq
s f , y ~-':
276
P
Moue1-IJRailway Track
IOTHERAlL
1
9
-4
10
THE RAIL
Modern Ra~iwayp a c k
Fluxes and
Coolant
'Z'
Converter fumes to
.<p/,
Movable seal
Water-cooled fume
coilectlng hood
Water-cooled
lance
-
Steel shell
-- - .-
mnv~rtpr
CHARGING
CHARGING SCRAP
SAMPLING
HOT METAL
'BLOW'
TAPPING
SLAGGING
r -1
Modern Railway Track
10.2.3
lOTHERAli
Vacuum degassing a n d a r g o n f l u s h i n g
I-
10.2.4
'.
+ t
51
;k
. .
1_
Sc.~e=~at.:r
reprtlsrcfztjsn of
a r g.9 &?r'..,m
=--...
..-- .
3 2 kt;ps,?c
~r:.-: - "-.
B '--"
2 i;,^i:&3-=:.L:~,.~:~
7
-..;
6% si2: e-.-"no
>." .* -
la"T
9 ~ . : z : : cA~- 3~~ e
@ >~.-3,-~)~:r7
:Jr -i
.-:-.
1- u ~ e *
$ 3&:dG
.?=.=?- -ijr~c?ShTS
w a ~ . ~ a - ~ .
-.0<.2.,7
&
:,r73
k7
..-.*
, iH-'
"
:e$
f
.
C<.C'*.
c::
L..L
",:" ,?c7:>di
+
L
Lv
bs:st:
I"
kl
Continuous casting
7urd
The prlnclple of contrnuous castlng, w h ~ c his at present used by most of the steel works, is annotated
In Figure 10 6 The liquid steel IS supplied in a 150 - 350 tonne ladle which is placed in a turret. This
turret can conta~n2 ladles to practlce sequencrng of ladles When the molten steel IS poured from the
ladle into the tundsh the next ladle can be prepared
In this way teernng may proceed contrnuously
PI
rvri
.-
j;.i
i:i{
i2.,
?
ti ;
i-54 E
1:
-1
s.1
;riF
,-7
: i?:
- --:1
!1
I?,
f;i
Cdq73
lP
,
i - l
/
; FL ;'
@ i;.>:.;*'j.y
+J.u<-2
&aa!
d
"55,:
:
-- e m & 0%
"<.c:>"
<+nos:~:5?:~~p.~;,:~
;*p&=
!;Je<;:~~~?~~!
Q .i:&w;~;
sscl
d
*
t3
me;
fl
a=
*d
*(*a
-'..,'$ *
<7;*:h.:2?
li--ja
Lzzie ;:*-z
.-{JZ~...
j!A
- \ ;
,I,,,,-;
*meS:r?e:G,
;
:
,
q ,4
k=
rak
3
'77
!---
!j, i f 11 i i ,
1-+:;;*J-..~~*!S:~
.e Ta---eb ss.*: s a--z-
i
J
'
.
i
T
-
p,
d
P
bm
I
10 THE RAIL
--I
P
I
ir
Figure 10 7 shows some p~cturesof a continuous casting facil~tyThe lrquid steel I S cast from the ladle
into the tund~shuslng submerged pouring techniques Meter~ngnozzles are used to del~verprec~sely
the right amount of steel to the 6 to 8 moulds.
117
b/odein ,9aiIwey T a c k
10 THE RAIL
On exiting the spray chambers for secondary coolrng, shown in Flgure 10.8, the hot strands, curved
with a radlus of 10 - 13 m, enter the straghtener drlve units. After flame-cutting to the requlred length
and hood or prle-coolrng, the blooms are shipped to the reheating units, mostly walkrng-beam furnaces At the beginnrng of casting a hydrogen Increase may occur. if crrticai hydrogen values are
reached, these blooms are controlled-cooled to get a hydrogen effusion.
compared wrth Ingot casting continuous casting has the advantages of producing a cleaner steel with
smaller and more uniformly distributed ~ncluslons.
P'
l~r~pd
p
I
rn
1
The blooms are rolled on a roughlng stand to d~mensionssuitable for the ~nrtialpass on the sectlon
mill The bloom coming from the roughrng stand IS rolled into the finished rarl in a total of 8-11 passes
rmrc
I
F"
hi
P"w
F1iui
P
lrui
r"9
The rail IS rolled up to 125 m length (Flgure 10.10), hot-cropped by saws, and is elther cut into standard lengths in the f~nishlngshop, or del~veredas ultra-long rail directly to the job-s~te(Flgure 10 11).
"1
I d
rn
The hot rails are placed on a walklng-beam cooling bed to cool them throughout the~rentire length. It
takes about 3-4 hours before the temperature has dropped from 800 "C to less than 60 O C . Walklngbeam type of handllng prevents damage occurring to the surfaces Cooling IS followed by roller
stra~ghtenlng
iPu
e#a
k
d
i"r
b
10.2.6
Finishing shop
On account of the asymmetric profile, rail head and rail foot cool at d~fferentrates as a result of which
, rails are straightened In the vertical and also
the ra~lscurve In a vertical direction. To correct t h ~ s the
In the lateral drrection by a roller straightener composed of 7 rollers as deplcted in Figure 10 12 The
clrcumference of the rollers amounts to about 3 m and this value reappears in the rail as wavelengths
of geo~metr~cal
deviations called rolling defects
traightness i l e v ~ a t ~ o n s
Plast~cdeiorrnat~ons
during roller stra~ghten~n
al<O3mln/3rn
I
I
I
The
roller-straightening
process, as applled to
date, provldes excellent
strarghtness but lntroduces detrimental resldual stresses of the order
of 100 to 300 N/mm2,
dependrng on the yleld
stress of the rall steel.
-300
-200
-1 00
100
200
300
i
P"
I
-as rolled
-used
i_
r
ik,
r
L
F:
i
d
P1
I
I
h
u
d
it
Subsequent to roller stralghtenrng each rarl passes through the Inspection centre The rails are
checked n contrnuous operation aganst pre-specified crrterla for rnternal defects, surface defects,
drmenslonal accuracy and runnlng surface stralghtness.
F
ui$
F
k
KR K L KR
ST
SU
su su
so so so
p
k
k
liwu
P'
i
9
iori
C
Figire 10 14 ( a ) Ult~asoiiictesting plocess
P
L1)
P
------&
3
i
10 THE RAIL
The m a n ~ ~ f a c t u r nprocess
g
ends with cutt~ngthe ra~lsexactly to the ordered lengths by means of carb ~ d esaws If requ~red,the rais are also provided wtth fishplate holes The ralls are once again
checked and sorted in a fin~shingshop. It IS here that the final nspectron and acceptance are car;led
out by mill agents andlor an ~nspectronagency.
hiodern Railway T r ~ c k
10 THE RAIL
f=
L-
10 THE RAIL
10.2.7
Inspection a n d a c c e p t a n c e
The annual purchase of rails involves huge amounts of money For the European administrations a
global figure of 1 5-5 tonnes per km of main track can be indicated as the amount of rails to be
renewed each year. For the NS the annual rail demand amounts to about 23.000 tonnes (1987), cot-responding to a value of EUR 15 million. It is not surprising that the ra~lwayadministrations are very
keen on the inspectron and final acceptance procedure, all the more since the 5-year guarantee
period is restr~ctedto mere refunding of the material costs, which are only a fraction of the total costs
lnvolved In replacing a rail.
lnspectlon and acceptance can be done either by a special independent department at the manufacturer's, or as a concerted effort on the part of manufacturer and customer, In which case the customer
takes care of the final acceptance The latter used to be common practice in Europe. However, the
acceptance philosophy has changed more and more towards the supplier having full responsibility for
good quality If the manufacturer applies a certified quality management system, the inspect~onIS
replaced by perlodic audits by the c~lstomerWith this approach the railways are provided with all
necessary information accord~ngto their specifications and only take care of checking procedures.
Additional requirements
The railways may set additional specifications for r a ~ lsupply The NS, for instance,
requires that the vertical geometry is measured for the entire rail in the 0 5 - 3 m waveband, whereby 5% of the peak-peak values,
1.e twlce the amplitude, may exceed a level
of 0 3 mm, with a maximum of 0 4 m m This
was considered In the European standard
EN 13674-1 as class A straightness
Figure 10.16 shows a photograph of the
Voest-Alpine installation for continuous
measurement of both vertical and horizontal
rall surface flatness.
W ~ t hevery dellvery the suppl~ermust report
the percentage of rails rejected dur~ngmill
inspect~onas well as the reasons why.
For continuous cast rails of grade R 260
(900) and higher, the test piece for the tensile test has to be taken from the waste
piece at the end of the rail rolled from the
first block of a cast sequence. Figure 10.17
shows the tens~letest arrangement
10 THE RAIL
f@
1
The waste piece for the drop weight test must be taken from the top end of the rail rolled from the last
block of the last sequence.
For the notched bar Impact test a block in the middle of a cast sequence should be taken The test
l d taken from the rall foot as
pieces must be manufactured in accordance wlth DVMF and s h o ~ ~ be
shown In F~gure10.18 The mean impact value for 6 pleces should be determined at -20 OC and at
20 OC
Although no minimum requirements are lald down, it is expected that the mean values for the grade
R 260 Mn will be at least 34 Joule and 40 Joule respectively in accordance wlth the bandwidth presented in Figure 10.18 For the grade R 260 the minimum requirements can be set at 25 Joule at
-20 OC and 35 Joule at 20 OC The tolerances specified in Table 10.1 are applicable
The r a l dimensions are checked with special templates for upper and lower tolerances An example
of this examlnatlon is shown in Figure 10.19.
F
b
ln9
lPui
For check~ngthe railhead shape and dimensions often the MINIPROF system 1s used, which records
and analyses the profile in real time (Figure 10.20). For further details of this system please refer to
Chapter 16.
r"i
irrl
FW
I
-1
10 THE RAIL
Impact energy
[Joule]
Chem~calcornposlt~on
200
260
260 Mn
320 Cr
Aust bln
0 40-060
0 62-080
0 55-075
0 60-080
0 70-080
0 70-120
0 70-120 1 30-170
0 80-120
12 0-140
-20
20
110.2.8
Rail profiles
Worldwide many different rail prof~lesare In use. Table 10.2 gives a survey of the different sections
rolled by Thyssen Stahl In Germany. The table also contains dimensional data and cross-sectional
propert~esAlthough the draft~nggroup of CEN t r ~ e dto reduce the number of profiles, stdl 21 different
proflles wlth sections heavier than 46 kglm are used In Europe.
10.2.9
According to the new CEN standards, rall profiles are indicated by the mass per meter followed by the
letter E and a serial number start~ngwith 1. The old profiles UIC 54 and UIC 60 are now indicated as
54 E l and 60 E l , respect~vely.
P
.t 4
10 THE RAIL
r
L
I"'
i
Flg~ire10 20 Ra11he
profile measiireine~~t
means of lWlNiPROF
1
1
I
J
10 THE RAlL
I
lii
nri
I i
?"
1-
10 THE RAIL
T
I
L..
10 THE RAIL
Modem Railway T a c k
'
117
'
1
'"argely
VqI
ld
""ht
ps*
I
10.3
Rail properties
10.3.1
M e t a l l u i g i c a i fundamentals
In pearlitic steels, the structure of which 1s depicted In Figure 10 21, the mechanical properties are
governed by the distance between the cementite (Fe3C) lamellae, their thickness and by the
grain size. The influence of the interlamellar spacing on yield polnt, tenslle strength and reduction of
area IS, according to [112], clearly demonstrated by the structures shown ~n Figure 10.22. These
examples display microstructures of the same steel subjected to dffee-ent coollng rates, which lead to
different rates of diffusion of carbon at the a ~ l s t e n ~ tpearlite
e
growth front. The same eff3ct can be
achieved by controlling the diffusion rate via the alloy~ngcontents.
Yield point and tensile strength Increase as the distance between the lamellae decreases. The quantitative interrelationsh~psare shown In Figure 10.23.
I .
i
i
I
10 T;IE RAIL
Modern Railway
10.3.2
Heat t r e a t m e n t
In addltlon to alloyed premium rails, tensile strength can be improved by heat treatment Heat treatment is mainly applied to ralls used In heavy duty tracks which have sharp curves and to turnouts. In
order to prolong the I~fe-spanof flshplated r a ~joints,
l
end-hardening of the rail head IS also carrled out
In separate plants Compared to alloying, heat treatment has the big advantage that toughness is also
~mproved.The method can be applied to either the whole section or to just the r a ~head.
l
In the latter
case, a tensile strength of 900 N/mmz is retalned in the rail web and base, while the rail head has a
tenslle strength between 1200 - 1350 N/mm2 (350-400 BHN) w h ~ c hprov~desa very large wear resistance.
After
-.-.
The rail can be heat treated either after cooling and stra~ghteningoutside the rail production llne (off-llne) or when ~t comes directly
from the rolling mill (in-line) The TTT-diagram w ~ t hthe coolrng curve IS presented In
F~gure10 26 The closer the cooling curve
approaches the rlght slde of the nose of the
TTT-curve the finer the pearlite structure is
and the better the propert~esare In any
case, the material structure shall be finepearllt~c,and no martensite or ba~niteshall
occur Addlt~onally, the microstructure and
hardness shall change gradually from the
head to the web
--
I 0 M~nutesl o o
F i g ~ ~ r10
e 26 TTT-diagram foi grade R 260 (900 A) with cool~ng
cuive for heat beatment
Off-Line Hardening
The cold fin~shedrail IS taken to the hardening plant and the head or the total cross section is heated by ~nductionin 2 - 6 minutes to
the austen~tising temperature of 850 950 "C Thls IS followed by accelerated cooling by compressed alr, water spray or water
thls temperature
mist down to 650 - 500 "C,
IS ma~nta~ned
until a fully pearlitlc structure IS
attained according to Figure 10 27 12501
Additionally to the refinement in the pearlite
interlamellar spacing, the pearlite block size
becomes smaller This process 1s continuous, but, because the rall was reheated and
auenched. it must be roller straiqhtened
Figiire 10 27 Microsti-iictiire resiiltrng from heat ireatmei~i
agaln In order to achieve the straightness
tolerances. The microstructure resulting
from the Thyssen head-hardening faclllty IS
illustrated In Flgure 10.28. The hardness distribution is presented in Flgure 10 29.The cold rail moves
contin~louslythrough the hardening plant. The t ~ m econsumed for reheating lim~tsthe production
capacity to about 10.000 tons per year
10 THE RAIL
r
C
-.
_"
2001
r-:'
,"
/3-=:
L
:,
F,2:
I
I
--
-.
..
FPb
bb
F&b
P
iu%!
In-Line Hardening
he rail IS taken directly from the rolling mill and brought to the hardening plant at a temperature
beyond 800
he quenching may proceed continuously sim~larto the off-line plants, or the rail is
quenched in its entire length at once.
'c.
Such a process was developed by Voest-Alpine. which cooled the rail head in a hardening bath
(Figure 10.30) The rail 1s turned upside down and d~ppedinto the quenching medium leading to
hardness increase in the entire rail head (F~gure10.31). Rails up to a finished length of 120 m can b
heat treated In this plant which has a capacity of 260,000 tonnes annually When the entire rail has
cooled down to 60 O C . it IS roller straightened and finished like other rails
10 THE R4lL
[mm]
spec~alalloyed
grades
grades produced in
USA and Canada
0 50 0 75 0 65
0 75
0 75
0 75
0 75
0 75
0 75
S1025025025
Mn 1 0 0 1 00 1 50
090
100
070
1 00
080
1 00
025
0 90
080
0 90
025
0 90
1 00
1 00
0 10
UIC grades
prri
1
1400
=T
C
K
- 0
g '% g,
.-
6 B s c ;
" 8 V~
"m
F~gure10.32presents a compilation of the modern rsil grades presently used In Europe and America
The spec~ficationsaccording to UIC, BS and AREA standards are llsted in Table 10 3.The standard
grades could be designated as R 200 (TOO),R 260 (900A),R 260 Mn (900B),and R 320 Cr (IlOO),
represented by the Erinell hardness. For completeness the mlnlmum tens~lestrength IS Indicated
between brackets, varylng from 700-7100 N/mm2. Their character~st~c
elements are carbon and manganese as well as chrom~umfor the h~gh-strengthgrade R 320 Cr. The basic mechan~calpropert~es
are related to the alloytng elements according to formulae obta~nedfrom regression analyses. Exampies are described e g. ~n[Ill].
I
I
' PJ
-.
161s'
L
M o d e r ~Railway Trach
70 THE RAIL
B"'
L
tensrle stress o, [ ~ i m m ~ ] :
r7
6, =
(1 0.2)
rr'
LA
[%I:
(10.3)
dl,
?I
MbIV
i w
F
b
F"4
U
P
Table 10 3
Compared w ~ t hgrade R 200 (700)the R 260 (900 A) grade obtains rts Increased strength mainly from
carbon, and R 260 Mn (900 B) mainly from manganese. This results in better welding properties for
R 260 (900 A), but In greater toughness for R 260 Mn (900 B) The R 260 (900 A) grade. which IS
more or less the standard grade in Europe, IS very slmilar to the AREA standard grade.
For heavy duty tracks special as-rolled steel grades were developed with minimum tensile strength
values between 1100 and 1200 ~ / m m ' .This is achieved by increasing the silicon content, addrng
chromium and sometimes vanad~umas specrfied In Figure 10.32. As ment~onedbefore heat-treated
rarls have a larger tenslle strength and thus a great wear resistance, wh~leat the same time they are
relatively tough. Therefore, they replace the alloyed steels In heavy haul applications and in heavily
loaded curved tracks like rn Switzerland and Austr~a.
The UIC grades are found in the new European Standard EN 13674 with minor changes in the chemrcal composition (Table 10.3). Especially phosphor and sulphur are limited to lower values because of
their influence on the wear properties and inclusion formation. The rarl grades are named by the hardness because this is directly related to the wear properties. EN 13674 also considers two heat treated
grades with different chromium-content. Grade R 350 HT (HT for heat treated rail steel) has basically
the same composition as grade R 260, the former UIC qrade 900 A. R 350 LHT has a chromium-content up to 0.30/0 (LHT low alloy heat treated). it can be-flash-butt welded without the need for a postwelding heat treatment.
Since the pearlrtic structure is l~mitedto about 400 BHhI hardness, corresponding to 1350 hllmm2,
harder rail steels need to have another type of microstructure. Tempered Martensite with a hardness
exceeding 400 BHN was tested, but showed a comparatively low wear resistance. The bainrtic microstructure offers a potential to combine hlgh strength and hardness with good toughness properties.
Barnitrc rarl steels were developed as a material w ~ t ha higher resistance against rolllng contact
fatrgue defects rather than to have better wear propertres than pearlrtic rarls They perform best e.g.
P
M
kul
Pi
Y9
ic!
lalk
F
b
F
b
b
Fo
10
THE RAIL
as balls in roller bearings, where both wear as well as rolling contact fatigue is the concern.
Generally,
200
250
300
350
400
2.0
-FJ
3x[A
-j';q7
7
>
L
j
2 05
\,
02
-0 4
Track tests
-0 2
.
--
200
100
50
20
k 200
2 100
+.
.A
-02
k, *
-01
'
-0.05
'-04
c
P
r
12
0
7-
I
I
curvature 30 to 40
tonnaqe 300 MGT
20
DB
-0 05
o Measurements of
-0 I
>16
50--
the
chemical
steels
shows a wide variation in different alloying elements,
e g. C = 0.05 - 0.80 % and
Cr = 0.01 - 3.0 %. Depending on the chemical composition
and
the
heat
treatment, different mrcrostructures occur Steels with
a low carbon content (C =
0.10 %) exhibit a carbidefree m~crostructureof granular balnite. If manganese is
added, also an acicular
structure with highly-dispersed fine carbide preclpitations is formed With a
hlgher carbon content (C =
0.25 YO), an aclcular structure of upper or lower bainite
wtth carbide precipitations
appears
C O ~ P O S I ~ Iof
O ~bainitrc
Brinell hardness HB
' - 0.4
curvature. 60
tonnaqe 100MGT
Bainitc rails have been tested in track since 1980 and have shown different behav~ourdepending on
their properties The rails performed better regarding both wear and fatigue defects e g at the Ofotbahn in Norway, but not as good as R 260 (900A) or head hardened rail steels e g. at tests in the
USA. The metallurgy of ba~niticrail is still a topic of development with the goal to achieve a high
resistance to rolling contact fatigue together with a wear resistance at least comparable to head hardened rail steels
Austenitic steels are used for switch frogs because they work harden under the impact load of the
wheel. They are not used for regular rail steel because the resistance to wear (w~thoutwork hardening during operation) is lower than that of pearlitrc steels.
L-
Modern Ralirvay i l a c k
10 THE RAIL
-l
t
-I0.3.4
I"'
Wear resistance
k,.
Resistance to wear is governed by the content of carbon and a few other alloying elements as well as
the interlamellar spacing. Under normal conditions this means that wear resistance increases with
hardness which is proportional to the tensile strength Outside Europe, and since 2001 also inside
Europe, hardness is used to specify the rail grade or tensile strength. The most Important hardness
scales are those of Vickers (HV) and Brinell (BHN). The relationship with the tensile stress a, equals
HV
0 30,
(10.4)
H V = 15+ BHN
(10.5)
The top of Figure 10.33 shows the results of laboratory wear tests, and the bottom of the figure shows
the results of many years of trials under different service cond~tions[ I 1 3 1 The first graph presents the
results of roller tests and reveals that abrasive wear decreases by almost 50% when the tensile
strength increases by 200 ~ l m m ' .
This trend has been confirmed by service tests. The loss of rail head area in mm2 of high rails is given
with respect to a loading of 100 million gross tonnes on curved tracks on DB and SBB, w ~ t haxle loads
of 200 to 220 kN, and on tracks belonging to the German lignite surface-mining industry, with axle
!oads of 340 kN in all cases the wheel flanges were lubricated. As expected, the results under actual
service cond~tionsscatter more widely than those determined in laboratory tests because of local
track conditions. The graphs show. however. that, even in small-radius curves and under high axle
loads r a l wear can be kept low by using high-tensile rails so that loadings in excess of 500 million
gross tonnes can be reached. The use of high-tensile steels has the additional advantage of increasing the resistance of the rail head to plastic deformation, for instance, such as in the case of shelling.
The influence of local conditions is clearly
demonstrated by lateral rail head wear
measurements carr~ed out by the NS.
Figure 10.34 monitors lateral wear versus
tonnage borne for a number of curves carrying the same traff~c The plots clearly reveal
a large variation in wear rate under almost
ident~calconditions. However, the wear rate
In each curve IS very consistent which enables wear predict~onsto be made by extrapolatrng the data.
The NS experience is that the lateral wear of
grade R 260 Mn (900 B) is three times less
than the lateral wear of the R 200 (700)
320 Cr (1100) wears two to
grade Grade
three times slower than grade R 260 Mn
B , In the case of lubrication R 260 M n
(900 B) is equivalent to grade R 320 Cr
(1100). Lubrication of grade 1100 only produces minor improvements.
'1""k
Yrtvj
I@
10
9
4
3
TI
O
10
20
30
40
Each coiour represents a d~fferenlcurve
50
The head hardened steels exhibit a wear resistance of at least three tlmes larger than grade 260 (900
A) and are superior to grade R 320 Cr (1100) by a factor of about two.
Vertical rail head wear is approximately proport~onalto the accumulated tonnage if wheel flanges are
lubricated, the vertical wear for rails. with a tensile strength of 900 N/mm2. amounts to about I mm
per 100 MGT. Without lubrication this value is of the order of 1 to 2 mm per 100 MGT
Tk
P
l*s
pa
4
m
i*En
1 0 THE R41L
10.3.5
Fatigue strength
Resistance to fatigue is often expressed as fatigue strength A rail or weld should be able to resist at
least 2 1 stress repetitions between 0 and the fatigue stress without developing any cracks.
o6
Fatigue strength is of outstanding importance for resistance to excessive loading. If this value is too
low cracks may develop and phenomena such as shelling may occur. Figure 10.35 presents results of
bending tests, which show that the fatigue strength of the as-rolled rail increases linearly with the tensile strength. During service, however, IIdrops again due to corrosion.
Cracks always start from notches which may originate from exterior damage or from internal imperfections For t h ~ sreason a h ~ g hlevel of cleanness, 1.e. low content of non-metallic inclusions and a
low hydrogen content, are important. EN 13674 specifies limits for acceptable surface defects in order
to increase the reliability of rail.
400
200
300 2 20
220 2 20
: 200 2 20
180 2 20
N/rnm2
N/mm2
N/mrn2
Nlmm2
(refer to Table 5 3)
These values are obta~nedfrom four-point bend~ngtests with a rail supporting span of 1 25 m and an
applied rnlnimum stress of 20 N/mm2. Compared to literature values. these figures are relatively low.
This rn~ghtbe due to shear deformation which plays a role at a heightllength ratio greater than 0 1.
10.3.6 Fracture m e c h a n i c s
Safety aga~nstfracture of rails is of decisive importance for railway traffic. Fracture mechanics can be
used to assess this property The basic theory of fracture mechanics is treated in [26], [5], and [ 6 ] In
fact there are two major aspects, namely fracture toughness, normally expressed as the critical stress
intensity factor Kit, and the rate of crack propagation, normally referred to as daidN.
The stress intensity factor is defined as:
c,(r&
in which.
(r
(106)
10 THE RAIL
When considering the stress Intensity factor (SIF) for the full rail section the residual stresses should
be taken into account. This stress was meac1lr.d
-n"r"+"ly
in the tests The following values were
----.
uuyu4
determined.
--
U L L ,
C
F
kl,
F~gure10.38represents RFR-values versus Kic for different rail grades. The K,,,,-values
are plotted in Figure 10.39.
versus KIc
Figure 10.40summarlses the NS results [21]. The residual stresses appear to have a dominating
influence on rail fracture resistance. From this p o ~ n of
t view it would be advantageous to Improve the
existing roller-straightening process in order to confine the res~dualstresses. For tenslle strengths of
880 NlmmL and higher the Klc-values hardly decrease at all
P"I
Ll
C
P
lPsi
Rail grade
K,,
K,, (MPa
50 - 52
(MPa rn-I")
39 - 47
36 - 44
32 - 40
28 - 37
24 - 32
21 - 30
15 - 28
UIC 260
MI-(900B)
33 - 39
UIC 1100
R 300 HB stretch
stra~ghtened
4
1
2
1
+
1
32
33
F
c$
32
rnrn I-1-
L:
fi
hi
Figure 10 40 Summary
o f NS r a ~fracture
l
test results
P
irvi
The da/dN values have also been determined on rail head specimens like those shown in
Figure 10 41.These results are summarlzed in Figure 10.42The crack propagation rate for 1080 N l
mm2 grades is about twice as high as for the 880 Nlmm2 grade Similar values have been found In
other invest~gations,for Instance as reported in [Ill,(2161and [217]
P
h;
rn
10 THE PAIL
I
4
\
_J
'
'
1
""?
d
I
10.4
Ra31 welding
10.4.1
introduction
Factors like lncreaslng train frequency, hrgher axle loads, and h~ghertrain speeds have resulted In an
Increase of track loads and the associated stresses. Fishplated rail joints exhlbrt considerable impact
forces when the wheel passes the gap of the jolnt. Continuous welded track avo~dssuch weak pornts,
leadlng to a hrgher reliabliity and safety of the track. Although the performance of the welds Improved
with further developments of the welding process, defects In welds are s t a large cost factor for the
rarlways. The concept of just-in-time delivery of unwelded rails of up to 120 m length to the building
site reduces the number of welds rn the track, and thus the fa~lureevents.
10.4.2
The flash butt welding, or electrical resistance welding prrnciple, characterrsed by current, travel, and
pressure IS shown in Figure 10.44. After evenly flashing of both rail end sect~onspreheabng commences. Here the energy Input should be high and the flashing time short. The heat input should be
uniform throughout the cross-sectron At the end of the preheatrng phase the temperature r ~ g hat
t the
jornt should drop abruptly from a hrgh level in towards the rail.
The subsequent flashing should, if poss~blebe done progressively at an rncreasing travel rate and
wrth growing current. In thls way metal vapour IS produced which protects the abutting surface agalnst
oxldation, thus preventrng the formation of non-metallic inclusions.
To obtarn a high qualrty weld the flashing operatron should smooth the contact surfaces wlthout forrning craters. Surface and nelghbourlng rail area need to be at melting temperature to obtarn sufflc~ent
travel during upsetting to prevent lenses, micro-poroslty and non-metallic lnclus~onsIn the welding
seam
pl
rrvrii
Most of the premium rails requrre post-weldrng treatments The weldlng machrne must be programmed according to the transformation behaviour of the rail steel.
Preflashlng
Preheating
Flashlng Upsett~ng
Postheatlng
Current
/f'--
Travel
$
.-___/.'
,--1
d
"
.
-
Pressure
1
M
--
----------
"
--..-- ------------.--------/-'
I,'
\-----
Upset pressure
Contact pressure
I
1
20
40
60
80
Ttlrne [s]
F I ~ U I -10
e 44 Flash butt weld~ngpi~nciple
100
120
140
160
Mode~nRaii~vayTi-ack
70 THE RAIL
Until the early seventies most of the flash butt weldlng machines were worklng with alternating current
(AC). In the new generation weldlng machines DC units are also applied The welding process that
uses DC runs very smoothly and regularly The formation of deep craters during flash~ngis avoided
and the weld spatter remains small in s i z e DC only causes minimal inductive losses in the secondary
circuit and. therefore, the rectifier units can be situated away from the weld area, well-protected
against flash~ngspatters. Moreover, thls remote arrangement allows full space to install al~gning
equ~pmentclose to the weld to control the geometrical straightness
Flgure 10.45shows a picture of the Schlatter
rail welding plant used by KHRC for the
Korean High Speed Line from Seoul to
Pusan. Thls machrne IS equipped with autoinatic rail end al~gnment.A pre-set verl~cal
overllft can also be given Immediately upon
completion of the welding process, and with
the r a ~still
l
clamped in weldrng position, the
burr IS sheared off all around the rail sectron
Due to the symmetrical arrangement of the
rectifier unlts w ~ t hrespect to the rail, a uniform heat-affected zone is built up durlng
preheating and flashing so that the hot material 1s forged equally over the whole rall section
A longitudinal cut, taken after weld~ng of
head-hardened r a ~ 132
l
Ibslyd, is presented
In Figure 10 46
--
.-
i
T
d
Figure 10 47 Mobile flash butt welding machine APT 500
1-
M o d e ~ i Railway
i
qack
10 TiiE RAIL
10.4.3
NS welding d e p o t
I
i
r1
p
I
il.,
Pi
I
There the weld IS cooled wrth water which does not commence, however, until 4 minutes after welding
to guarantee safe transformation for R 260 Mn (900 B) rarls.
F"
bid
'"49
1
10 THE RAIL
f7
1
hm
i
3
:'q
I
ktd
An alternative system IS used at KHRC in Korea where the grinding is performed by moveable rotating stones For details please refer to Figure 10.51.
Figure 10.52 shows some grinding results
obtained with the STS 220 The grinding
performance depends heavily on the step
size (misalignment). In the welding process
this value should preferably be kept below
02mm
Lr/
1"111
!7
bit
k"oi
10.4.4
-- after cool~ng
Thermit welding
+ 2 A I -. 2 F e + AI,O, + 850kJ
(10 8)
U
Fe,O,
+ 2 Al +AI,O,
1000 g THERMlT-476
r"s"r
+ 2 Fe + 850 kj
g slag
524 g Iron
3970 kl
I
I
I\/iode7nRa~l~avay
TIaci,
10 THE RAIL
it-
f-
ipyl
pl
I
uj
The mould is sealed against the rat1 using naturally or artificially bound silica sand. The rail ends are
uniformly preheated within the mould cav~tyto a temperature of about 1000 " C by the flat flame of a
specially designed burner operating on propane and oxygen according to Figurs 10.55. In the case of
the 60 E l (UIC 60) section, preheating lasts about 7-8 minutes.
When the Thermit reaction is completed, the preheating torch is removed from the mould automailcally and the molten steel IS tapped from the crucible Into the pourlng pot attached to the s ~ d e
(Figure 10 55a) From there the metal flows into the mould Figure 10.56 presents the pouring diagram When the steel has solidifed, the mould 1s removed only n the reglon of the rail head (in the
case of the 60 El (UIC 60) section after 4-5minutes), the rest of the mould and the foot risers being
left in place to reduce the rate of cool~ngof the joint. F~gure10.57 shows a machined weld produced
by the flat-collar method
Modern 3ailway ~ r a ~ k
T h e r m ~ Quick
t
Weld~ngMethod
w ~ t hflat collar S m W - F
w
rarl
lrrvi
P"I
km
The short-preheat welding method permrts rail welding to be carried out dur~ngextremely shori timeintervals of 12-1 5 mrnutes between trains on very busy lines
A number of characteristic features drstinguish the SkV from the SmW-F process Preheating, for
instance, only lasts between 1 and 2 minutes. It serves to dry the mould and heat the rail ends to a
temperature of about 600 "Cin a narrow zone of about 3-5 mm
The larger heat quantity needed for the fusion of the rarl ends IS supplied by an rncreased amount of
welding mrxture. The liquid metal flows from the crucrble directly into the mould, through a central
inlet, wrthout passing through a pouring pot first.
"i
d
For thrs purpose the centre of the preheated opening In the upper part of the mould IS closed with a
plug after the burner is removed The mould evenly distributes the molten steel as rt flows down into
the 24-26 mm gap between both rarl ends The lower heat rnput at preheatrng is balanced by uslng a
larger SkV-portron
Figure 10.58 shows the SkV pouring diagram For the repair of rail failures withrn a gap of 75 mm a
special process, referred to as SkV-75, is used Thrs weld ISan attractive alternative for repalring vertical cracks w h ~ c hwould otherwise have requ~redthe appl~cationof a short rarl sectron with 2 welds
;
fi
F"1
ivl l
F i g i ~ ~10
e 58 SkV-F pouring diag~am
I G THE RAIL
r
i-
I"
Besides rmprovernents on the process consistency, one-shot light weight crucibles were introduced in
order to reduce the eight of the equipment from more than 200 kg to less than 50 kg They are made
from steel or paper cans coated wlth highly refractory material and filled wlth the alumrnothermic mixture. After casting, the can is deposed in accordance with legal regulations.
In 2000, Elektro-Thermrt presented a method with partial alloyrng of the rail head. The material properties follow the rdea of a head hardened rail with a high hardness in the rail head and a considerable
toughness in the rail web and foot These properties are achreved by using a soft but tough aluminothermc mixture and an alloying bar at the top of the mold. During casting, the bar melts and alloylng
elements increasing the hardness in the top part of the cross sectlon are resolved rn the thermrte
steel
i-
PI
After sol~dif~cation,
the excess weld metal requrred to compensate for shrinkage can be removed
almost completely In the region of the rail head while still red hot This IS normally done w ~ t ha hydrauIrc shearrng device as depicted In Frgure 10.59.
F i g ~ ~ 10
r e 59 Hydraui~csheanng device
p7
lid
a
L1
P
I
lul
Subsequently, the rrser on the running surface is ground by a special grlndlng machine, illustrated rn
F~gure10 60, until only 0.5 mm remains After the weld has completely cooled, the foot risers can be
broken off cleanly and with ease and the weld cleaned of the remaining mould sand. The average
time needed between trains to perform a Thermit weld amounts to 15 minutes for the SkV process
and 20 to 25 mln~itesfor the Sm\N-F process, depend~ngon the profile After the weld has cooled
down to ambient temperature, running surface and gauge corner are smoothed by frnish-grinding to
conform to the rail section
F
ipd
p
isu'
-9
I
1 0 THE RAIL
HB 30
T*l
Sm W-F weld
lrrv
9
7
lusi
9
b
The hardness of the alumlnothermlcally produced steel must match that of the rail to avoid battering.
Figure 10.61shows a hardness proflle on the running surface of an S 49 sectlon rall wlth a mrnimum
tensile strength 580 N/mm2
The Brlnell hardness of the rails is thus 275 in the non-heat-affected zone, rising to 255 In the weld
metal, and drops in the narrowly formed hardness trough rn the frne-grained zone Thrs is confirmed
by the longitudinal macro-sectron through the rail centre presented in Figure 10.62.The picture
shows that at about 55 m m from the weld centre the soft-annealing temperature of 650 "Cto 750 "C
causes the graln structure of the steel to become flner The weld gap was 22 mm and the width of the
weld metal about 30 mm at ~ t snarrowest polnt.
P"
Y
10.4.5Cooling rates
1000
pa(
I
ui
800
$'
C
-s'
m
600
400
-I
S;
200
o
I
10
Seconds
o2
10-
10
Mlnutes
C O O I I trme
~ ~
10'
loo
1 Coolrng curve for rarl steel after SkV Thermrt welding followed by accelerated cooling wlth compressed art-
7kd
F I ~ L I I -10
e 63 TTT-diagiams of 3 /ail steels
rl
Y
I
70 THE RAiL
ri
i" '
i
,,,
F-
zaoo
250
200i
1
When uslng the flash butt weldlng method
-100 -80 -60 -40 -20
0
20 40
60 80 100
wrth rts lower operating temperatures, sperrnrnl
L
cia1 measures need to be taken such as
~ ~ ~ t - h e a t l This
n g , 1s confirmed by the flash Figure 10 64 Hardness distribution o v e r a R 350 H i ;lash butt weld
butt weld coollng curve sketched In
Figure 10.63 If after welding the rails should
cool down In less than the mlnlmum cooling tlme, martensite may form locally. Thls structure is hard
and br~ttleand may lead to rarl fallure Alloyed rarl steels (Cr-Mn-steel In Flgure 10.63) need to be
post-heated In order to avoid martenslte formation in the heat affected zone.
'
'J
Ld
p
The coollng procedure of the heat treated steel grades must be well controlled to adjust the hardness
In the jolnt according to the hardness of the rarl. For the CEN grade R 350 HT the rall head must be
quenched, e g. by using a blow-off-devlce T h ~ sdevrce glves a slmllar heat treatment as used in the
manufacturing process of the rail The hardness and tenslle properties of the weld are comparable to
that of the rail, havlng a hlgh hardness In the head and a high toughness In the rail foot
(Flg~lre10.64). Grade R 350 LHT IS alloyed wlth chromium and, In order to avold martenslte formatlon, no such qclenchlng procedure is applled.
Table 10 5 provldes another comparison of transformation behaviour of varlous rail steel grades,
whrch are listed in order of the minlmum coollng trme tBi5 required from 800 "C to 500 "C to achieve
complete transformation into the pearllte stage Thrs list shows that manganese exerts the declsrve
Influence on the transformatlon behavrour of rail steels, carbon havlng no influence
Rarl steel
81s
[s]
Temperature (OC)
at which
fully pearl~te
(900A)
CEN R 350 HT
GzzGiT-
50
% by mass
Mn
SI
1 560
05
0.2
10
555
07
02
10
565
08
0.4
580
08
0.4
562
06
55
p
p
75
Cr
11
11
02
-~~~
head hardened
Special grade
30
210
' 580
Cr - Mn - steel
Table 10 5 S~irnrnaryof rniiiimiin~cooliiig tiines tj./5
O2
07
1 1
09
Modern Rzilway L ~ a c k
1Q T,?E RAIL
f
j
10.5
Iiail failures
Pt
R a I failures are usually the final result of a period of fatigue crack growth. The cracks grow from small
defects or stress concentrations. For this reason it is often possible to find the crack before failure
occurs It is common practice to use ultrasonic inspection. T h ~ ssubject w ~ l lbe dealt with in
Chapter 16. In service. rails are known to fail in several ways. These failures are classified in UIC
Leaflet 712 R [279] The UIC codes are composed according to the simplified scheme in Table 10.6 .
The following sections describe some of the most common and hence most costly types of failures.
'
k.
r"
L
1st digit
2nd dig~t
1 r a ~ends
l
0 full sect~on
1 Innerside rarl head
2 web
5 foot
1 4 welds
I
a1""
3rd dlgit
1 transverse
2 horizontal
3 longitudtnal crack
2 r a ~head
l
surface
0 corrosion
2 shelling
5 wheel burn
I1
1 flash butt
2 Therm~t
7 resurfacing
8 other
I transverse
2 horizontal
10.5.1
D e f e c t s in rail e n d s
PPI
.-
irvi
3 '
-
t!
. -.
LA?&%
"
1
.,a
& -&L+"=
*
.,
-n+>~
L7
L~
--_ *-..-
A*
s*: ::*>**&&?k
> *
--r,s*
--
2:
."+:L
iw
luri
*,.-
p
V
m1
10
THE RAIL
r"1\-
The deteroratron of hard-steel ralls through surface fatrgue follows a slightly different pattern. The
gauge corner may initrally show small, extremely superficral filiform cracks which are formed due to a
comb~natlonof high loads and large slrp at the gauge corner. These are transverse, obllque cracks,
called head checks. which are rather close to one another (Figure 10.74. Head checks)
Headchecks
Headchecks lateral
These cracks grow and either form transversal fractures or merge below the surface. In the latter
re
Spalling), referred to as spalling In a more advanced
case, small metal particles go off ( F ~ g ~ i 10.74,
phase an almost general dlsintegratron of the gauge corner 1s to be observed. (F~gure10.74, HC lateral). These defects are not distinguished from shelling in the UIC Leaflet 712 R.
Generally speaking, shelling, head checking and spallrng occur on the outside rails in curves and are
promoted by lubrication applied to reduce lateral wear Check that thrs defect is not accompanied by
progressive transverse cracking 211 At an early stage grinding is an option, otherwrse the rails
should be removed. To prevent recurrence, use harder rails or preventive grinding.
References for head checks are [53] and [104].
PiPrrj
lu
either horizontally In the head, where rt soon degenerates Into local shelling which does not
develop in depth but progresslvely causes depression of the running surface under repeated traffic
loads,
1
1
-9
LJ
I1
10 THE RAIL
or transversely In the head, resulting In an Internal crack whrch progresses towards the web and Is
accompanied by a depression of the running surface wrthout any other local alteration
1
7
I ,j
This Internal crack soon reaches the surface and invarrably leads to a break, the pattern of which is
very character~strc.At the early stages wheel burns can be repalred by resurfacing, otherwlse a short
sectron of rall should be welded In.
aGnn
=!
T ~ I defect
S
shall not be mlxed up wlth the so-called squat defect which was observed flrst In highspeed llnes. Surface cracks are formed In the same way l ~ k ehead checks due to high tangentral
forces at the surface. The defect exhlblts a shallow dark lmpresslon In the surface. A crack develops
Into the rall, preferentially in the dlrectron of traff~c(Flgure 10.76).
The rarl should be replaced. References for squats are [53] and [104].
.d
--..-_ *I
Pn
kid
a?
Modein Ra~lwavTrac!c
10 THE RAIL
C
This defect may take the form of an epidemic in rails from the same cast Broken rarls should be
renewed at the earlrest opportunrty
P
1 0 . 5 . 3 Weld a n d resurfacing d e f e c t s
bi
laq
F
k
F1"4
irrri
10 THE RAIL
- J
Weld failures are repalred either by v~eldlngIn a short length of rall, e.g. 3 m, or replacing the orlglnal
weld wlth a normal gap or a wide 9aP Thermlt weld
1-7,
-4
I
I7{
;il
11
Defect In flash butt weld: this defect develops across the weld and generally assumes a curved shape
In the weld. As ~tspreads, it may curve d ~ w n w a r d s(Figure 10.81 a) or upwards (F~gure10.81.b), or
simultaneously in both directions (Figure 10.81.c). It ultimately leads to fracture of the rail near the
weld
n"m(
v.,.
.:
.
..-.
-.,-
. -. . ., . -
I
I
..
- . -
;'
"'."'--"'-..-
-. .
~~$;&-@?g:r?-..~~-.
.. .-..
7*."..
a
g*;tz5F*i*a-?...
-- ..-."*. .:...:P'@": . .
b
;$Tg5$4;1:gi.:h-?:>;~:;:$s2:g;:.::-.T;
C
i4r?'*.*~s;<?-.i
.t~?z;$$p:;.;:
!
.-,.F>+%>>z5y
:.a%
3$Fg.2.;;j<FL:;:7,:;
, . . :3i,:'..
... .-,. ., -=$,?3
.. - >.,:-.. .
*@ .,.. .. . .-::s.
.+.
=.,.
id
. *q;.?;~qL~&=&:s.
,.,),:,a,<>
I .( .,I
( ,>:
-.%
c:
:z:@
wmBB
,.,!:'
d-.-"r,7
.L-"~.Y~+"
.,-3 .<c
-d
*c-s->"
,%
,. .
,,.;.J-
.$..
i..
?=**
;:s:.*s;5*
?'
,~d~&~$~~~&y&&~$~~~,&=$f&~
lplri
. .....-.
.---..
.. ...-
"
..-.,...-,I
ig+..i;i:7
,:
?
::
<$?
,$;?
.<+*5, *
w&
*x
c ;&z
L
~3
~,
,
;gp.?;.$:@&kGi
,Gev*&%d.&gi$.,,&%*mEe2& f+$$-g*~
E~&~z~ta$*;~s
a:&&&ag$x2
g
,-d
.- --
.-:....
_I
.
.
j
z,k
.-,
. ; : !?
;t..*.>p,.
..,
;~g~w~~$$~:~;<$y$$:~j~;~~~~!~
37&L&~e7zF~5%$*2t:.,l
"
k
ak-.&b&w%d&%k/.~.d3
:z'-liulW..ih,,rq5r
..,",r~i&-w,d&".-.
0 .
t"i
w
p*t
Defects In Thermlt weld: t h ~ sdefect develops In a plane near a ilormal cross-sectlon of the profile. ~t
uklmately leads to a breakage in the profile. Some of the characteristics of thls defect are given
below,
9
d
Crack orlglnating In the flange under the foot and developing In a transverse plane In adjacent rails
(code 421 . I , Figure 10.82.a);
Vert~calcrack located the weld (code 421.2, Figure 10.82.b, c and d),
Crack located In a vertical plane near the weld (code 421.3, Figure 10.82.e);
F1
I
1
I
.+,;Y$!,
L
b~/n/io~!em
Raillfvay Traclc
10 T q E R4lL
I
I
i-
i"
P
!IA
Uui
r*1W
IT
s.
g16
e
v%
gy.
:...:-a7
.=>-q
":--"
+b
&?&'.
-%Q$L
&
b
Figure 1 0 8 5 Code451
iPlY
1"
[
10 THE RAIL
Examples of t h e NS network
An example of the number of rail defects per year in plain tracks, as a function of time, is presented in
Figure 10 87 These values refer to NS main I~nes,consisting of 4500 km of track. In 1985,the total
number was reduced to 300 whlch corresponds to 6.7 failures per 100 km of track. Over 80 % of
these failures were found by ultrasonic ~nspection.
7
L
P
1
The number of defects shows a decreasing trend of about 40 defects per year. As can be seen from
Figure 10 88, the descending trend is mainly caused by glued insulated joints, Thermit welds, and the
rail itself. These curves in fact reflect a number of strategies, such as application of stronger glued
insulated joints, weld straightening and gr~nding,and Improved quality control with properly defined
standards for welding and rail supply.
On the other hand, it should be mentioned that the accumulated tonnages on the NS network are very
low. This IS shown by the distribution functions in Figure 10.89for rail types 46 E3 (NP 46)and 54 El
(UIC 54)on the NS CWR tracks. In fact, these defects refer to process failures rather than to fatigue
failures. for fat~gueoccurs at much higher tonnages, at least for 54 E l (UIC 54).
Another way of combining the defects IS by means of the UIC codes discussed earlier. Figure 10 90
shows the development, as a function of time, of the most dangerous defects on NS rail. Among
these, defect 132,hor~zontalcracking at the web-head fillet radius and defect 135,star-crack~ngof
fishbolt holes, appear most frequently, primar~lyIn glued insulated joints. The total number has
decreased substantially and other types have almost drsappeared.
The second way of looking at rail failures is to consider them as a fcinction of the accumulated traffic
load, whrch aims at giving more insight into the service life of rail components.
Nurnberiyear
Nurnberlyear
- Therrn~tweld
lip!
300
200
I:
FAI;
J
100
ar
Year
Figiire 10 87 Niinlber of rail defects pet year in plain track
o n NS
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
++
P
kpli
b
.
F
,
P
L
10 THE RAIL
FI
10 91a Darnage to track cornuoi7ents due to poor weld and jofnt geometry
I-ri
_i
Mociern Kailbvay f i a c k
10 THE RAIL
WOOD
CONCRETE
NP46
FBW
50
100
50
100
RAIL
50
100
Total
R
&d
30
30
20
20
10
10
-Y=O131X
r=O71
3 0 ~ - ~ q ~ , = 0 0 6 0 X "074
il=-
Q
50
F
rsi
150
200
'm
100
50
\&5
100
150
200
Figure 10 92 Number of defects per 100 km per 10 MGT versus tonnage boine for CWR tracks on NS
. ri
w
,
I
= I
d
;m
I
100 km
25
10MGT
/M
I
'
Tonnage [MGT]
PKP. UICGOlWood 50-60 MGTlyear
L = 3 8 k m . THW = 7 1 %
25
25
--I
li
P
i
10 TriE RA Ii
r
I_
the cumulative probablllty of fallure as a funct~onof tonnage borne was lnvestlgated. In most
cases this functron was found to f ~ at Welbull dlstribut~on[9]described by:
AISO
I"
In this formula F(Q) IS the cumulative probability of failure at a tonnage of Q million gross tonnes
(MGT) and 6 and 8 are functions of the Weibull distribution. F(Q) is somet~mesknown as the unrellability or mortality. The approximation follows from a series expansion for small values of F. On a Iogarithmic scale the Weibull functlon becomes linear.
For example, a 50 km long test section on the PKP Katowice - Tczes line was found to have 6 = 1.16
and 8 = 17380. The Werbull dlstrlbution is presented in Figure 10.94.
Assum~ngthere are 80 ra~lsper km of track,
the tonnage for any cumulative number of
fallures per km, k, can be found, A value of k
= 6 failureslkm is often chosen on PKP as an
indlcatlon for renewal. In this case Q = 500
MGT One should bear In mind, however,
that over 80 % of the defects relate to Thermlt welds Weld geometry correct~onwould
therefore. in this case, be very advisable.
ilk@
F(Q)
0 100
040i:
O OI0
004
002
r Tache ovale
failures in 1972 r a ~ l
e Squat failures In
dF(" [ I
f(~l]-'
(10.11)
iQ
0
10
m
Id
P
Y
1"
11 SWITCHES AND C R 0 S S I N L ; S
r
i
113
P"
t,
T h e standard t u r n o u t
1 I
Turnouts are used to dlvlde a track rnto two, sometimes three tracks. The purpose of crossings IS to
allow two tracks to Intersect at the same level. If a complete train is to pass from one track to another
whlle movtng and wlthout being subdivided, turnouts are essential In the absence of turntables or traversers
It must be posslble to run through switches and crossings In both directrons A normal or slngle turnout, as shown In Flgure 11.l,
allows movement of traffic In a straight dlrectlon on the through track or
In a divergent dlrectlon A plcture of the right-hand turnout IS glven in Figure 11.2.
fl
Intersection p o ~ n t
Rear of turnout
Clamp~ng(heel)
Through r a ~ l
Front of turnout
Wlng rail
Stock rail
Cross~ng
Swltch polnt
Check r a ~ l
Swltch blade
Closure r a ~ l
I
1
I
ir
*
;
1
A .
..
-. -._
-I
L
4
crossing;
Closure rall
11.1.1
'
Set of switches
-\
I
t
Switches consist of two switch blades and two stock rails. The switch blades can be moved and
determ~newhich of the above-mentioned tracks w ~ l lcarry traffic. In Figure 11.1 this is the through
track.
-I'll
A-A
B-B
C-C D-D
pr;
!a
E-E
F-F
G-G
H-H
J-J
~
-2"
LL-
Figure 11 3 C~ass-sect~onal
drawlng of sw~tchblade and stock rail
&d
F"""
--
on all four ends. This crossing is very wear resistant and can be welded in CWR track. Before
rnstallation these crossings can be pre-hardened by explosive hardening whrch reduces the initla1
wear and the need for maintenance considerably Figure 11.8 shows a cast monobloc AMS crossing with welded on legs
For higher axle loads and speeds of more
than 200 kmlh crossings with movable parts
are used. In these crossings the gap
between the wing r a ~and
l
the point is closed
and the impact load IS reduced
Three major types ex~st:
- Swrng Nose Crossing SNC wrth a nose
This
type is used for small turnouts and when
the length of the turnout IS restricted.
P=
hlodern Railway n a c h
T-
I
Check ralls prevent the wheel from running into the wrong groove in the unguided part of the common
crosslng or from str~klngthe crossing Modern turnout design uses the UIC 33 profile for che, rk rails
that are attached to special plates and are not bolted to the running rail. This allows easy adjustment
when the check rails wear.
pr
r
1
11.1.3
C l o s u r e rail
The closure rail lies between the set of switches and the common crossing.
I4
R a i l s a n d s l e e p e r s in t u r n o u t s
Turnouts are in principle constructed of normal rails. Special profiles are used for the swrtch blades
and check rails. The steel grade of the rails usually is the same as on plain track. Special grades 11ke
Head Special Hardened HSH rails Improve the wear characteristic of the turnout.
All rail joints within the turnout are welded joints or, ~fnecessary, glued insulated jo~nts.No bolted and
fish-plated joints should be used In a modern design.
C
Z
Normally long switch sleepers made of hardwood, also known as bearers. are used, although use is
increasingly being made of concrete sleepers. Especially in main line and high-speed track much use
is made of monobloc concrete sleepers or slab track.
11.2
Geometry of t h e t u r n o u t
Front of turnout: this lies In the centre of the rail joint on the side of the nondivided track,
Rear of turnout: this lies at corresponding points on the side of the divided track,
Intersection point (Mathematical point): this 1s defined as the point of intersection of the centre l ~ n e
of the straight track and the tangent to the centre line at the rear of the diverging track.
C r o s s i n g a n g l e of t h e turnout: the above-mentioned centre line and tangent form an angle whch
fl
IS
IiU
referred to as the crossing angle of the turnout. The same angle can also be seen In the common
crossing For the crossing angle I .n whole numbers are chosen Common values are 1.7, 1.9, 1:I 2,
1.14, 1:15, and 1.20
Layout g e o m e t r y of t h e turnout: The layout geometry of a turnout defines the speed that is possible
by means of the diverg~ngroute of the turnout and the forces created between wheel and rail A modern desrgn uses a tangentral beginning of the turnout curve. Today, mainly constant radius curves,
clothoids, and a combination of these types of curves are used. With specral simulation software it is
possible to optimise the layout geometry for minimum forces and maximum comfort. (See also paragraph High Speed Turnout).
1111
a
F9
he
m
I
'-1
I
11.3.1
General
.J
High-speed traffic is a new challenge both for the railway operators and the railway industry.
"4
Time and quality factors are steadily developing into the declsive elements in the acceptance and use
of transport systems. The areas of social considerations, speed, and comfort are where the potential
for the future success of the railways lies.
~d
Components and materials like swing nose crossings, asymmetrical switch points, elastic inner fastening systems of stock rail, head special hardened rails. high wear-resistant manganese steel, vibratlon dampened fastening plates and concrete sleepers, Integrated operating systems, lubrication, and
ma~ntenancefree components should nowadays be part of any modern high-speed turnout.
11.3.2
Traditional turnout deslgn methods assume that vehicle response is determined by kinematics rather
than dynamlcs [123], [I841 For a given vehicle speed and assuming the vehicle to be a point mass,
the lateral acceleration which is not compensated through the turnout can be calculated. Turnouts or
crossovers - particularly for high-speed applications - are generally designed based on three parameters derived from the kinematic acceleration.
These are:
P'
11.4
Vehicle dynamic
**.1
I
wi
K~nematicqesponse
Dynarn~cResponse
w
I
isroi
md
Li
8fl
Recognislng the shortcomings of the existing design approach, new methods for the
design and evaluation of turnout geometry
are now being used. Turnout design has to
F ~ g ~ i r11
e 10. K~nernatrcv e r s ~ i sDynamic Response
be considered as a vehicleltrack interaction
problem. The method IS to use a vehlcle
dynamics simulation to predict forces and accelerations throughout the turnout. The optlmum geome-
.Ir
9
Id
ic"a,
try usually
IS
One method to further reduce the forces that are created when a car enters a turnout and the wheel
makes the transition from stock rail to switch blade is called "Kinematic Gauge Optlmlzat~on= KGO"
K G 0 makes better use of the rolling rad~usdifference of the two wheels on an axle when it enters a
turnout by bending the stock rail out. This Increases the rolling rad~usdifference and makes the axle
steer In the desired dlrectlon Calculated results have predicted an advantage compared to convent~onalturnout design.
" -
.- -
~bove-ment~oned
considerations and methods should form the prerequls~teswhen developing new,
advanced geometry for high-speed turnouts Only then can we develop turnouts that meet the
requ~rementsfor h~ghestsafety, best effic~ency.and excellent r~dingcomfort at the same time.
11.4.1
~igu-re11 1 1 shows a photograph of the FS ltalia high-speed turnout with swing nose crossing for 160
kmih on the diverging track, geometry UlC6O-730013000115000-1:38-vertex clotho~d.turnout geometry designed and optim~sedby using veh~cledynamics simulation. It was installed at Gallese, Italy on
the D~rettissimaRome / F~renzein 1999.
Figure 11. I 2 shows a photograph of a high-speed turnout with swing nose crossing for 200 kmih on
the d~verglngtrack used on DB. geometry UIC60-16000/6100/infinit-l:48. switch including K G 0
design which is already a standard turnout at DB. Installed at Bitterfeld. Germany on the high speed
lrne Berlin / Leipzig in 1998.
Finally, Figure 11 .I 3 shows a new track lay-out for High Speed crossovers. cons~stingof a circle combination of spiral segment-circle-sp~ralsegment.
~ :,
h l o d e ~ nRailway Track
1.5
Turnouts and crossings are ~ n d ~ c a t eind different ways on drawings. The deslgn drawing gives all the
necessary details for the design and construction. The double line drawing with the two rails of a track
drawn separately, an example of which is given in Figure 11.I,
illustrates this principle.
rim
rJ
I
There are also sketches in whlch only centre l~nesand tangents are shown The mathematical point is
Indicated by a small circle. The most Important details of the turnout or crossing can also be indicated.
q7
j "9
I
ird
1
7
'
.-..----.--- - - - - - -,-
I-
I,..
"
'r
-<
a-
@4
I
ma
a Standard turnout
<
&
<
-;c
b Symmetrlcal turnout
kid
PT
L
+
<
-
nr*
w
c. Double sllp
""i
"111
C
I
>
a
<
,.-==-Al
1
.:'4$/' '-
e D~amondcrosslng
lrPi
" M1
I
Id
1"
"%
d Slngle s l ~ p
=/-\<
'r
,4
rn
y
l
y
B
I
< '-..
Modern Fia~lwayTrack
[ I
,A
a
L~
,. -.
I
r"l
i-;xu
b
I-f\
J
,
I-?
I
14
P
duul
91
I W
I,
L=2nxw+4a+d
'"el
------
lui
P1
L=nxw+2a
Mj
F ~ g ~ i r11
e 18 Double cross-overs
W
- .-
i"?
1""1
!id
F~gure11 19 Crossovers
i"a
\.
M o d e ~ nRailway Track
71 SWlTCHES A N D CRCSSlNGS
~
c. two Intersecting crossovers with central dlamond crossing
PLi*1
L
F l
11 SWITCHES 4 M D CROSSINGS
_--
R = 6.8n2
,,' R = -
(11.7)
11.8.2
a12
-A,,'
'
1
i
i /"
/
Calculation of main d i m e n s i o n s
In Figure 11.23 the double line drawing represents the straight and diverging track of a normal righthanded turnout. As can be seen, the switch blade is retracted over a distance CD w ~ t hrespect to the
theoret~calcontact point C. Moreover. the switch blade is not tangent with the stock rail at point D, but
makes a small angle because it is not constructively possible to make a perfect tangent.
hi
WY
Figure 11 23 Calc~~labon
of curve radiiis and length of normal [urnout
Both straight and curved switch blades are used. In case of a curved sw~tchblade, the part a from D
to the heel E is curved. In open position there should be enough space over the full length of the
switch blade to allow a free passage of the wheel flange. T h ~ srequirement determines the length of
the sw~tchblade
A'w
P""
I
IT
'
-4
The advantage of a strarght swrtch blade, apart from rts slmple manufacture, IS that the same design
IS used for left and right-handed turnouts. A curved swltch requires less length and allows a larger
curve radlus. The full curve runs from E to F and ends at distance g before the theoretical point G of
the crossing.
1 ,
d
1
'
..i
The following quantltles depend on the dimensions of-existing constructional parts and are Supposed
to be known:
cd
a = Crossing angle;
r01
s
e
g
p
q
t
I
Id
I
k@'a
I
= Track gauge;
= Posltlon of heel;
= Length of stralght part before theoretical polnt G;
= Distance from front turnout to begrnnlng of swltch blade (point D);
= Distance from beglnnlng of crossrng to rear of turnout;
= Length of sw~tchblade (projectron on stock rail)
nni
w
s
(11.8)
ltasr
Ld
i
s-e-gsina
cosp - C O S U
(11.9)
bi
I
I
(11.10)
I
rn
bml
MH
~4
%scotg%a
(11.11)
The values of the quantltles pr~ntedIn the NS tables follow from the relations:
k d
ml
kJ
MH+q
L-B
Table I 1 1 lists some swrtch types commonly applied by the NS wlth their main dimens~ons.
ipri
"1
Common turnouts
sy8
j,
J
3
7
(11 12)
rn
8 , .
Modern Fla~lwayn a c k
r'-
11.8.3
Geometrical d e s i g n of switches a n d c r o s s i n g s
In order that a swltch and crosslng layout can be manufactured, assembled, and laid into a track,
every part of rt must be very accurately spec~fiedIn dimens~onalterms, usually on a drawing. Scales
of 1:100 are used for thrs purpose, and 1:50 or even larger scales may be used on occasions. It IS
undesirable to attempt to scale off from even the largest scale drawing dimensions in order to achieve
the necessary accuracy to obtain parts whrch properly f ~ together.
t
Hence every line on the drawing
must be defined by dimensions, and these must be confirmed by calculat~on.Only then can ~tbe reasonably certa~nthat the manufacturer w ~ lproduce
l
components which correspond with the engineer's
~ntent~ons.
It IS to t h ~ send that ~tIS necessary to define all layouts in geometrical terms.
Untrl recently, all thls work had to be done by rndrvldual calculation, and, as a result, a substantral
body of formulae has been developed over the years to make the task easier. Much of thls technique
has been made obsolete by the introduction of Computer Aided Design CAD).
An example of such a program IS TURN which is used by the TU Delft in combination wlth the FEM
package ALGOR.
11.9
9
I
7
LJ
-1
bd
F"P
1:
12 TRACK n/lAlNTENAI\/CE AND REI\IEI/VAL
M o d e ~ nRailway Track
r
L
12
2 .
i""
introduction
PRI
L
I
k.
Track maintenance means the total process of maintenance and renewal required to ensure that the
track meets safety and quallty standards at minimum cost. Figure 12.1 glves a schematrc summary of
the varlous components, which go to make up the maintenance process. Annual maintenance on the
NS network, with its 4500 km of main line tracks, comprises renewal of roughly 140 km of maln line,
40 km of secondary tracks and sidings, 1000 km of mechanical tamping, 60 km of ballast cleaning, 10
km of corrective grinding and renewal of 250 switches. In add~tlonto this the track requires spot marntenance on a dally bas~s.
"----*
LJ
"
- -
-.---
. -. .-
--
I -- - - .
-.
1"
.-"
Renewal
--
-.---- -...
.. - - -
Manual
Malntenance
Mechanrcal
_
._
_._-, -._
Manual
""
Mechanical
.- -
Surface welding
Tamprng
Parts
__
____.___I._-__I_._
Swltches
Ballast regulating
^ ^ _
____ -
-_
Ballast stablllzrng
Level crossings
.-
continuous or panels
- - ---
Switches
complete or parts
.- .
.-
- ..
--
----- -
Formation
..
Structures
Track
Structures
. . ... . --..- .
Spots
- -- -.- . - -
Jolnt straightening
- --
---
-- .- - --- --
Ballast cleaning
-
- .-- - -
Spots
F ~ g ~ i 12
r e 1 Schematic survey of maintenance and renewal process
Malntenance and renewal are in principle scheduled on the bass of control data from measuring systems, vlsual observation and flnancral-economrc data, bearlng in mind local conditions. The measuring systems are drscussed in Chapter 16, and how the gu~delrnesare obtarned IS explained in
Chapter 18 This introduction concentrates on v~sualinspection and safety.
Visual inspection
The purpose of visual ~nspectionis principally to check whether clrcumstances have arisen which
may jeopardize safety of railway traffic. Inspection frequency varies depending on speed llm~tand
dally tram tonnage from a few times a week on the most ~mportantlines to once a month on the least
Important lines Extra ~nspectionsare necessary in exceptional clrcumstances, such as very hot
weather. Visual inspection becomes more and more supported by video inspection systems, which
detect material faults by photo Imaging (Chapter 16).
Yrrs
4L
fl
Safety
The brak~ngdlstance of trarns is much longer than that of cars or trams. Tralns cannot be brought to a
it is not possible to
standstill in t ~ m eif people or vehicles unexpectedly appear on the track. S~m~larly,
halt traffic temporarily each t ~ m ework is requrred on the track. This IS why comprehensive stringent
safety regulatrons apply to work with~nthe structure gauge Flrstly the track must always be in a safe
condition for approachrng trains and secondly the safety of the track maintenance crews must be
ensured
I"":
km
__I
-f\
_I
I
I
II
32.2
' 1
.i
r-1
- rail geometry;
LJ
- track geometry;
l1T'1
- track structures;
vnr!
- ballast bed;
UJ
- level crossings;
FMh;
- mrscellaneous.
loui
Maintenance of track geometry can in turn be subdivided into incidental (spot) maintenance, in other
words. repair of local irregularities. and systematic maintenance which is carried out as a matter of
P?
course mainly with heavy track maintenance machines. The latter is referred to as mechanized maintenance.
Mechanized maintenance is carried out with:
k
ul
- tamping machines.
- ballast regulators.
ml
- stabilrzers
to compact ballast;
- rail-grinding machines:
- STRAIT
to straighten welds;
- ballast cleaners:
m
I
W
p?
J
Llll
I
ul
"i
Current practice is to carry out maintenance exclusively according to requirement, in other words
when indicated by measured data or observations. So-called maintenance sections, measuring 5 to
10 km each. should as far as possible be treated in their entirety.
12.3
m
I I
*
1
Incidental maintenance to repair local defects can be carried out manually, supported by small
machines. Systematic maintenance is carried out as much as possible by heavy machines The possibility of track possession plays an important part in this. The most important spot work consists in:
Using jacks to raise the track and then filling the space with ballast material rectify'defects in track
level. This can be done using manual compactors. vibrating compactors or impact tampers. Often
maintenance is required at level crossings or other short sections of track. The most important incidental ma~ntenanceconsists in rectifying unacceptable twist.
Measured shovel packing IS a method, which originated In France. The greatest advantage over
tampng is that with measured shovel pack~ngthe ballast bed beneath the sleepers is not disturbed, In
view of the labour-intensive nature of this method it is only used to a very llmited extent. Besides, the
fine stone IS not sulted to the coarse ballast.
An alternative is the hand-held stone blower,
shown in Figure 12.2, using accurate1
determined quantities of special-grade ba
last, which are blown under the sleepers.
The amount of ballast is measured out on
the basis of a recording of the track ahead
using void meters and t- h.-e A
. IITnr-DADu
System
[277],
which
is-,-""#,
Figure 12.97. Wrth the aid of inclinometers, 8d
AUTOGRAPH measures the absolute- IPVPI
.-.-, 6
and cant of the track at every sleeper. An onL
-board minicomputer is used to log data The
Figure
l
2
Hand-heid
stone
on-board computer can be used for simple
line side data processrng such as the calculation of track quality in terms of standard
deviations and profile plotting Alternatively, the -'-+u a l a an be downloaded onto an IBM compatrble PC
or mainframe-computer for further processing iind analysis. By a complementary system comprising
another three wheeled measuring unit and mlri-chord versine measuring potentiometer, also alignment and gauge are measured.
'I'
v --w.s5
Isolated local
defects
should already be corrected when first appearing,
otherwise
the
dynamic forces of train
traffic soon will create
additional
irreqularities.
The levellrng- and lining system and the on-board geometry calculation computer are designed for
spotting single irregularities and calculate correction values which correlate to the adjacent geometry
values Then, heavy-duty tamping units enable a durable correction of spot-fault. The tamping process is adjusted to single or double insellion and normal or high-pressure tamprng, as des~redby the
lifiing amount and compactness of ballast at every sleeper. 'Design overlift to encounter the ~nrtral
settlement is also possible. The machine has also a high travelling speed (100 kmlh), so that the
spots. which are scattered over the whole network. can be reached in short trme and track possessrons can be kept to a mrnrmum.
I
r1
?
12.4
lrregularites in rail geometry can give rise to very hlgh dynamic loads. These geometry defects partly
occur during manufacturing of the rails (known as rolling defects), and partly during operation in the
form of corrugations, some examples of which are given in Chapter 10. The only remedy for such
defects is grinding. Long waves. as in rolling defects, are difficult to remove because a great deal of
material has to be removed.
12.4.1
Two grinding princ~plesare applied to rails. rotating stones and stones oscillating long~tudinally.In the
Plasser GWM 250 rail-grinding machine p~cturedin Figure 12.4 the stones are placed in a 2.5 m long
frame, which oscillates longitud~nally;a detail IS shown in Figure 12.5. As a result of this movement
l
is abraded. The stones cont~nuallyadapt to the mean shape of the railhead and this
the r a ~material
has a smoothing effect
.--
.*
-- --_-
A feature malnly applied on heavy haul railways is asymmetric grinding by means of which the wheel/
rail contact point IS shlfted towards the inside of the high rail and towards the outside of the low rail.
This glves better steering of the wheelset by which flanging IS prevented or at least reduced, thus
lessening the problem of side wear, severe corrugations and shelling. Figure 12.9 shows the profiles
of high and low rail which were ground asymmetr~callywith the Speno train. The shift of the contact is
clearly visible and tall~eswith the applied principle. For more details on asymmetric grind~ngplease
refer to [I 571.
blodern Ra~iwayTrack
Figure 12.10 shows the RR 16 PID switch grinder. Specially designed grinding trolleys allow full
reprofiling of the gauge face of rails close to guardrails or switchblades.
Figure 12.11 presents a view of the 48 stone grinder, which has been delivered to Ch~neseRailways.
12.4.2
If the rail show severe profile deformation (e.g. heavy haul traffic) or if the profile has to be modified,
the application of rall planning machines is advantageous because they can remove larger amounts
of material in one pass. Figure 12.12 shows a deformed railhead and Figure 12.13 the same after
reprofiling.
i
Modern Eailway Track
i"'
L
". -
Rsuie ,2
,s
=-
.L-
--
s m =
P
irvi
Modein i?a//l~aynack
1
I
Inn!
I
irslli
12.5
12.5.1
STRAlJ principle
Structural changes which occur during welding of r a ~ l sin the heat-affected zone lead to relatively
large spread in the material characteristics and consequently in the relation between force and displacement. What IS more, this relation is highly non-linear. Therefore a method has been developed
w h ~ c his entirely independent of profile and material characteristics and based on an iterative straightenlng prrnciple referred to as STRAIT (Straightening of Rail welds by Automated Iteration Techniques) [81], [82].
d
$"
U
P
d
I
Figure 12.17 shows the Iteration principle of the mobile system, which is incorporated in a Plasser
and Theurer tamping machine The bending operation is controlled on the basis of two displacement
transducers spaced 0.2 m apart, which are connected by a measuring frame 1.20 m long. The difference in the two transducer values represents the step, which is an essential item of Information for
the subsequent grinding process.
The transducer with the highest displacement value in absolute terms at the start is used for the
actual controlling of the iteration process During the first rterat~onthe weld is loaded almost to the
yield point. For a 700 ~ i m m 'grade this corresponds to an initial displacement or startrng value of 4.5
mm whereas for higher tens~lestrengths a starting value of 5.5 mm can be used.
4
mk~
4
I
~lsr.
I
Once the starting value has been reached the load is reduced to zero. In the unloaded state STRAIT
measures the difference in d~splacementw ~ t hrespect to the upper limit of the tolerance interval (0.5
mm), t h ~ sbeing the maximum overlrft which can occur afier the straightening operation. T h ~ sdifference in displacement is added to the starting value and forms what can be cons~deredas a new starting value for the second Iteration. Next the load is again increased until thrs displacement has been
achieved this occurs wrth yield After the load has been removed the old starting value is again
increased by the difference In drsplacement in relation to the upper limit and the third iteration takes
place. This procedure is repeated until d~splacenlentof the weld in the unloaded state exceeds the
lower limit of the tolerance interval; for the mobile STRAIT system this value is 0.2 mm. As a rule, the
process converges in 3 to 4 iterations towards the target value.
631
lui
sul
1 20
rn
0.1
Before straighten~ng
iui
I
I
wlli
After stra~ghtening
Overlift ground off
after 1 day
i"l
d
F"1
k
'89
rppl
"a!
?KC
-.
~ I o d e r nRailbvaj Track
r-
j2.5.2
M o b i l e weld correction
TO ensure durability it is necessary that directly after bending, the sleepers around the weld are
tamped, this is done on 8 sleepers. After bending, resulting in an overlift of the weld of some millimetres, the surplus material and particularly the steps are removed by grlnding The Plasser GWM is
used for this To smooth the weld geometry the machine moves back and forth during grinding of a
weld at an amplitude of about 1.5 m With the exception of extreme situations a grinding period of 2
minutes is sufficient
Correction of track welds must be seen as one coherent process consisting of straightening, tamping
the sleepers and grinding Weld correction of this type, together with preventive grinding of the entire
track in three passes is standard practice on NS following renewal The underlying principle can be
summarized as the reduction of dynamic load by removing all geometrical imperfections in rail and
weld geometry. which not only slows down development of corrugations but also deterioration of track
geometry and track component quality
The crucial factor in assessing the effectiveness of weld correction is the durability of the result for a
glven tonnage NS has corrected thousands of welds and no plastic deformation has since been
observed on these welds 1821.Ultrasonic testing has confirmed that the bending process does not
give rlse to any metallurgical defects
12.6
Tamping machines
12.6.1
General considerations
fl
ivli
-
It was not before 1933 when Mr August Scheuchzer, a Swiss contractor, designed a successful
purely mechan~calmechanism to carry ocrt mechanlzed track tamplng. Correction of track geometry
had still to be done by accompanylng gangs manually, with manually operated rail-lifters set in
respectlve distances to hold the track in its improved posltion until ~twas fixed by tamping ballast
under the sleepers.
With the presentat~onof the first hydraulic track tamping machine in 1953 by the two Austrians
Franz Plasser and Josef Theurer a development started In mechanization and ratlonallzat~onof track
maintenance, which is still ongoing today From the beginning the arm was to Improve work performance (speed and quality) by innovative machine solut~ons- like the hydraulic, non-synchronous
tamping system - and thereby reduce the costs of the process.
The most important rmprovements of the basic idea are only briefly touched:
- lntroductlon of and combinat~onwith levelling systems;
W
- Combination with
3
3
9
Bri
(Figure 12.19);
- invention of two-sleeper-tamping,
- Combination with llning systems to comblned levelling-lining-and tamplng-machines;
- Numerous improvements to upgrade work-speed, accuracy and operating comfort;
- Compclter~zationof levelling and lining, including precalculation of lifts and slues after initial meas-
urements;
w
I
ui
I
1
Y
I
I
(a*
*I
Current practice IS to maintain track almost exclusively using tamping machines, which correct level,
cant and alignment lrregularitles in the track geometry wlth a wavelength of up to 20 to 30 m are
automatically smoothed on the basis of an ~n-builtmeasuring system. To correct long waves the
machlnes use laser In curves, external control data is necessary; for this reason facllitres such as the
on-board computer ALC and special track geometry survey machines are available.
Under certain circumstances speclal systems such as the pneumatic ballast Injector, or "stone
blower", developed in England, are used.
iliodern R a i i w a ~Tack
rL-
12.6.2
Tamping principle
!
I
&
from "long" occupations for Instance from 5 to 2 hours. At the same time rall transport was concentrated gradually onto maln trunks wlth the highest standards in rail technology, but also the highest
traff~cdens~ties,of course.
Development of t h e output of track malntenance m a c h ~ n e s
~n r e l a t ~ o nto t h e e x t e n s ~ o nof the matntenance ~ n t e r v a l s
09-3X
2200 r n ~ h
:000
09-32 CSM
1 300-1
$
0
$-
1600 rnlh
10
i s
2 0 11
25
16003
08-32
14004
600
4004
ZOO^
a,
- 30
1000 rnlh
.,,
Duornatic
eoo rnlh
300 r n ~ h
120 r n ~ h
All
these
c~rcumstances
OJ -
55
'2
VKR 04
O,
1200 rnlh
07-32
gE 1000
L"
K
'm
60
65
71
80
84
96 YEAR
standards today at more than 1500 mlh with continuously action two-sleeper-tampers and more than
2100 mlh wlth the latest 3sleeper-tampers (Figure 12.24) With it goes the shortening of approach
tlmes, quick set-up and removal from the site and increase of durability of the work result.
I
L
12 TRACK I~/A/A~TEAIANCE
AAID RENE,I/AL
rL
F
LW
!
I
I
j!
Ii
i
I
I
08-275 have been designed. T h s machine is equipped with 2 un~versalhigh pressure tamping units,
each with 8 side tilting tamping tines arranged in pairs as depicted in Figure 12 27 The tamplng units
can be displaced laterally to be centred exactly over the area to be tamped The switch tamper may
also be used as a standard plain line tamper.
Heavier designs of switches and crossings due to the use of concrete sleepers and heavy rail profiles
demand additional measures for their treatment. When lifting such turnouts in the area of the long
sleepers with the standard two rail-lifting unit, the reaction forces on the fastenings are already
exceeding their yield strength Therefore an additional lifting arm was fitted to the machine, by w h ~ c h
the turnout rail is simultaneously lifted with the rails of the main track This add~tionalfeatur. of the
Unimat 08-275 3s helps to avoid the development of undue stress on fastenings and sleepers
?
k
kid
Figure 12 28 Unimat 08-475 4S with four ra11tarnp~ngand outrigger for three rail lifting
7d
In addition to 3-rail lifting, the 4-rail tamping brought about a further improvement in the quality of SBC
maintenance (Figure 12.28). The tamping units of the Unimat 08-475 4 5 are split into four parts. The
outer parts are mounted on telescop~carms so that the tamping tools can reach a d~stanceof 3200
mm from track centre. This enables the main track and the turnout track to be tamped in one go; the
whole sw~tchunit IS suff c~entlysupported when carrying out the first tamp~ngpass on the maln track.
There is no danger that the switch may tilt because the long sleepers have not been tamped over the
whole length within the first tamping pass
3
3
irsrr
""1.-
363
.
- - -
12.6.3
I-
P_
rLl
eJ
A
I!@
zJx-4
: zn(x)
z,(x+b)
lab
P
kuJ
r"i
hd
Working direction -+
Figure 1 2 29 Tarnp~ng/levellingpnncipie
The transfer function H gives the relationshp between the level amplitude after tamping and before
tamping as a funct~onof wavelength. The modulus of this funchon is shown in Fgrire 12.30 for a Plasser and Theurer 07-32 tamper, where a = 3.88 and b = 10.52 m.
Varlo~lstests have been carried out to determine the real transfer function of the result produced by a
tamper. This research is described in [71] a representative example of this type of actual transfer
functlon measured dlrectly after tamping, IS likewise presented in Figure 12.30. from which it
emerges that the improvement IS approximately half that expected on the basis of the theory.
F"
k
IT
brsll
r
rpci
FAk
lvvi
p
J
'4
It should also be pointed out here that proportion of the initial improvement disappears
again falrly qulckly after tamping without
Ampl~tudenew
IHl = Arnpl~tudeold
A
I
"'I
additional stabilization.
10
Alignment
The lining system of modern track ma~ntenance machines is based on a 4-point
measurement, or, if design lining is applied,
a 3-point measurement as is the case for
vertical profile. In the 4-point system the
machine measures three ordinates, Y,, Y2,
and Y4, as seen in Figure 12.31, which
together determine a second-degree curve
Figure 12 30 Comparison of theoretical and actual transfer function
by means of which local track alignment is
f o ~07-32 tamper
approximated. At work point C the track is
aligned so that it comes to lie on this curve. The correct posltion is verifled by means of versines h
and H, the quotient of whlch has a flxed value
o5
I
!
If the machine is being used in the automatic mode the leading polnt of the long chord D follows the
old track geometry whereas points A and B follow the geometry, which has just been corrected
(Figure 12.32).
A
rn
w
I
rn
ipd
"*i
C
I___
i
I
b
Figure 12 31 4-point lining pnnople
iI
1
Figure 12 32 4-point 11ntngsystem wfth error Fo at front end
of ltn~ngchord
Design lining is also possible with these machines, in which case the new position must be defined
beforehand. There are two options for supplying these data: the correction values are entered at D
either manually or automatically by the on-board geometry computer (ALC) so that thls point follows
the ideal geometry Minor errors in input values are smoothed out by the lining system of the machine.
i
I
The error reduction, w h ~ c hin theory can be achieved using the 4-point lining system. will be explained
with the aid of Figure 12.31. Points A and B are already corrected points, for which the ordinates are
d
I
I
1l
""i
P""I
indicated by Y, (new). The location of the uncorrected point D IS indicated by Y (old). If values a, b
and c are known, the position of C can be expressed in that of A, B and D In a similar way as for level
the new geometry for alignment is to be expressed in the old according to the r-ecursive relationship
below:
aa- I
Y , , ( x ) = - -y , , j x - a + C ) + [ b - d - w e
bc
a
b
C 0-
Ia
~,lx-a)+--~,(x+b-a)
ab
(12.4)
,,
,
ri-
The transfer function between new and old geometry which can be derived after Fourier transformation reads:
This function is also deplcted In Figure 12.30 for the Plasser and Theurer 07-32 where a = 9.785 m, b
= 20.785 m and c = 5 m.
1:
As has already been commented, lining is also poss~bleusing the prev~ouslydiscussed 3-point system (Figure 12.33) Machlnes which are equipped with the 4-po~ntsystem can be swltched to thls
mode. In curves with a radlus R the new value at C has to match the versine BC'CDI(2R). wh~chis
set manually or computed by an on-board system. In the latter case first a measuring run is carried
out and then the versines are calculated.
The transfer funct~onsof the 4-point and
3-point systems drffer only slightly so,
F,= J
from thls po~ntof view, no preference can
be expressed for one system or the A
B
D
other. For pract~calpurposes the 3-pornt
system has the drawback that In curves
the actual radlus has to be known
Sometimes it IS wrongly cla~medthat
uslng the above-mentioned verslne the
rad~usof the track can be adjusted. If the
D
set value of the rad~usdrffers from the
actual value thls will slmply result in a
displacement of the track over the whole
F'gUre l 2 33 3-p0int 'in'ng ' y s t e m
curve length w~thoutthe magn~tudeof
the or~ginalrad~usbeing affected. On the
other hand the 3-point system has advantages in any design lining application, as only one reference
polnt in the rear has a feed-back into the transfer funct~on.
l-c)
FI
hl
hJi
'7
d
fw
f"l
W
b
Pt
uj
'*
%ri
I
TO level and l ~ n elong straight track sections, the front reference points of the levelling and llning system are controlled by a laser beam (Frgure 12.34). This system conslsts of a laser receiving camera,
which IS mounted on the front tensioning car of the tamplng machine, and the laser transm~tteron a
small trolley which is set up in front of the machine ~na distance of up to 300 m.
r"!
kim
1
1
-, -
#
I
-------------i---_------
-P
F""r
b
--------------- -
lsiYi
I"A
Bua
f-
All
rWsi
C
F
b
Figure 12 37 Transfer f~inctionof lining system after appbcation of factor method
The target data ach~evedin this way can be stored and filed on hard d ~ s kor floppy dlsk for later applic a t ~ o nThe memory capacity of the computer perm~tsthe storage of target data for several sections of
track. When requlred for rna~ntenancework, the appropriate data only has to be selected and activated
12.6.5
Yri
EM-SAT
The automated. computer-assisted surveying technique EM-SAT (F~gure12 39) measures long wave
track faults in long~tud~nal
level and curvature (alignment) and calculates preclse control values for
the tamping mach~ne.The EM-SAT is used for:
guideline 824.3010.
- Recording of track renewal (verification of the track bed structure in respect of long~tudinallevel
fl
r",
P
1
Modern F i a ~ i l ~
Track
a~
The EM-SAT continuously determines - above all - long wave faults in longitudinal level and curvature (alignment). The actual values obtalned are compared to the target values, recorded (analogue
punt) and transmitted to the ALC of the tamping machine for further use.
I
--i
~ipl
ud
Fh
I
fl
ad
El F2
F1
11
I-
Em-sat
kd
F i g ~ ~ r12
e 49 Measuring pnnc~pleof EM-SAT
n*
[] F3
Measuring Run
?atel,lte
U
I
mm
GPS measurements
9I
wd
..
-w?,,
!I
Wlth the EM-SAT mechanised measuring of long chords has become reality. The absolute accuracy
of EM-SAT measurements is better than 1 mm. To determine the chord position and hence the actual
and target track geometry in a co-ordinate system, fixed points are necessary. The drawback of fixed
points IS their inconstancy (in an absolute sense, they are not "fixed"), they are complicated and
expensive In terms of measurlng work and maintenance, and they slow down the work progress of
mechanlsed systems
I
3
?
biov
I
f7/
t
GPS provides an elegant method of replacing fixed po~nts(Flg~ire12.41). The achlevable accriracy in
l ~ n eof 6 mm and 5 9 to 12 mm in level is fully sufficient for these purposes. S~multaneousmeasurement of the actual track using laser reference chords and GPS makes it possible to transform the
hlghly accurate relative laser reference chord data into absolute co-coordinat~ve data. T h ~ salso
f
i
serves to check the quality of the GPS data. In areas where the measured actual positions of the
laser reference chord and GPS are very similar. very relrable GPS data are available which sewe as
support points for the end points of the chord. Fixed points and their disadvantages could now be a
thrng of the past.
For high precision GPS measurements (10-20 mm) it is necessary to have fixed GPS reference stations (10- 20 km apart), e.g. in stations or GPS reference networks.
12.7
Stone blowing
12.7.1
General principle
rG
$"'
k,'
A
Res~dualI ~ f[rnrn]
l
30 t
,,iI
20
15
lo
F
t
35
40
45
50
55
pY
I?
lr3
r"
id
fl
jl
P
iu
Fal
I
ivrrr
Fa
Fig~lre12 43 Pr~ncipleof stone blow~ng
Modern Pa~lwayiiack
The stone blower requlres knowledge of the actual track profile which is free of phase shifts By using
a number of strategically placed unloaded axles. it is possible to collect relevant information in order
to reconstruct an accurate true profile for wavelengths of up to 100 m In add~tion,a number of independently loaded axles are used to measure the load-deflected profile of the track in relation to this
unloaded profile.
Average Oc~tput
Gross Weight
Maximum Axle Load
Length
Travel Speed
Measuring Speed
Englne
Auxil~aryPower U n ~ t
Track Lifting
Track Slewing
Mlnlmum Work~ngRad~us
Fuel Capacity
Hydraul~cTank Capacity
Stone Capac~ty
Size
LA Abrasion Index
Stone Dellvery
Automatic lndex D~stance
Index T ~ m e
Blowing Time
rB
F
b
P
bi
r"9
Lit#
ficp;
Positioning is absolutely vital and IS achieved by using redundant measuring wheels whlch keep an
independent check on each other. A computer algorithm resolves differences to achieve an accuracy
which IS better than one sleeper In a 4,000 m site
An inaccuracy resulting in a miscalculation of stone may not be immediately obvious and would only
volumes of traffic. So,
manifest Itself as a track geometry irregularity after the passage of s~gn~ficant
an independent system IS employed to re-measure the prof~lein real time during the stone blow~ng
operation.
12.7.3
According to Ra~ltracktests, and under Ralltrack conditions, the durability of stone blowlng in comparison wlth tamping ranges from 2 to 7 times, deta~lsof which are explained in F~gure12 45. Stone
blowing should not be considered as a substitute for tamping, but rather as a complement. There
mlght be specific circumstances in which stone blowing could be considered more effective For
instance, when a track has been fully consolidated, the finishing correction of level can be achieved
by stone blowing. just as the grinding process is the finishing touch to weld straightening 11821. As a
result of the increased durability, stone blowing 1s also claimed to result in a reduction of total track
possessions required
According to [182],the largest benefits of stone blowlng could be achieved on tracks w h ~ c hrequired
frequent tamping and hence had high maintenance costs However. it could be argued that such
robust benefits were true due to the fact that approximately 20 O/O of the UK railway network required
tamping at more frequent intewals than six months in order to maintam the desired geometrical
standard In other words, these were typically tracks where the ballast was approaching the end of its
Sewice life and might otherwise had been scheduled for renewal.
E
lrrw
'
I
1
I
,d
T a m p ~ n gand Stoneblow~ng
- 3 0 3
Years
6 9
1 2
8 1
T ~ m e[Months]
2 2
4 7
3 3
0 3
3
6
Design tamping on longer waves is most effective with design lifts in excess of 25 m m Stone blowing,
on the other hand, is more effective for shorter wavelengths, with lifts in the range of 0 - 30 mm. Thus,
the stone blowing process is, to a large extend, complementary to design tamping.
According to [182], track renewal can only be economically justified if the reduction in maintenance
costs resulting from a renewal, plus any revenue saved by avoiding speed restrictions, outweighs the
amortised cost of the renewal. By introducing a machine which can hold acceptable geometry on
track with ballast that was regarded as 'untampable' and was scheduled for renewal, the balance of
the maintenance and renewal equation IS shifted.
Railtrack also investigated the effect of the maintenance process itself on ballast damage. This investigation showed that tamping at relatively short intervals was one of the main causes of ballast damage (Figure 12.46). each tamping cycle being equivalent to approximately 20 MGT of traffic [I821
[ I 831. Stoneblowing, however, was shown to have only a negligible effect.
The UK contracting company GTRM [I961 tried to use stone blowing at some of the active banksllp
sites where the top and cross-level went off quickly and which needed to be tamped on a 4-6 week
basis. Stone blowing proved not to be capable of lifting the track sufficiently and obtaining considerable corrections to the longitud~nalprofile and cross-level. Hence, they realised that tamplng was more
suitable for bankslips. L~kewise,they found tamping to be more appropriate for newly reballasted
ooden track. However, GTRM also reported sign~fihere stoneblowing was used.
r"- I
L
2.9
Eallast profiling
The correct ballast cross-sectron, defined by the permanent way regulations, is of great signrficance.
Above all, rt IS rmportant for the safety of the track against track buckling. Moreover, any unnecessary
spreadrng of the ballast bed represents a cost factor. To counteract this, it is vital to produce the right
ballast cross-sectron both in the cocrrse of track maintenance as well as when placing new ballast. If
this work IS not carried out regularly, huge quant~t~es
of ballast could be lying unused in the track network.
r'k
F
1
&lL
Ballast regulators reshape the ballast bed and should be used in connection with every tamping operation. Standard ballast regulators reshape the ballast bed by several runs backwards and forward.
Wrth the development of continuous actron tampers it became necessary to redesign also the ballast
regulators - "one go" continuous actron machines were introduced (Figure 12.51). In addition the
machines now can be fitted wrth large scale hoppers which enable better distribution of the ballast
and thereby savings of new ballast (Figure 12.52)
Flgure 12 57
reg~ilation
Figure 72 52
hopper
Fn
( 1
ti@
F
brrs"
Fw
P
I
Y
I
P"
1
P
I
The high energy caused locally In the track by the stabrllzer can give rlse to ground vibration on the
l ~ n eChapter 15 considers this n more detail. Operation on budges and In tunnels is generally posslble, certaln operation parameters have to be observed
12.1 0
i"'
,
r"7
C
M e c h a n i s e d track m a i n t e n a n c e train
12.11
Ballast cleaner
The main tasks of the ballast bed can be defined as follows [292]:
- abillty to be maintained and to hold the vertrcal position achieved during maintenance,
F
Y
40% pollution.
("
k
<+%
Moden7 R a ~ l w aTrack
~
.
.,.
'I----T
e"- ,2*-:
b
,
"
% 2
w-7
. ,- 3 .
%"*
-)?
3 *-
-3
-4
5
- .,x+&
3 %e3
2%+ + I
ud
7::
.& a
.ilSro.Eusr2.~fj<~.e&$
2**+~f.9.*m,-ies4ar*~%-%
,.*A
.=*-:Y?
.I.%b,
--:
13
wncrl'te SI-IXE
"OaiaS'
sUD1J1?02
load d~su~buhnri
)I?C
I EI S
tm111
IIPIIIQ
l l r o M B s l bed
SLISI~I
I O U I ~LIII~S,
O E S T R U ~ I COFThE
i
lUBGPnOE DUET0 ~,liliiilC'Ei'lT
OEL'RUCTION OF i P E ZUELRACE DUE TO
L O A O C ~ ~ E ~ R I E U ~ I ~ ~ N ~ S A ~ ~LIV~ER
: U L ~ O F T HR ~~ ~O U C ~oOl e T P I B u r l o l OF LOADS L A U S ~ DBY
OF BALL~ST
=ouLru GALLAST EED
Durlng the cleaning operation about 1.5 t of dirty ballast is released per metre of track. Processing of
this determines the work rate of the machine. The pract~ceto dump contaminated ballast to the side
o f the track is not applicable any more today. Waste loadlng systems w h ~ c hcan keep up with the
worklng speed of modern ballast cleaners (up to 1000 m3/hr) are run in front of the mach~ne
These are specla1 hopper cars as dep~ctedin Figure 12 59 w ~ t hbottom conveyor belts and transf2i
conveyors so that each car can load the next one The cars are loaded w ~ t hwaste one after the other
Startlng from the front
As soon as a number of cars is loaded they are detached from the rest and transported to the waste
dump There they unload themselves via the swayable transfer conveyor bands The cars whlch
rema~nedw i h the machlne serve as buffer units till the empty ones return The loading capacity of the
hopper un~tsranges from 65 to 100 tons The number of cars depends on the anticlpated dally output.
r
i
kL
The waste material has to be transported to special dumps for decontamination, deposition or recycling. NS transports this material to a recycling unit where it is processed down to concrete gravel.
12.12
The improvement of sections of track with subsoil problems is absolutely necessary for many reasons Substructure with insufficient bearing strength is primarily a serious technical problem because
~tjeopardises the stability of the permanent way to the highest degree. This results in enormous
expenditure for the track maintenance and the life cycle of the entire permanent way material would
be shortened considerably. Poor quality subsoil can also cause enormous additional costs, both with
regard to higher track maintenance costs and the associated operational hindrance costs and also in
view of the shortened life cycle of the permanent way material.
The insertion of a formation protective layer (FPL) is an effective and well-proven method to raise the
bearing strength of the subsoil and has been used since the early seventies. As a result of this measure there is an enormous reduction of the costs for track maintenance
The formation protection layer consists of a special sand-gravel mixture which has to fulfil the filter
rule of Terzaghi, which determines the size of the voids and the frost criteria of Casagrande which
determines the allowed fraction of fine grain c 0.02 mm and the demanded non-uniformity of the
The layer may be reinforced by a geosynthetlc underneath.
material [I021,[246](Figure 12.60).
@l
hk
b'k~cier17Raiirva!/ Track
.;~LA-
""i
U
I
E x c a v a t e d ballast
Spoil
Reclaimed FPL malerlal
-i-
F I ~ L I I -12
e 61 Formation rehabihtation rnach~neAHM 800 R
f7
1-
A slewing conveyor belt Inserts and distributes the sandlgravel mixture across the entire width of the
track. A grading unit and SIX consecutive vibrator plates compact the sand-gravel mlxture to produce
the finished formation protectlve layer. The humidity of the FPL material is measured regularly. If necessary, more water is added using a spraying unlt.
In this way a formation protective layer (FPL) up to a thickness of 50 cm can be installed in one operation. The track skeleton is lald on the finished FPL. All materials are transported on conveyor belts
within the machlne. The spoil lifted by the big excavating chaln is loaded onto the material conveyor
and hopper units pushed by the machlne. The additional FPL materlal is supplied by containers which
are unloaded by the gantry crane into the collecting hopper. One gantry crane ensures the machine is
suppl~edfrom these conta~ners.
Formation rehabilitation with integrated ballast cleaning
Another formation rehabilitation machine of the latest design, the RPM 2002 (Figure 12.64) was
developed spec~allyfor the requirements of German Railway: the upper layer is removed separately
and cleaned with~nthe machlne The stones are sharpened In a crushing plant. After the formation
protectlve layer has been inserted and compacted, the recla~medballast is dlstr~butedin the track
together wlth the new ballast A tamping L I ~ in
I ~the rear part of the machine enables line speeds of 70
kmihr immediately behind the machine. For cleaning of wet and clogged ballast the star screen had
been developed (Figure 12 65) where rotating cams peel the dirt from the stones
-I
ivli
I'Q
rn
b
FL"I
I*p
Mode117Railway Track
r
L
12.13
High temperatures
1
On CWR track, changes in length are not
posslble which means that when there are
changes In temperature stresses arise in the
rails. During maintenance the hrgh temperatures and related compressive stresses are
of prlme importance. This 1s pr~ncipallythe
case for maintenance durrng which the latera1 resistance of the ballast bed is reduced
substantrally. This is only restored slowly as
trains pass over the track. Although the use
of ballast stabilizers directly behind tampers
and ballast cleaners clearly lmproves the sltuation, safety considerations somewhat limit
this possibll~tyif rail temperatures are, or are
likely to be, on the high s~de.
Rail temperatures differ enormously from air
temperatures especially In sunny weather
and are difficult to predict. On the bass of an
extensive measuring programme the relationship between air temperature and rail
temperature, shown in Figure 12.66, has
been determ~ned for cloudy and sunny
weather.
,Expected
pel
Sunny
P"
40
o,
k
p
25
&,
20
fa""
35
bl
,,
10
10
15
20
25
30
If on CWR track the rail temperature is greater than 35" C loosening of the ballast over a distance of
more than 2.50 m is not permltted[l95] This applies to ballast renewal, ballast cleaning, levelling and
tamping. not forgetting renewal of the sleepers. If these operat~onstake place dur~ngthe nght at
lower temperatures this poses no obstacle
tamping is followed by the DTS and a speed llmlt
is rmposed.
12.14
lslnl
Lb
!@
b
The ~ntroduct~on
of continuous welded rail, elastlc fastenings and better quality control has over the
last few decades greatly reduced the need for maintenance.
Rails
The most important type of rail ma~ntenanceconsists in removing defects. This can be acheved by
Using a short length of rail or. alternatively, by usrng a wide-gap thermit weld (SkV 75), as long as the
defect IS l~mitedto a distance of 60 mm
Another category is formed by deformations of the running surface, such as corrugations, burrlng and
plast~cflow. These can be remedied by grinding.
Resurfacing of rails is a method used in the case of local defects such as minor horizontal cracks In
the rail head, battered rail heads, rolling seams, flaking on the rail head and wheel burns The latter
are caused by slipping of the driving wheels during acceleration.
bW
Y
k
Sleepers
F&
Sleeper maintenance 1s essentially a matter of plugglng wooden sleepers at bolt holes wlth warped
threads, manly near switches In all other cases of defect the sleeper is replaced
C
P
LI;
I
r7 l
1
.)
1 *I$
Swltches requlre notably more maintenance than p l a ~ ntrack The aspects below are consldered the
most important on NS
- track gauge,
prescribed track gauges allow for a tolerance of maxlmum + 5 and - 2 mm but the track gauge at
sw~tchesand crossings may never be less than 1435 mm;
- sw~tchopening:
I - I ~
IM~
"7
IS
+2
- sw~tchesand crossings:
thorough Inspection is necessary to detect vertical and lateral wear, point attack, shelling, fracturIng and cracking. These are repaired by grinding, resurfacing or total replacement;
w
I
iuri
:?
- pair of switches.
the wear tolerance on a pair of switches must never be exceeded. There are gauges for measurIng whether the wear on the switch blade and stock rail is still w~thrnthe permiss~blelimits Any
unacceptable deviations can be rectified by grinding or by replacing the pair of swrtches.
m
i*li
na
iui
I
m
I
12.15
There are In fact no preclse criteria for track renewal because of the number of factors ~nvolved.It is
important to make maxlmum use of unbiased rnformation. This subject IS dealt with at some length In
Chapter 18. A recapitulatron of varlous factors which deserve cons~derationwhen preparing a track
renewal plan will suffice here. For instance
- data on rarl fractures in relatlon to traffic tonnage borne;
w
- rarl wear;
F*:
I
- qual~tyof fastenings;
- qual~tyof sleepers, especially in respect of cracks and deter~orat~on
of support surfaces;
fW
wi
"i
I
3
F
A number of prrnciples can be used as a basis for track renewal. In the case of partral track renewal
those track components which are worn are replaced. This inev~tablyresults in variable quality and IS
therefore only cons~deredfor branch lines in Europe and for lines mainly carrying heavy freight traffic,
as in the Un~tedStates.
Almost everywhere in Europe the tendency is to aim for renewal of complete sectrons of track. For
optimum cost-effect~veuse of the structural components the servlce lives of the ~ndiv~dual
parts have
to be adapted to one another rn whole number rat~os,for example 1.1 or 1:2. Local conditions, suci-i
as formatron, ballast bed and curves, can affect the ratro and therefore the chorce of track system. To
promote homogeneous track qualrty ~tIS advisable that whole sectrons of 5 to 10 km, called maintenance sections, be renewed at a t~me.
modern Ra~lwayTrack
\
J
1
1
'J
r*h$
bud
I~IRR
JIBP
12.q7
12.17.1 Introduction
Even when other branches of rndustry had long srnce replaced heavy manual labour by machinery,
renewal of track was still to a large extent a manual operatron. The reason for this IS Straightforward,
Very Intensive operatrng generally means that it is not possible to take track out of service for an adequate length of time for renewal purposes, but this is an essential precondition for the use of heavy
machinery
The use of concrete sleepers and the need for improvements to the ballast bed by renewal or cleanIng pornt increasingly to mechanizatron. In choosrng from the systems available a number of factors
play a role, such as necessary investment, required output, possrbrlities of track possession and stor-
rn
lPri
d
F*5
3
rzll
In many countrres this IS the oldest known system ~nwhich the new track IS pre-assembled on a constructron srte. During possession of the line, the gantry cranes are then used to lift the old sectrons of
track and place the new ones. These cranes run on temporary ra~lswhich are laid on erther side of the
track.
There are 2 var~antsof the gantry crane method. In the first one assembled track sect~onsare
rnstalled. In the second versron, whrch IS marnly concerned wrth CWR track, only the sleepers are laid
and drrectly afterwards the rarls are placed onto them. The latter method IS used most widely on NS.
Orrginally the chorce was to lay pre-assembled sections only, mainly because thrs system kept the
track out of service for a minrmum length of time. In vrew of the fact that the track has to be of the
CWR type and too many thermrt welds are undesrrable rt IS necessary to Install temporary rails which
are later replaced by the definrtrve long-welded rarls.
The varrant In which sleepers are laid and contrnuous welded rail fastened directly onto them IS more
attractive (Figure 12.67). In this so-called contrnuous method the qualrty of the work IS clearly better
and costs less. For this reason attempts are made to create situatrons where track possession wrll
allow this continuous method to be used.
I
7
d
186
New sleepers
Old panels
Grad~ng
D~rect~on
of work
iuw
The work on the track can be split into preparat~on,track section renewal. rail renewal and finishing
work. The task begins w ~ t hthe unloading of 180 m-long rails into trenches specially dug in the shoulder of the ballast bed. The rails are posit~onedat exactly the right height and for the sake of the gantry
crane set at a gauge of 3.31 m. Experience has shown that the rails need no support. By filllng out
with ballast sufficient stablity is achieved. For weldlny the rails are supported on blocks on either side
of the weld.
Section renewal on NS takes place at night durlng track
depart In the following order:
possession
2n,
- traln wlth track sections, also lncludrng a staff coach, an equipment vehicle, a wagon carrying the
cranes and a wagon carrying a bulldozer;
- ballast train;
At the location designated for renewal the gantry cranes rise from the wagon and run on the guide
rails. The cranes, prov~dedwith special rail clamps, lift the first section of old track, move back along
the rails and deposit the track sect~onon the empty wagon of the section train. A second section of
track is then removed
The bulldozer is unloaded in the "gap" which has been created and begins digging out the ballast.
Slnce the bulldozer blade covers the total trench width and is f~ttedw ~ t hgulde rollers supported on the
new rails it IS possible to dig accurately to the requrred depth.
When the trench has been dug the gantry cranes take a new track section from the wagons and lay it
in the trench. Then the following cycle is continuously repeated the gantry cranes remove a track
P4
r"e@
FW
ir(i
**
"7
A
-1
' -1
1-
section, deposit it on the empt~edwagon, take a new track section to the trench and posr:ron it. This
cycle lasts T to 10 mrnutes
17
As soon as the number of renewed sectlons permtts, the ballast trarn is unloaded. Following this the
track IS levelled and aligned uslng a tamper-liner
_J
After a few weeks the temporary 30 m rails are replaced by the final continuous welded rails. Finally
the ballast is profiled mechanically and the track IS once more levelled and aligned.
'""'1
IU
I
w
I
bl
The major problem of renewal according to the section method is with jointed track which is temporar~ l ylaid on the new sleepers. The joints of the temporary ralls are often of such poor quality that the
sleepers crack around these joints and once the final rarls have been tnstalled have to be replaced.
For thrs reason a method IS being sought In which the new cont~nuouswelded rails can be installed
drrectly. Thrs cont~nuousmethod IS discussed In the following section.
hd
12.17.5 C o n t i n u o u s method
Although In principle the continuous method does not require a construction srte, exrsting tracks are
used for storrng the new sleepers and for dismantling the old track secttons. The procedure for track
renewal during possessions at nrght is summarized in Table 12.2. The following po~ntsare worth noting In compartson wrth the pre-assembled track section method:
Remove and load old sections
2.
Excavate ballast
Place sleepers
4
?
1.
The sleepers are loaded crosswise on special wagons, wlth special attention being paid to securing
the sides.
i
R
I
The new sleepers are lifted In groups with the help of a lifting bar suspended from two gantry cranes
and are laid on the track.
iovi
rn
I
&
b
d
'ad
I
A rall rnstallation machine posrtions the sleepers and then places the new welded rails on the sleepers By uslng long outriggers thls machtne can run on the rarls just laid.
The rails are placed dlrect onto rollers behind the rat1 installatron machine. Subsequent tenslonrng or
heating ensures that the rails are lengthened so that once they have been fastened to the sleepers
they are sti-ess-free at 25 "C.
An output of about 400 m track durrng a pertod of 5 hours and about 540
m during a perrod of 6 hours can be achieved.
Before the track is brought back Into service the entire ballast profile is installed, followed by mechanical tamping and stabilizrng. During the next night tamping and stabrlizing is carried out once more.
The photographs in Figure 12.68 to Figure 12.86 show various stages durlng renewal according to
1
4
~"1
d
388
i
j
Modern Pal
Flg~lre12 t
descends /
F~gure12 7
train,
Figure 12 72
concrete bloc
""\
I_g(Y
-d
pg"
i
Pel
'
I"'
1
1.
F i g ~ ~ r12
e 82 D~schargingballast,
1,
Modern Ra~lwayTrach
"
L
F I ~ L I I -1e2 38
track relaying and laying train
The various principles used in the different Plasser & Theurer machines are presented in
Figure 12.89
12.18
,
Switch renewal
t
P
L
Prefabrication
Traditionally switches and crossings are assembled on a construction site. After laying out the switch
sleepers firstly the pair of switches is put into place and then the other switch components and rails
Once the geometry has been corrected, first the straight section and then the curved rail is fixed in
place. It is most important that the correct track gauge and switch opening are installed. Another
method is to prefabricate swirches near the place of installation on a temporary assembly site This
can be a platForm beside the track or a section of track.
Modein switches and crossings are high technology units with a high degree of precision. The best
method therefore is to assemble them in the factory and to transport the pie-assembled units on specia1 transport cars to the site Figure 12.90 shows such a wagon loaded with the newly developed
"plug in" switch of VAE
!
I
1
I
Installing s w i t c h e s
More and more switches are b e ~ n ginstalled by means of cranes. This is a fast, useful approach especially for short switches. The important thing is digging the trench. Use of laser control on the bulldozers guarantees an extremely accurate excavation depth.
For precise installation of large and heavy switches and crossings special switch laying machines
have been developed, w h ~ c hcan handle complete units with the necessary care and high work speed
(Figure 12.91).
Fi
I
I
The use of welded switches means that attentton must also be paid to the stress distribution in the
switches and in the adjacent tracks. The switch itself is not heated or stretched but the adjacent track
is. Care is taken to ensure that with CWR switches at least 100 m of track on either side is also continuous welded. T h ~ sprevents ~lndesirabledisplacements and uneven stresses in the switches.
P
IrP!
;l"a
,4
E3
&_3i
E-3
g g
c j
& 1
--
B 4
F -J
k---
I
-
--
?
L +
r)
D
4
2%
lil
-i
XI
b
0
h
52
2
0
m
b
0
XI
2
$
s
a
(D
3
33
a,
7
Z
D
12 TRACK I W A I N T E N A ~ ~5IAND
C ~ RENEWAL
I"'
I
L
12.19
Modern Railway T a c k
Track laying
"Overhead' construction. This is the method used when there is no track at ail to start with. ~ 1 1
materials are transported via the track which is under construction. Transportat~onof rails longer
than 30 m is cumbersome. This means that the rails have to be welded together once in the track
or have to be replaced later by continuous welded rails. Lately methods have been developed to
install also long welded rails overhead.
- Construction "from the side". This method is applied d a track already exists. The materials can
then be transported via this track and discharged sideways onto the right location Long rails of the
order of 200 m then pose no problem.
12.19.2 Track c o n s t r u c t i o n trains
There are a few companies worldwide specializing in the manufacture of track maintenance and construction machines. The Austrian Plasser & Theurer and the Swiss Matisa in particular export to all
parts of the world They have developed a variety of construction trains for laying track
In all cases the system is designed to lay or renew track at high speed The design of the machlnes is
fully geared towards laying CWR track individual sleepers sre placed via a conveyor system Rails
are installed on the wagons for the gantry cranes, which convey a wheeled pallet. to run on Such
machines have an output of 600 m per hour
Figure 12.92 shows the Plasser
& Theurer track laying machine
SVM 1000 S The principle is
annotated in Figure 12 89 The
SVM 1000 S consists of the
actual laying machine, the
sleeper-transporting wagons, one
or more gantry cranes whlch run
on the wagons, a long-rail con-
Running on the sleeper wagons, a gantry crane picks up the sleepers and carries them to the transfer
and storage platform of the sleeper laying mach~neIn the case of longer sleeper trains, this transport
is done by several gantry cranes working together in relay
Using conveyor chains the sleepers are taken from the storage platform to the sleeper lay~ngunlt
which automatically lays them in the correct pos~tron
i"
The new rails whrch had been pulled Into the front the mach~neare guided Into the baseplates by
hydraulic roller tongs at the rear end of the mach~ne.The mach~nerests on caterpillar tracks at the
front while the remaining part of the layrng tra~nruns on the newly laid track.
I
,
Cranes in use today weigh 78 t and can lay track sections with concrete sleepers in lengths of up to
25 m. Frequently the rails are subsequently replaced by new continuous welded rails measuring 210
m in length. The output of this system is very high, covering 810 m per hour, or, in other words, 1
minute 50 seconds per track section. It goes without saying that at such a fast rate all other operations have to be adapted. In this respect the supply of ballast and accuracv of laying pose the major
problems.
For the construction of the Pans-Lyon TGV line exceptionally hlgh requrrements were specified
regard~ngaccuracy and care. To meet these requirements two different French systems were applied.
In the Drouard method a temporary track is laid over a distance of 10 km. The sleepers and 288 m
lengths of rail are conveyed vra t h ~ strack. The materials are discharged laterally; some of the ballast
IS also transported on thls track. Of the 30 cm of ballast w h ~ c heventually comes to Ile under the
sleepers, 20 cm is In place before the track IS laid.
p
vui
Once the track is laid the rest of the ballast is brought to the new track, w h ~ c his ra~sedby 10 cm and
tamped, and the ralls are connected using thermit welds After 10 km of track has been laid the temporary track IS disassembled and re-placed over the next 10 km.
F"kk3
The ralls are spaced 3.1 0 m apart and are not supported by any specal means The front b o g ~ eof the
huge machrne which brings the sleepers from the work trarn to the line and which places the ra~lson
the sleepers runs on these rals. The rear b o g ~ eof the machine runs on the track w h ~ c hhas just been
la~d
. ..- -
I""
k
.
?9
1
L_-
T12.20
L_.
L
Under the influence of dynamrc track loads the track geometry detenorates. The mechanrsm governrng thrs phenomenon IS rather complex. If a track IS freshly tamped it is well-known that directly afterwards relatively large settlements occur. If every point of the track were to settle by the same amount
no ~rregularrtreswould develop However, these settlements are often far from uniform due to rnhomogenertres In support condrtions, track structure and load d~stributron.Thrs results In differential settlements whrch lead to the development of irregularities in the wavebands experrenced by the rolling
stock.
Many rnvestrgations have been carr~edout on the fundamentals of the deterloratron mechanrsm and
the possrbrlrties of controllrng thrs phenomenon via existrng or rmproved malntenance methods Many
of these rnvestlgatlons were coordinated by the Office for Research and Experrments (ORE)'. Thls
chapter marnly refers to the work carr~edout by comm~tteeD 161, whrch completed rts work rn 1988.
The frrst stage of thrs work cons~stedin studyrng existrng data from the srtes used by ORE D I17 and
also data avarlable from the normal track recordrngs of a number of admrnrstratrons. Thrs new examinat~onshowed that the factors governrng the rate of deterioratron were not obvrous and that the
unknown factors In the track were the most ~mportantIn determrning both the average quality and the
rate of deterioratron Based on the experience garned from thrs examrnation, new test sites were specrally selected to examrne the varrous aspects governing the rate of deterioratron.
1,
P
hd
F
&
a both the vertrcal qualrty and alignment deteriorate llnearly with tonnage or trme between marntenance operations after the frrst lnrtial settlement. This trend IS not always the case for sections with
hlgh deterioratron rates;
b. the rate of deterioration is very different from section to section even for apparently identical sections carrying the same traffic;
c. neither type of traffic nor track construction could be statrstically shown to have a marked effect on
the qualrty or on the rate of deterioration;
d. the rate of deterioration appears to be a constant parameter for a sectron of track regardless of the
quality achieved by the malntenance machrne;
e. In general tamprng machrnes Improves the quality of a sectron of track to a more or less constant
value.
In addrtion to examrning geometry data, reference [218] also consrders some of the fundamental
questrons as regards vehrcleitrack rnteractron and the effect this has on the track geometry The track
e
F
krii
I
ii//oderr-i Ra~lwayTrack
j/
i
<A
I
I
"y
Longitudinal level
6R
SBB
SJ
SNCF
NS
2.0
1 .I
1.6
0 7-1.4
1 .I
0.3
0.6
"'"1
Alignment
0.8
bidi
ruJ
;""I
a"l
mu'
Pm
1
T ~ m e[years]
bd
0
1
2
3
4
a Example of gradually deter~orat~ng
quallty over several cycles
[mml
3
i
1
The following table, obtained from reference [88], gives the mean rates of
deterioration observed on varlous networks and expressed in standard dewa t ~ o nas measured by the NS car in
mm/100 MGT.
PLcr
2
I
Time [years]
0
1
b
3
2
1,
1
Time [years]
0
c Example of a longer than normal rnalntenance cycle
0
2
1
T~~~
0
I
ba,
1
2
3
4
Example of a shorter than normal ma~ntenancecycle
iYrri
F I ~ L I ~12
- e100. Vanous trends of track detenorat~o~l
observed on BR
r
1
However, recordings made wlth an electronic straight edge over 1.20 m. displayed In Figure 12.104,
does show the effcacy of mprovement operations on the weld quality. Thls is confirmed by the weld
sgnal produced by BMS-2, presented In Flgure 12.105. The welds in the first two sections hardly give
any response at all, while the opposlte IS true n sectlons 3 and 4. This tall~eswith the number of
cracked sleepers. From thls information it would seem that straightening and grinding is effective in
reducing cracklng of concrete sleepers. but stra~ghteningwithout grinding is substantially less effectrve.
k,
Weld signal BMS-2 (0.3 - 1.O)
ORE test section Gz - Tb
k'
Cl
i
/_*
N--&t&~4d
14 4
14.6
14.8
17.0
17.4
Welds straightened
17.2
20
I
STRAIT intervention level
L
S
.
.
-
12.20.7 D e v e l o p m e n t of c o r r u g a t i o n
The axle box accelerations recorded on the D
161 Gilze-T~lburgtest section are presented In
Figure 12.1 06 and show
the effect of preventrve
grinding on the rate of
development of corrugations. The preventively
ground section 1 hardly
displays any corrugations
after 50 MGT, whereas
some ra~ls in the other
sections, with 70 MGT
after renewal, are already
close to the grindlng intervention level
u [g]
BMS-2
0.03-0.1 m waveband
0-8
Renewal
F ~ g ~ i r12
e 106 Effect of preventive gnnd~ngon corr~igat~on
development
r-
P
Lateral res~stance[kN]
Dally tonnage
z 30 000 tonnes
,,,
W ~ t hthe above-mentioned tamp~ngmachine lateral resistance measurements were carried out after
ballast cleaning, wlthout a vertlcal track load on the Eindhoven-Venlo line, and wlth a vertical track
load of 100 kN on the Hengelo-Almelo line. After ballast cleaning the track was tamped and then stabilized with the DTS The results are presented in Figure 12.109.The effect of stabillzlng can be
clearly seen The lower-bound values, indicated in Figure 12.108,
are attained within 3 days of carryrng train traffic, which corresponds to a cumulat~vetonnage of 100.000tonnes.
::
rT)
1-
TL
I""'
bL,
,&I
rn
i
C
p
bed
p
,
Moving faster.
Modern R a 1 1 w a Track
~
r
Modern Raflwav Track
13NUMERICALOPTllZ/IIZATIONOFRAlLWAYTR.-?CK
Introduction
Designing is a complex process that rncludes several stages starting with makrng sketches and ending with a ready to use product. In each stage of the des~gningprocess a number of decisrons are to
be made, so that designing can be considered a decision making process. In this chapter we WIII
show how mathematical methods such as numerical optimization can help in a decision making process.
The design process commences with defining the requirements of a product. This means that a
design has to perform a certain task and has to satrsfy certa~ncrrteria. Using modern numerical methods, such as e.g. finrte element method, the complex behaviour of a design under various loading situatrons can be simulated. Such simulations can help to estimate the performance of a design and,
moreover, reduce the number of expensive prototypes and laboratory tests. Tremendous progress In
computer technology has enormously increased the possibilitres to numerically simulate complex systems. Modern numerrcal models used for analysrs of stat~cand dynamic behaviour of a railway track
have been discussed In the previous chapters.
When the static and dynamrc behaviour of the design has been analysed, the next step is to optimise
it. Design optrmrzatlon generally means improving the system's performance during the working
cycles while keeping a number of manufacturing, operational, and fallure conditions as well as cost
lrmitatrons rn mind. For example, to optimise a railway track one can think of reducing noise produced
by a moving train, improving passengers' comfort, or reducing maintenance costs
In the case of traditional design of technical systems optimrzation is carried out in a primitive way by
modifying design parameters and repeated numerical analyses. The modifications are mostly based
on the designer's experience and possrbly also on ~nformationabout the sensitivity of the system's
performance to changes rn the design parameters However, rt is a time consuming process and,
moreover, success cannot be guaranteed
r"
iVpgl
t
L
The most systematic way to improve the desrgn is to use numerical optimization technrques. Combined wrth advanced numerical srrnulatlon analysrs, these techniques search for an optimal desrgn
based on which possible prototypes can be burlt. In the forthcoming section a theory and applrcation
of structural optimrzat~onof railway engineering will be presented Start~ngwrth a br~efintroduction to
numerrcal optrm~zatron,some practrcal aspects of using an optimization theory will be discussed In
Section 13 2.
All optimazation problems have been solved using a modern optimization technique called Multrpoint
Approximations based on the Response Surface fitting (MARS) method whrch IS briefly discussed in
Section 13.3.
Then, three railway engineering applications are presented In Sectron 13.4 and further. The first one
deals with optimization of embedded rail structure. The other two applications are so-called Inverse
problems in which an optimizatron technique is used to determrne some of the system's parameters.
One problem concerns determining ballast lateral resistance parameters based on measurements
obtained using a tamping machine. Another problem deals with identifying the dynamic properties of
the elast~ccompound of an embedded rarl structure using an hammer excitation test.
gcn
___I
I
13 NUhlERICAL OPTIhllZATIOAI O F RAILWAY TRACK
I' 3.2
13.2.1
..J
I
Once the behaviour of the mechanical system has been analysed, an optrmization problem can be
formulated. Firstly, a group of parameters is to be chosen which can be varied to improve the system,
Such parameters are called design variables and they are denoted by a vector
J
I
I
LA
. ,XN)
(13.1)
The components of the vector x represent various parameters of the structure, such as geometry,
material, stiffness, and damping properties, which can be varied to improve the performance of the
structure. The process of optimization also implies that there is some objective function FG(x)that can
be improved whrch provides a basis to choose between alternative acceptable designs
" il(
= (XI,
*iY
'I
13-
The formulatron of an optimizatron problem be restricted by 1.e. limitations imposed on various behavioural characterist~csof the system These l~mitationscan be Introduced as inequality constraints and/
or equality constraints. The coflstraints that impose lower and upper limits on the values of design
variables are called slde limits. Since the equality constratnts can always be replaced by two inequality constralnts only the problems wrth inequality constralnts are considered. Depending on the problem under consideration, the objective and constrarnt functions can describe various structural and
dynamic response quantities of the system such as weight, reaction forces. stresses. natural frequencies, displacements, velocities, accelerations etc. Cost, maintenance, and safety requirements can
be used in the formulation of the optimization problem as well.
rmw
l
dm
I
palw
&urr
(nw
I
$rsi
7
rJ
Once deslgn varrables, objective functions, and constrarnt functions have been defined an optlmrzation problem can be stated
Minim~se
F,(x) ,
nnl
X E
(13.2)
R~
ad
url
F,(x)lI
( 1 3.3)
C/=l, , M )
P7
A,<_x,<B,
I
Y
,
@?
(I= I, .
.N)
(1 3.4)
It IS assumed that the optimlzatron problem IS a rninrmisation rather than a maximsation problem. If a
formulated problem involves maximtsing a function, it is always possible to minimise its reciprocal
value. Each of the constraints (1 3.3) is a dimensionless functlon of the design variables x , which can
be obtained by normalising the corresponding response quantity. namely
kW
FR
I
F,(x) = Z
F (x)<1
ii*i
UJ
'1
where Elxr is a functlon representing a response quantity of the mechanical system and El,,, is the
maximum allowable value of the response.
A proper def~nit~on
of an opt~mrzationproblem is very important For example. omittlng even one
important constraint can result in an unrealistic optimal design.
bd
na(
(13 5)
Emax
41 0
i-
13.2.2
Solution process
i
To solve the optimizat~onproblem (13.2)-(13 4). various mathemaircal programming methods can be
used Some of them. referred to as zero-order methods. only require values of the objective and constraint functions These methods are easy to use and less sensitive to numerical noise. On the other
hand, first order and higher order methods which make use of the first order and higher derivatives of
the functions with respect to the design variables, provide better convergence characteristics of the
optimization process They do, however. require additional effort to develop sensit~vityanalysis and,
generally, are more affected by the presence of numerical noise.
F-
1
B"'
Most of the optimization methods are numerical search techniques. Starting from the initial design,
they move by making relatively small steps in the direction of improving the value of the objective
function andlor reducing the degree of violation of the constraints. The search process is usually terminated when no improvements of the objective function can be made without violating the constraints
Solving the optimization problem is an Iterative process which involves multiple evaluations of the
objective and constraint functions (13.2)-(13.3) in the points of the design variable space assigned by
the optimization method. Starting from an initial design, an optlmiser searches for a better design by
assigning variable space to points in the design. The values of the constraint and objective functions
are to be evaluated by the response analysis software in this space. Based on the obtained function
values, a new design point is assigned and submitted to evaluation by response analyses software.
The process is repeated iterat~velyuntil the optimizat~oncriteria have been satisfied. Since values of
the functions can be obtained uslng one of the numerical methods. the optimization process implies
Intensive exchange of information between the optimiser and response analysis software.
Response anaiys~s
software
Optrm~zatron
:opt
software
, M
k=1,. ,P
J =O,
Figure 13 1 Computer ~rnpiementationof opt~mizationmethod using external irnk between optimiser and
response analysis soffware
13.2.3
Approximation concept
The majority of structural optimization problems (13.2)-(13.4) have the following characteristic features.
- The objective and constraint functions are implicit functions of design variables;
kd
rvli
Modern Ra~lwayfiack
J
- To calculate values of these functlons means to use numerlcal response analysis techniques
1
LA
- Function values and (or) thelr derlvatives often contain numerlcal noise, 1.e. they can only be esti-
"I
UJ
l81a
I
did
*'*1
up#
"9
During the optlmlzation process the values of the objective and constraint functions have to be calculated many times using one of the numerical methods. If the computational cost of the evaluation of
the response quantities is low or moderate, one of the conventional methods of mathematical programming can be employed to solve the optimlzation problem (13.2)-(13.4). However, in the case of a
complex system such calculations may be tlme consuming and even prohibitive. Thls problem has
been mltlgated in the mid-sevent~esby introducing approximation concepts [245]. According to the
approximatlon concepts, the original functions are replaced by approximate ones whlch are computatlonally less expenslve Thus, in each iteration step the origlnal optimization problem (1 3.2)-(13.4) IS
replaced by a succession of more simple approximated subproblems:
bPi
Minimlse
Wrrl
&X)
(13.6)
R"'
nwa
subject to
jr(x)< I
p""l
isli
(1 3.7)
,M)
( j = 1,
and
PI)
k
PQ
I
J
SQ
lpd
bnl
I
A, s x , c ~ ,
srFA
A:LA,,
B:SB,
( i = 1.
,N)
(1 3.8)
where the superscript k is the number of the iteration step, ? f ( x ) is the approximation of the original
function F , ( x ) , and A: and B: are move limits defining the range of appllcab~lltyof the approximatlons (local, global or m~d-range).Since the functions (13.6)-(13.7) are chosen to be simple, computatlonally Inexpensive and no~seless,any conventional method of mathematical programming can be
used to solve the problem (13.6)-(13.8). The obtalned point x'l is then chosen as startrng point- kfor
- I the
( k + I ) -th step and the optim~zationproblem (13.6)-(13 8), reformulated with new functrons F, ( x )
, N ) , IS to be solved. The process IS repeated
(J = 0, .. M ) and move lrmits A:+' and B:"
(I = I ,
until the convergence criteria are satisfied.
Cd
Pq,
Depending on their range of appllcabllity, the approximations can be classified as local (valld in the
vlcinlty of a current p o ~ nin
t the deslgn variable space), global (in the whole region deflned by side Iim~ts),and mid-range (somewhere In between). Local function approximations are based on the exact
match of function values and thelr derivatives at one point In the design variable space using the firstorder or second-order Taylor series.
RSI
Most optim~zationmethods based on an approximation concept have a typical structure. Thus, one
can recognize four main parts in any optimization method based on approximation concepts:
f?
103
hai
A"9
lr pi
- Convergence criteria.
@
!'
kd
"9
I
A 1 3
r
(
Each of these parts is very important for the success of the optimization process They are briefly discussed in the following section in which the optimization method used in numerical examples is
descri bed.
13.3
MARS method
P, technique that uses Multipoint Approximations based on Response Surface fitting (MARS) has
been chosen [ I 731. [274] as the general optimization method suitable for railway engineering applications. The method is based on the approximation concepts (13.6)-(13.8). The approximations used in
this method belong to the mid-range class (see previous sect~on).They are based on information
about the or~ginalfunctions obtained at several points in the design variable space. Thus, the construction of the approximations also includes the problem of choosing the points in the space of the
design variables These and other aspects are briefly discussed below.
T'
To build the approximation functions the methods of regression analysis [25] are used. According to
each approximation F in (13.6)-(13.7) is defined as a function of the design variables x and tuning
parameters a (for brevity the indices k and] will be omitted) To determ~nethe components of vector a
the following weighted least-squares minimisation problem is to be solved [173], [274].
Find vector a that minimises
G(a)=
f"T
( W ~ [ N X ~ ) - F a( )X] ~ i
, min.
(I
3.9)
p= 1
Pb
Here F ( x p ) is the value of the original function from (13.6)-(13.7) evaluated at the point of the design
parameters space x, and P i s the total number of such plan points; w, is a weight factor that characterises the relative contribution of the information about the origlnal function at the point x , . It should
be noted that if the deslgn sensitivities of the original functions are available, they can easily be used
in the building of approximations The function G in (13.9) then reads
where 6, is a normalis~ngcoefficient and 0 < y i 7 reflects the weight of the sensitivity information
compared to the information on the function values [173].
Selecting the points belonging to the plan of numerical experiments in (13.9)-(13.10) is a separate
problem. The minimum number of polnts needed to build approximations (13.6)-(13.7) is equal to the
number of design variables plus one The most simple way to choose is by taking a step from a base
point in each coordinate direction, possibly including the points of the previous iterabons belonging to
the current search subregion and its neighbourhood [I731 as shown in Figure 13.2a However, if a
problem of domain-dependent calculability arises, which means that at some points of the des~gnvariable space the functions cannot be evaluated, a random plan of experiments (Figure 13.2b) is a good
remedy [I 731, [I 781.
Choosing an approximation function
ments for such a function are:
fl
squares method;
-
_1
I
1
I
B~
-fi
Extended box
L~Y
B2
M o d e ~ nRailway Track
9-I
B':---"
.XP
-I
J1
0x2
:p
I.,
. -1.
.
- - _ - -1.
rrl
I*
ibd
A1
"I
d 3
A;----
!l!d
B:
A:
I*
A2
A1
' I*
B:
A:
5,
bhd
New po~nt
Figure 13 2 Extended (a) and randon7 (b) plan of experiments In MARS method
Am
mi
Simple yet quite efficient approxlmations are intrinsically linear (wlth respect to the tuning parameters)
models, namely linear and multiplicative models:
Lad
P
P*
?(x, a)
b l
iwrq
I&
"71
ul
P1
iyd
a,
1
i =
and
k(x,
a)
a,n(xl)
a,
I =
(13 11)
These models have been successfully applied to various design optimization problems [ I 731, [175],
[178]. For detalls on approximatrons using the MARS method we refer to [173].
The obtalned approximation functions are used in the formulation of the optlmlzatron problem (13.6)(13 8). In order to solve this problem any conventional method of non-linear mathematical problem
can be used In MARS a Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) method has been chosen [229].
The solution of the problem is considered a starting point for the next iteration. The move limlts are
changed depending on the quallty of approximation and locatlon of the optrmal solution in the previous step The maln rules of the strategy to change the move limits employed In MARS are:
a*l
- If the approximating functions do not adequately represent the original ones rn the current optl-
mum polnt, whlch means that the search subregion is larger than the range of appllcabillty of the
current approximatrons, the move limits (1 3.8) are changed to reduce the size of the search subregion;
part
1d
c"1
d
fl7
lrrr
- If the approx~mat~ons
are good and the solution to the optimlzation problem (13.6)-(13.7)
an
internal point of the search subregion, which means it could be considered as an approximation of
the solution of the original optimization problem (13.2)-(13.4), the search subregion IS reduced;
IS
- If the current optimum point belongs to the boundary of the search subregion (at least one of the
move limits is active) and the approximations are good, the size of the subregion is not changed
for the next iteration.
rmnE
rupi
:*
I
I
An example of changlng move llmits is when a solutlon of the approxlmatlon problem on k-th step xk
IS located on the boundary and Inside of the search subregion (adequate approximations are
assumed), see Flgure 13.3.
13.4.1
Introduction
In this Sectlon a procedure used for optimal design of a railway track is presented which has been
developed at Delft Unrversity of Technology. The procedure conta~nsall necessary parts of the design
process, such as.
- Numerical modelling of track behaviour;
Here, the procedure IS applied to the optimal design of an Embedded Rail Structure. The crlterla
regarding optimal design are based on the requ~rementsto railway tracks relating to the design's cost
efficrency, mlnrmum noise emission, and minlmum wear of rails and wheels. The design variables
comprise the material and geometry properties of ERS, namely elastlc properties and volume of compound, shape of rails, and slze of troughs.The statlc and dynamic behavlour of ERS is analysed using
the finite element models built uslng ANSYS and RAIL which have been described in Chapter 5 and
Chapter 6 In the subsequent sectlons the following top~csw ~ lbe
l discussed:
&
1
hlodefri Railway Track
A3.4.3
0ptimiza"cion problem
~1
I
IIJ
llljlinl
id
111k
W
~lq
il"n
X3
XS
X8
I
I
F,+m~n,
F,=V-tlnln,
RY
L1
(13.17)
F , ~ W i m l n
The requirements that prevent damaging of ERS, train derarlment (13 13), and buckling of ra~ls
(1 3 16) have been used as the constraints
rd
L',
F , ( x ) = -5 I ,
#a(
F2(x)
i'x allow
G
=5 I
bckl
F 3 ( x ) = -5
Oaiiow
(13 18)
Pbchl
CW
5
"
1
ursl
Thus, the optlmizatlon problem (13.17)-(13.18) has three objectives Such problems are character~ s e dby an object~veconflict, I e. when the values of one object~veare lrnproved at least one other
objectlve deteriorates Regarding thls problem an improvement of the acoustlc properties can be
achleved by stiffening the compound, thereby Increasing the resonant frequency of ERS On the
other hand, the stiffer the compound the higher the wheel-rail contact forces And this would entail
that the maintenance characterlst~csof ERS become worse.
D e s ~ g nvariable
Lower b o u n d
Upper b o u n d
Initial v a l u e
Units
XI
89
85 0
80 0
mm
X2
80
36 0
80
mm
X3
36 0
70 0
70 0
mm
X4
15 0
30 0
25 0
mm
X~
0 100
0 750
0 471
X6
0 100
0 900
0 669
X7
50
15 0
10 0
mm
X8
15 0
60 0
15 0
mm
Xg
10
10 0
56
ivlPa
XI 0
0 40
0 46
0 46
Table 13 I
~Vlode~n
l i a ~ l v ~ a~y
13 NUMERICAL O F T ~ ~ / ~ ~ Z A T
OF
I OFiUILWAY
N
TRACK
r
i
P
L
F"'
LJ
lrul
in which the weight coefficients w, , wN , w , are the preference factors ( w , + wN+ w, = I ) that
reflect the relative importance of compound, noise, and maintenance reduction in the final design of
ERS. Fc , FN ,,, F , are the normalis~ngcoefficients since the objectwe functions have different
units.
.,
.;
Preference factors can reflect d~fferentpoints of view on optimum design of ERS (point of view of
society, investor, maintenance contractor, etc.). Based on results of optimization with different sets of
preference factors. a decision about a final design can be made. Here. each normalising coeffic~entis
chosen as an optmal value of an objective function of a corresponding single criterion optimization
problem (13.17)-(13.1%).i e. a problem with one criterion from (13.17) and a full set of constraints
(13.18). These solutions are also called utopian solutions since they cannot be obtained during a
combined multi criteria optimization.
F 1 g ~ / r13
e 10 Inltjal design of ERS wlii7 conventional fa11(a! and res:/lts of s~nglecrltenon optim~zat~on
(b - compound, c - no~se,
d - maintenance)
The initial design and results of the single criterion optimization are given in Figure 13.10. The numerical results are collected in Table 13 2. From these results it can be seen that the optimum designs in
the single criterion optimization problem with respect to the cost and noise (Figure 13.10a and
Figure 13.10b) are close to each other (Figure 1 3 . 1 0 ~ )This
.
can be explained by the fact that the
compound and noise objectives do not conflict that much. Both designs have acoust~cproperties that
are quite good (improved response frequency 350 Hz and 380 Hz respectively and the open surface
A is almost reduced twice) while they are poorly with respect to mantenance properties (high contact
forces 14.1 kN and 15 1 kN)
13 NUIV~ERICALOPTIMIZAT~ONO F RAILWAY
TPACK
During the third s~nglecriterion optim~zation(Table 13.2) the properties related to maintenance of
ERS have been improved dramatically (contact forces of 17 5 kN for the initla1 des~gnand 10.0 kN for
the eprtomised one). However, the acoustic properties are much worse (noise objectwe 1 09) than In
the case of the optimal desrgns of the two flrst slngle 0ptlml~atl0nS(110i~e
objectlve 0.54 and 0 46
respectively) Moreover, the amount of compound in the optimum design of the maintenance optimlzation has become even larger (19.973 drn3/rn) than the one in the initial design (13.536 dm3/m).
The small amount of compound above the rail (F~gure13.10b and Figure 1 3 . 1 0 ~is
) sufficient to prevent upward b~icklrngsince the stiffness of the rail, which is important for determining the buckling
force accord~ngto the chosen analytical critena (13.15)-(13.16), has increased. A more accurate calculation of the buckling force using the non-linear numerical analysis could be useful in future optimization.
Compound
Noise
Maintenance
Design variables
x~[mml
80 0
40 9
35 4
39.4
xz[mml
80
22 4
23 2
13 7
xg[mm]
70 0
52 5
50 1
58 6
x4[mm]
25.0
29 9
19 5
23 6
bd
X5
0 471
0 136
0 100
0.748
4I
X6
0.669
0.257
0 200
0.900
x7[mmI
10 0
50
50
12 8
xaimm]
15 0
15 0
15 0
48.1
xg[MPal
5 60
9 44
9.99
4 13
XIO
0 46
0 43
0 49
'
Ph,
I
0 41
i
Constraints
@n(
o [MPa]
ld
Ux 2
[mml
*"I
bid
'bck,
iMN]
1 07
115
2 24
0 91
1.83
1.08
1 38
161
12 5
1.7
11
54
Objectives
83
(1,
' ."r
1
'
F c [dm3/m]
13 536
2.103
1.806
19 973
A [drn2im]
134 8
74 3
67 5
120 7
250
350
380
190
F~
112
0 54
0 46
1 09
F, [kNl
17 5
14.1
15 I
10 0
f,
[Hz]
ru)
To investigate the sensitivity of an optimal solution to the choice of preference factors, several multi
crrteria optirn~zationproblems with d~fferentsets of the preference coefficients have been solved. In
the first optlmization, it is assumed that all the objectives are equally important, i . e w, = w, = w,
The optimum design IS shown In F~gure13.11b. The numerical results are collected In Table 13.3.
I rq
Pa
422
r
i
Figure 13 12 Geometrical results of rn~ilticriteria optimization, vanation of p~efeiencesfor noise ( W N ) and maintenance (W,,,,)
Figure 13.12 shows the results of optimrzatron problems with varied preference factors related to the
reduction of the maintenance effort and the nolse (see Table 13.3) while considering the cost objectlve less important (the corresponding preference coefficient 1s constant w, = 0 1 ). The numerical
results collected In Table 13 3 clearly reflect the effect of the chosen preferences for the opt~mum
design. From this Table lt can be seen that the stiffness of compound and resonant frequency of ERS
Increase (from 5 39 MPa to 9 25 and from 290 Hz to 380 Hz respectively) as the noise objective
becomes more important (IN,
Increases from 0.1 to 0.8). On the other hand, the contact forces
increase as well (from 11.2 kN to 13.8 kN) as the maintenance becomes less important ( w ,
decreases from 0.8 to 0.1). From Flgure 13.12 one can see the tendency of the r a ~shape
l
of the optimum design to change as the maintenance object~vebecomes less important (from a to d). It should
also be noted that the only difference between the two last designs
(c and d) is the th~cknessof the
compound layer under the rall (see Table 13.3)
In another sequence of opt~mizatlonproblems, the preference factor for the noise objective was constant w, = 0 I wh~lethe preferences for the other two object~veswere vaned. The ERS shape
results from optim~zation are glven In F~gure13.13 and the numerical results are collected In
Table 13.3. Again the stiffness of compound (and therefore the vertical st~ffnessof the structure)
Increases as the reduction of maintenance becomes less important (w, reduces).
m
k
e
C
w , = 0.1
@?
w, = 0.6
wM=03
w, = 0.8
Flgure 13 13 Geometrical results of rnult~ci-iteria optim~zation,varlabon of preferences for compound ( Wc), and marntenance
(W,)
mu;
design when the compound objective is more important than the n o s e objective (compare
Figure 13.12 b,c,d and Figure 13.13 a,b,c). Although the compound and noise objectives do not conflict very much, the reduction of noise has more influence on the changing compound stiffness than
the reduction of the compound volume as can be observed from (compare the results for w, = 0 6 ,
w, = 0 I , w, = 0 3 and for w, = 0.1, w, = 0.6,w, = 0.3)Since the verttcal stiffness of ERS IS
~mportantIn order to reduce nolse, the E modulus of compound Increases relatively fast durlng the
optlm~zation.Therefore, the stiffness of compound and the bending stiffness of the rail of the optimal
ERS deslgn are h~gherwhen noise reduction is considered to be more ~mportantthan reduclng the
amount of compound, i.e w, > w, (compare Figure 1 3 . 1 2 ~with Figure 13 13b, and also the corresponding rows in Table 13.3).
P'41
I
u*i
am
bid
The contrtbution of the objective functions to the optimal deslgn of ERS is investigated in Figure 13.15
in which the sensitivity of the objectives to variation in the preference factors is shown. The values of
the objective functions are normalised using the maximum value of the corresponding objective functlon obtained in both optimization sets. From this figure the conflicting nature of the optimization problem can clearly be seen. Other compromised solutions can be found by assignrng differenr preference
factors for the objectives and performing a similar optimization.
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
rC,
srq
'-I
LL
I
- Formulation of a millti criterla optimization problem,
LA
A typical ERS consists of a continuous reinforced concrete slab that rests on a concrete stabillsed
road bed, whlch in turn IS placed on a sand base as shown In Figure 13.4. Two (conventional) rails
are embedded in visco-elastic compound (polyurethane mixture) for which two troughs are made in
rp
- Obtaining results.
II
the slab.
~[II!
l~rl~i
7
uu
m
eltl
Obviously, the design of ERS shown In Figure 13.4 is not optimal. For example, the use of conventional ralls (such as UIC54) whlch are relatively high requires a h ~ g hstiffness compound (to ensure
sufficient lateral resistance of ERS in order to prevent train derailment). An elastic strip under each
rall IS therefore a necessary part of a structure, although it complicates an ERS design. Moreover, the
hlgh filling level of compound (Figure 13.4) increases the costs of a structure since compound is quite
expensive material. On the other hand, the amount of compound In ERS can be reduced by using
smalier rails. Moreover, the elastic strips under the rails can be eliminated by adjusting the stiffness
properties of the compound
Recently, an ERS wrth a new rail proflle SA42 (Figure 13 5) was developed wlthin the framework of
the STV-project (Stiller TreinVerkeer: Sllent Traln Traffic). It has been experimentally demonstrated
that such rail can reduce the level of acoustic noise by 5 dB(A). Thls result also shows that the efficiency of using conventional rails in ERS IS rather arguable, and that the performance of ERS can be
improved.
hid
"lal
d
Embedded r a ~ l
9
Re~nforcedconcrete slab
Sub-ballast and
P l a ~ nconcrete
m
I
iui
81
id
'
"
I
iulr
In this Section, an ERS design is improved uslng a numerical optimization technique based on the
MARS method described in Section 13 3 First, requirements for an optimum design have been formulated and transformed to equ~valentresponse quantities of numer~calmodels of ERS. Uslng these
responses, a multl criteria optimlzatlon problem has been formulated. To solve the problem. it has
been transfol-med to a single objective problem using a preference functlon approach. The optimlzation procedure and results are discussed below.
ptq
13.4.2
lrnq
An optimization process commences wlth defining an optimum design. In this stage a declsion has to
I
I
I
,q
be made abocit the requirements for the best performing railway track. Such requirements are then
transformed to equivalent response quantit~esof a track structure The response quantrties - evaluated numer~cally- are used in the formulation of an optimization problem (13.2)-(13 3) to solve whlch
MARS method (Section 13.3) IS used.
rr*
bui
nlr(
k
41 6
n//oder17Railway Track
Numerical models
Here the response quantitres relating to cost efficrency, acoustic properties, and maintenance effort
are considered of rmportance to the optimum performance of ERS To estimate the performance of an
ERS deslgn, statrc and dynamic models have been developed. The static response quantities such
as stresses and displacements of an embedded rarl structure under various loadrng condit~onshave
been obtalned using a general purpose finite element package ANSYS.
The 2-D and 3-D FE models of ERS are shown in Figure 13.5. Before these models were rncluded in
the optimization process, they were verified by comparing the results of laboratory tests and finlte element calculations [ I 751.
ri
FIL~
e
Figlire 73 5 3-0 (a) and 2-0 (b) finite elerne
It should be noted that the elastrc strip under the rarl, which is a common part of existrng desrgns, is
now replaced by elastic compound. In 11751 ~tIS demonstrated that the same behavlour of a structure
can be achieved by only usrng a compound with adjusted E modulus and Poisson ratio
Three loading cases have been considered to obtain the statrc response quantities of a structure for
assessment of ERS design (Figure 13.8). The dynamic responses of ERS have been obtained using
a finite element program RAlL that is described in Section 6 9 The numerical mode of ERS, built
usrng RAIL, is shown in Figure 13.6. Here, the applrcation of RAlL focuses on two aspects, namely
acoustlc noise produced by a track and wheel-rail wear.
In order to ensure that the static and dynamrc models descrrbe the behavrour of the same ERS, they
have been coupled to each other by adjusting geometrical properties such as cross-sectional moment
of inertia, etc of the rails in the dynamic analysis based on the parameters of the static model Also,
the static and dynamrc vertlcal stiffness of ERS has been correlated To determrne the statrc stiffness
of a track the vert~calload F, has been applied at the top of the rarl head as shown In Figur, 1 3 8 a
and dynamic (K,,)
vertical stiffness are then calculated as K,,
= F,, 11,
and
The static (K,,,,)
K,,, = 2K,,,
(11,
IS the vertical displacement of the rarl corresponding to this loadrng case)
M o d ~ r t Railway
l
Track
BoR1
I
Figure 13 7 Model of ERS (a) to estimate volume of compound (b) and area of open surface (c) used in opt~mizat~on
br
F3
kr
An opt~mumrailway track should possess good dynamic properties. Large vibrat~onson a track can
dmlnish passengers' comfort and increase maintenance effort of veh~cles.ra~ls,and other structures,
TO avoid the harmful track vibrat~ons,resonant frequencies of ERS should not coincide with any of the
veh~cleresonant frequencies. One way to achieve that IS to shift the resonant frequencies of a track
as far as possible from those of a vehicle, In other words, the first principal resonant frequency of
iua
~ r q
I
hd
-7
l
ad
li "":
bPI
Rm
I
Fnl
a
67
k
I
"9
n9
l o
bloderq Railway T i a c ~
r
i
- A
-
Pifmax-
fr
fmax - finln
(1 3.12)
'
= 100 Hz and,,,f
In which ,,,f
quency.
= 1000 Hz are the lower and upper boundary of the resonant fre-
Maintenance requirements
Wear of rails defines to a large extent the maintenance costs of a track structure. Likewise, wear of
wheels defines the maintenance costs of a vehicle. Here the wheel-rall wear is estrmated by analysIng wheel-rail contact forces. The standard deviation of the contact forces should be mlnimal in order
to reduce the wheel-rail wear [169]. The standard deviation of the wheel-rail contact forces was
obtained from the 0.8 sec simulation of the TGV trarn moving at 90 m/s (324 kmlh).
$'
i,
Safety requirements
Two safety requirements concern the lateral displacements of the rails and strength of the compound.
Under a specific angular loading condrtion, the lateral displacements should not exceed a prescribed
lrmit In order to avoid the gauge from widening and, ultrmately, train derailment. Therefore, a spec~al
loading case has been considered (Figure 13.8b) in which an angular concentrated load has been
applied to the rail (at 22 degrees relatix~eto the vertical). For an optimum design, the lateral displacements LI, and maximum (Von Misses) stress o m a xshocrld be below their maximum allowable values, 1.e.
UX2
Gma,
(1 3.13)
5 G~I,O,
Here, the maximum allowable lateral displacement u, ,,,,,= 0 002m has been chosen. Based on
experimental data, the following approximation of the maximum tensile stress has been used at which
cracking of compound occurs (the approximation IS valld for compound with E module between 1MPa
and 10 MPa).
o,,,,
0.09E + 0 8 [ M P a ]
Fsnr
id
(13.14)
The maximum allowable stress In (13.13) is then taken as 90% of the maximum tensrle stress
(13.14)
I
Another requirement concerns upward buckling of a rail. Thrs can happen if there is no (or not suffic~ent)adhesion between the rail and compound. The vertical (upward) strffness is then reduced signrficantly and only depends on the shape of the ra~l.For a safe design of ERS, the minimum buckling
load should not be lower than the prescribed value P l b c k l :
'bckl
P.
bckl
,,,,
2Jmi
(13.16)
where E l IS the flexure of the rail and K,, is the upward stiffness of ERS per unit length. To estlmate
the upward stiffness of ERS, the model has been adjusted so that the rail and compound have no
common nodes and there IS no frlction between the rail and compound (Figure 1 3 . 8 ~ ) The
.
vertical
dlspl~cementsof the rail are obtalned by apply~ngthe vertical upward load F, and performing the
is then used for the stiffness
non-linear contact analysis The vertical displacement of the rail u,
evaluatron as K,, = F,
L I ~ For details on the model data used for the static and dynamrc analyses, we refer to [ I 751
,
,
/
,F
I
1
13.4.4
The MARS method has been applied to the optrmal desrgn of an Embedded Rarl Structure. The optlmization crrteria are formulated using the requirements relatlng to cost effrcrency and safety of railway
tracks, minimum noise emission, and minlmum wear of wheels and rails. Both the static and dynamic
behavrour of ERS has been analysed using finite element numerrcal models.
~r7
(,
WIW
I d
me
srurl
m
I
7
luri,
=w
lsl
rn
'
;m
!i
The multi-objective optlmrzation problem was solved by transforming rt into a single objectrve problem
which had been composed from the original srngle criterion problems using the preference factor
approach. The preference factors represent~ngthe relative rmportance of each objective functron durrng the optimizatron process can reflect different points of vrew on optimum design (point of vrew of
socrety, rnvestor, maintenance contractor, etc.). To prevent numerical drfficulties, the value of the
objectrve functions were normalised using the results of the single optimizations (utopian solutions)
that were performed beforehand.
To demonstrate the effrclency of the presented procedure, several optrmal designs of ERS were
obtarned usrng different sets of the preference coeff~crents.Other designs can be obtained by performing the optimization wrth different preferences for the optrmum des~gn.This can help to make a
decislon on a final desrgn of ERS.
13.5
13.5.1
Introduction
In this Sectron we describe a procedure to analyse the lateral resistance of a railway track makrng use
of a numerical opt~mrzationtechnrque. The procedure IS part of a method used to determrne train
speed limlts on newly laid tracks or tracks after renewal (see Chapter 12). The problem that arrses
Identifying ballast parameters belongs to a class of so-called inverse problems in which parameters of
an unknown system (object) are to be determrned based on the system's responses (object) By mlnlmislng the difference between the responses of a system and ~ t snumerrcal model the system's
parameters can be determrned.
Ballast parameters and safe speed limits of trains are analysed uslng the same 3-D finite element
model described rn Chapter 7. Track responses In the shape of loadldisplacements dlagrams are
obtained by shrftrng a real track in lateral directlon using a tamping machrne. The measurements are
also srmulated using the FE model of a track Based on the experrmental data and the results of
numerical srmulation, ballast parameters are identified uslng an optrmizatron technique (a Sequentral
Quadrat~cProgramming method). The procedure IS described below.
Sufficient lateral strength of a rarlway track IS important for safe track operations It allows the track to
res~sthrgh lateral forces which can be caused by a movlng train andlor temperature varratlon The lateral strength of a track IS to a large extent defined by the lateral resistance of ballast. In a newly laid
track or track after full ma~ntenancethe ballast partrcles are not well enough consolidated. Therefore
the lateral resrstance of such a track IS poor (see Chapter 7). In order to prevent track buckling, the
lateral forces occurrrng durrng operations on newly laid tracks or tracks after ma~ntenanceshould be
restr~cted Usually, this is achieved by temporarily restr~ctrngtraln speeds on renewed sectrons of
such track. As the number of train passes grows, the ballast becomes more consolrdated and rts lateral resrstance Increases. As a result, the restrrctron of the s ~ e e dlimlts can be lifted.
m
Lur,
"1
J
I
I
A7 6
-I
1
L
.
13.5.2
1
i
"I
I
F**I
I
YI*Y
par(
-%
"9
lpri
=a
d
I
""1
lui
"%1
Y
rl
mi
I
=a
w
Fa
3
ial
Y
w;X
e.
ured using a tamping machine wrll be used here for ballast parameter identification.
w:
Modern
i3 . ~ . 3 D
parameter
~ ~ Z
ldentlfication
P-
In a typical parameter identification problem there is an object (or process) to be investigated and a
numerical model that can describe the behav~ourof such an object. An investigated object IS cons~dered to be l ~ k ea black box that produces responses depending on the values of certain input parameters X A numerical model IS characterlsed by the same parameters X as the Investigated object as
well as by certain tunlng parameters a = [a,, ., a,]. The goal of an identification problem is to find a
set of parameters a that will allow the obtained numerical model to most accurately describe the
object's behavlour In other words. the difference between the object and model responses for the
same set of input parameters should be minimal. Thus. a general parameter ~dentificat~on
problem
can be formulated as the following minimisation problem:
Minimise
1
r
j
F
-B
-1
1 1
I
1-
F(force)
F,
/u
F,
20.00
2 16 00
-g
P
w,
1200
8 00
400
0 00
0
3 00
D~splacernent[I 0"-3 rnj
4 00
W(d1spl )
Since the parameters charactersing the elastic properties of the ballast (F, and Wp) do not affect the
plastic behaviour of the track and in order to speed up the optimization process. the parameters Fp
and Wp can be determined first, apart from the other parameters Moreover, due to a small shift of the
track during measurements and. as a result, the lack of experimental data on plastic deformation of a
track. it is difficult to obtain the values of the parameters F, and W, which characterise the plast~c
behaviour of ballast. This IS why determination of these parameters is not discussed here ~ o w e v i r if,
the experimental data is available the same technique can be applied to determine the parameters F,
and W, as for the elastic parameters
If F;,'" and @
';' are measured elastic limits (force and displacement) of a track (F~gure13.19). then,
using the methodology of the previous subsection. one can try to find the values of the ballast parameters Fp and Wp. This should be done in such a way that the simulated and measured lateral displacement of a track (m, and m;.') in a reference point caused by the limit force F;X are as close as
poss~ble.Thus, the following minimisation problem similar to the problem (16.20)-(16.21) is to be
solved:
Minimise
G ( a ) [[D(X,)
C
r"l
k
F
Ycrj
2
6(~,,
a )J + min
(1 3.22)
( I 3 23)
hi
in which
a
[ F ~, Wpl,
[F;'],
C D ~ X=~ [m;'],
&(XI
[Ep].
Here, the vector of the responses of the track structure 0 (and consequently of the model 6 )consists of the displacement of only one point on the track %$' (and model d~splacementEp), namely
the application point of the lateral force s. If displacements of other points of the track are available
they can be taken into account as well. Because of the linear relation between the force and displacement of the track, the displacements corresponding to one loading step s = ?'. are considered ( i e
P = 1 in (13.20). When non-linear behaviour of a track is analysed. more loading steps (components
of the vector X ) should be used.
Since the track displacements are obtained performing a static linear analysis, the optimization problem (13.22)-(13 23) can be solved relatively quickly. To speed up the optimization it can also be
assumed that yielding of the entire track occurs when the ballast begins to yield, i.e.
Wp =
= F$'. The vector of the design variables of the problem (13.22)-(13.23) then only has one
compo?ent. namely a = i f p ]If no extra vertical load is applied. the obtained optimal parameters
a = IF, W ~ are
J the elastic limits of ballast. i . e Fp = F; and Wp = w;. In case the measurement
data have been obtained with extra vertical load, the obtained optimal parameter F; is considered as
mp
irra
1"1w
IwA
1
,J
I'
Fp
11 "1
I
Lal
w =L,
K,,=
Ke,
Lvi
PI
Lvlj
k
d
I"
Y
"1
id
*n(
R
ipri
~*
lu*
FT
iul
sni
F*
4
( 1 3.25)
WP
It should be noted that the rail temperature durlng the measurements can also be taken Into account
~nthe ballast parameter ~dentlf~catlon
problem.
The min~misat~on
problem (13.22)-(13.23) has been solved using an opt~m~zation
technique based on
a Sequential Quadrat~cProgramming (SQP) method [229]. The method is Iterative It IS based on successlve l~nearisat~ons
of P non-llnear differences in (13.22), comblnlng a first order trust reglon
method wlth a local method wh~chuses approx~matesecond order information. The f~rstorder derivatives are approxrmated by flnite differences. The choice for the SQP method in order to solve the
problem (1 3 22)-(13 23) is expla~nedby the fact that the funct~onG was relatively smooth and, therefore, the SQP method d ~ dnot encounter any d~ff~cult~es.
If the objective functlon G is strongly non-linear, another optrmlzatlon method IS to be used, e.g. the MARS method (see example In Chapter
13 6)
Venficatlon
(1324)
In which s, is the vertlcal force that acts on each lateral spring element caused by vertical load F,
(see definition of the spring element for ballast lateral behaviour In Chapter 7. The corresponding limit
deformahon W p IS evaluated as follows
Jm,?
I'
F p + s,tanrp
ik
of parameter
identlficatlon
procedure
Experimental data measured on a ballast track w ~ t hwooden sleepers have been used [ I 931 to venfy
the parameter identification procedure. The data was obtalned employing a tamping mach~neDurlng
measurements a neutral rail temperature was assumed, whereas the frlction coefficient tancp = 1.I
was used for the wooden sleepers. Other parameters of the model which have been used to determlne ballast parameters can be found ~n[174].
Slnce no extra vertlcal load was applled to the track structure during the measurements
(F, = s, = ON), the values of the parameters F; and W; obtained from the solution to the mlnimisatlon problem (13 22)-(13.23) have been used as the ballast parameters (see above), viz.
F p = F, = 44680 Nm
;
and W p = W ~ = 0018
O
rn (Table 13.4). Ballast (lateral sprlng element) and
track lateral behavlour are shown In Flgure 13.24 using the obtalned ballast parameters when no
extra vertrcal load is appl~ed.
1
I
1
I
I
I
ks3
P"
*a
1
&%
i""i
Output
Input
bd
Fix
64800
-ex
I
1
w~
'exp
F; [/U/rn/mf]
Fp[N/ml
Wp[ml
Ke,[N/'m/m]
0 0018
1247 1
44680
0.0018
6928333
Table 13 4 Res~iltsof identification problem using measurements without extra vertical load
id
I
'"1
ud
To verrfy the results of ~dentlficatlon,the lateral resistance data of the same track were used measured w ~ t han extra verilcal load F, = 100kN (applied at the application polnt of the lateral force [193]).
The measurements with the extra vertlcal load have been simulated uslng the model w ~ t hthe
I
I
I.
E
.
20 00
24 00
16 00
1200
rf
0
C?
0
=. 12 00
m
m
,-P
0 00
0
8 00
4 00
0
LL
3 00
4 00
0 00
0
5 00
D~splacernent[lo"-3 rn]
L,
D~splacernent[I 0'-3 rn]
k"
Figure 13 23 Model obtained uslng measurement data without vertical load, case with no verlrcal load
k!1
Comparing these results with the experimental data. it can be seen that the simulated and measured
(average) values of the maximum elastic force,
= 132kN in Figure 1 3 24 and F;" = 132kN in
[I 931 respectively. are very close. From t h ~ scomparison it can be concluded that the numer~calmodel
prov~descorrect results. The verification procedure IS summarised in Figure 13.25. It should be noted
that the measurement results regarding extra vertca force can also be used to determine the friction
coefficient between the ballast and sleeper. The verification shows that a numerical model of which
the parameters are obtained based on measurement data can very well describe the behav~ourof the
track and. therefore. can be used for simulations under varlous loadings The numerical model can,
for example. be used to determine the maxlmum allowable buckling temperature of the ralls (see the
procedure used to determine temporary speed lim~tson tracks after renovation in Chapter 7).
-E
.
E 32 00
'
z
24 00
1200
r?
1200
8 00
- 1600
,-?
16 00
0 00
0
400
0 00
0
D~splacernent[lo"-3 rn]
1
h
20 00
P"&rlll
e
1 00
2 00
3 00
4 00
5 00
D~splacernent[I Om-3rn]
Figure 13 24 Model obtamed using measuremeilt data without vertical load, case with veitical b a d IOOkN
7ib
fl
k
T
Measurement data
Ballast parameters
hit!
No vertlcal load
F
bd
F"I
k
u[10 -3 m/
@
!
ivli
13.5.4
Modenl Railway
ac!<
Conciusions
, LJ
I
13.6
13.6.1
Introduction
In this Chapter a methodology is presented in order to assess the dynamic character~sticsof a ra~lway
track (an Embedded Rall Structure) ustng an optimization techn~que Flrst, the dynamlc responses of
a track are obta~neduslng a hammer excitation technique Thls is ach~evedby applylng a vertlcal
~mpulseload to a rail and measuring the result~ngaccelerations. The measured data are then analysed using the Frequency Response Funct~on(FRF) The hammer test IS also simulated In the finite
element sofware RAIL, w h ~ c hcan be used to analyse the dynamic behaviour of a track under various
loadings To match the simulat~onand measurement data, a numerical optimlzatlon technique has
been used called a Multipo~ntApproximation based on Response Surface Method (MARS) The
parameters of the model related to the mater~alpropert~esof the elastlc compound (polyurethane and
cork mixture) in whlch the rails are embedded were varied dur~ngthe identiflcat~onprocess The
numerical model with the obtained parameters of compound can then be used to estimate the performance character~strcsof the rarlway track. The compound parameters were compared wrth the
ones obtained uslng a slngle degree of freedom mass-spring system
I
p14
m
9
F
iwnq
k'
FA"1
Id
7
d
I
I
Safe and efficient rallway operations require properly designed rall infrastructure, which means that
track qual~tyshould meet certarn criterla both before and dur~ngoperat~on.One of the most important
characterrstics of a track is its vertical st~ffness.Under a h ~ g hfrequency loading the vert~calstiffness
of a track defines the level of track v~brationsand wheel-rail contact forces These ult~matelydefine
the emlsslon of acoust~cnoise and efforts to ma~ntainrail and wheels. Additionally, large variat~onsIn
track elasticity can cause serious damage to the track whlch can result in problems regarding the
operat~onalsafety of the track. Insufficient vertlcal stiffness of track can y~eldrail fatigue problems,
whereas track which 1s too st~ffmay have h ~ g hnoise emrssion and wear of wheels and ralls as a
result. This IS why assessing- the vertical st~ffnessof a track IS extremely Important in order to perform
track ma~ntenanceon tlme
Recently, a method to estimate the dynamic characterist~csof a track has been developed within the
Dynatrack project [I691 at Delft University of Technology (see Chapter 14). The procedure consists of
three major parts, namely measurement of dynamic responses of a track, numerical modell~ngof
track behaviour, and parameter rdentification of track components The dynamic characterrstrcs of a
track are obta~nedusing a Hammer Excitation Test (HET) according to which a vertical impulse load IS
appl~edto the top of a rail. The resulting track vibrat~onsrecorded wlth~nthe 40 to 2000 Hz range are
the most representatwe tn order to predrct noise emlssion and wheel-rail interactron forces The
dynam~cpropert~esof a track are then estimated by analysing the Frequency Response Functions
based on the measurement data.
In the present study the dynam~cpropert~esof a spec~altype of Embedded Rail Structure (ERS) are
~nvest~gated
ERS IS a ballastless type of track that has a number of advantages compared to a classical (ballasted) track, the most ~mportantof whrch is low ma~ntenancecost Thls IS especrally the
case ~fhlgh-speed operations arise The low maintenance effort results In high ava~lab~lity
of the track
whlch means that the track is only unava~lablefor operat~onsduring a limlted period of t~me.Apart
from that, the helght and weight of ballastless track IS lower In comparison w ~ t htraditional track This
is important for bridges and tunnels The typlcal k ~ n dof ERS applred up to now consrsts of a contrnu-
hiode117Ra~lvvayTiaci(
ous reinforced concrete slab that rests on a concrete stabil~sedroadbed which in turn is placed on a
sand base (Figure 13 4). Rails In such a structure are contrnclously supported by an elastrc compound
made up of a mixture of polyurethane and cork. One of the advantages of ERS is that its behaviour
can be easily descrrbed by a numerical model. More information on Embedded Rail Structure and
other ballestless tracks can be found in Chapter 9.
In order to analyse the dynamic behaviour of a track caused by various loadings such as a movrng
trsrn or temperature variation, a Finite Element model has been developed at DUT 1911 Various track
structures can be described by the model which has been implemented In computer software called
RAIL. A general description of the software is given in Chapter 6 The accuracy of track responses
obtained using the numerical model strongly depends on the values of the model parameters that are
related to track components. Some of these parameters, such as rail geometry, have been described
accurately, other parameters can only be obtained experimentally.
Here, the material properties of compound are determined by matching the excitation hammer measurement data to the results of numerical simulatron The identification of the material parameters IS
formulated as a mrnimisat~onproblem. To solve this problem an optimization technique has been
used called a Multrpoint Approximation based on Response Surface Method (MARS) as presented in
Section 13.3 This method has been specifically developed for problems which involve multlple
response analyses and (time consuming) simulatrons To verify this method, the material propert~esof
compo~indare also obtained uslng a srngle degree of freedom mass-spring system with damping In
the subsequent sections the following top~csare presented.
T I
CJ
F'
LJ
k~.
13.6.2
- Dynamic properties such as strffness and damprng (e.g. rail and concrete plate pads, and ballast);
I
- Inertia propertres such as mass, bending, and shear stiffness (e g rails and sleepers);
- Geometrrcal properties such as structural dimensions (e.g. support spacing and support length).
The analysis of the dynamlc behaviour of a track rncludes measurrng the applied load as well as the
resultrng vibration of a track A vertical (impulse) load applied to the top of the rail (Flgure 13 26) produces track vrbrations in the frequency range between 30 Hz and 3 kHz, dependrng on the type of
impulse load The resultrng vrbratrons are recorded usrng acceleroineters which have an applrcation
range between 10 Hz and 10 kHz. The recorded signals are then sampled at 20 kHz and converted
f@
ivri
r *(
-a
/pnnl
I
ba
wul
"1
"1
Y
rn
$d
1
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
by means of Fast Four~erTransform (FFT) into Frequency Response Functions (FRF), wh~leassumIng the linear behaviour of a track.
The lnertance frequency response function ~ , , [ k ~ - ' ] relates the applied force (Input) F and the
recorded accelerations of a track (output) A and reads:
H A F ( ~=)
in which
S,,[mN/s]
S,F(
f)
(13.26)
FF( )
IS
s,,[N~~]
IS
f [ Hz1
IS
the frequency.
1
lui
b*
iui
I
I
(2nf1-~~,,(0
(13.27)
gs
lPri
Pr'
f)
(13.28)
L"41
Ll
One of the advantages of FRF is that it is not sens~tiveto the magnitude and duration of an impulse
load. Moreover, In [I691 it IS shown that the recording slgnals obtained using different types of hammers are very close, except the extremely low and extremely high frequencies which are not considered here.
7llilD
In order to better understand and Interpret measurement results, a numerical model that IS able to
describe the various kinds of behaviour of a ra~lwaytrack is necessary. The choice of parameters for
such a model is crucial for the assessment and prediction of track performance Once determined on
Modem Railv~~air
Tracji
technique called Multipoint Approximation based on Response Surface Method (MARS), presented in
Sect~on13.3.
13.6.5
Numerical results
The above-mentioned procedure has been applied to determine the material parameters of cornpound used in ERS. Thus. the components of the vector of the design variables x = ,yc c
in the
problem (13.29) are respectively the st~ffness,damping. and dens~tyof the cnmpoun . The in1 iai values and lower and upper boundaries of the design variables are collected in Table 13.5. The Inertance FRF A
in (13 29) has been obtained using the numerical model implemented in RAIL
(Figure 13.27). The frequency range from 50Hz to 170Hz was considered since the FRF in this range
are mostly defined by the propert~esof compound. The MARS method has been used to solve the
unconstrained minimisation problem (13.29), whereas the multiplicative model has been used to
approximate the objectrve function D .
An optimum solution (Table 13 5) was found after 20 iterations The measured and simulated FRF as
well as the relatlve difference between the FRF corresponding to the obtained par-ameters of compound, are shown in Figure 13.28 To estimate the efficiency of the identification procedure, the campound parameters have been obtained using a single DOF mass-spring system with damping [16g]
as well The mass of the system representing the rail mass was kept constant. whereas the stiffness
and damping parameters were obtained using the curve-fit function of MATLAB. The obtained parameters were then transformed into the stiffness Kc and damping C, of the RAIL model (Figure 13.27).
The corresponding FRF and their relative differences are shown in Figure 13 29. From Figure 13.28
and Figure 13.29 it can be observed that the model obtarned by the MARS method describes the
behav~ourof the real track more accurately, especially in the neighbourhood of the resonant frequency. The overall difference between the measured and simulated FRF is also smaller for the
model obtained using the MARS method (compare the area under graphs in F~gure13.28 and
Figure 13 29) The results of the more accurate calculations with these two models are shown in
Figure 13.30 Aga~n,the model obtarned using the MARS method approximates the measured data
more accurately, especially the phase angle between 70Hz and 170Hz. The track model obtained
using the MARS method fits better due to the compound mass variation during the identrfication Still,
some discrepancy exists between the measured and s~mulatedFRF (Figure 13 28) which can be
explained by the ~nsufficienraccuracy of the track model The introduct~onof non-l~nearelements in
the track model could improve how the results fit.
13.6.6
Conclusions
A procedure has been presented In order to assess the dynamic properties of the components of a
railway track. The procedure includes measuring the dynamic responses of the track (Hammer Excitation Test), numerical modelling of track behaviour (RAIL), and parameter identification. The procedure has been applied to a ballastless track, namely an Embedded Rail Structure.
--4 5
F&
0)
al
T7
---
al
$ -90
IIT
a
-1 35
0
Frequency [Hz]
-180.
0
100
ZOO
300
Frequency [Hz]
400
500
Fig~ire13 30 A m p i i t ~ ~ dand
e phase of FRF iising measured data (green 11i7e),MARS curve fitting (blue line), and IDOF curve
fitting (red line)
The material parameters of elastic compound have been determined based on measurement data
using the MARS optimization method. The track model wh~chincludes the obtained parameters of
compound can quite adequately describe the behaviour of a real track. The results have shown that
the MARS method can effectively be ~ i s e dfor parameter identification problems
t
accurately if non-linear elements would be introThe measured and simulated data could f ~ more
duced in the numer~calmodel of a track.
F"I
\.
1I
I
I
mode:^^ Ra~lwayTrack
Academic education
Theoretical and experimental research
Dedicated courses and training
Software support
That's what the Railway Engineering Group
at TU Delft can offer to you!
P.Q.Box 5048,
2600 GA Delft, the Netherlands
Tel: + 3 1 1 5 278 5066, Fax: + 3 1 15 278 3443
Internet: ~vww.raii.tudelit.nI
B
L
74 T i S n N G AND Y CCEPT,NCE
bloder n Railwev n a c k
'i
44
I . lntroductjon
Railway track IS composed out of many different components which have already been introduced in
Chapter 5, Chapter 8, and Chapter 9. All components have very specific functions and are designed
to fulfrl their functions In the best possrbie way and for the longest possrble perrod of t ~ m e
Product development In rarlway engineering has been highly influenced by emprrrsm and conservatism, a consequence of the prevarllng safety requirements, low costs for labour and materrals, and
availability Durrng the last decades, techniques have rapidly been developed which allow the production of components according to better specifications and hrgher quality standards New materials,
rnechanrsation, automatron, product~onas well as test devrces have been rntroduced and used in rarlway practice.
I""W
14.2
14.2.1
Mechanical properties
Track components are supposed to have specific mechanical properties that enable the track to support and guide railway vehicles In Table 14.1 a number of track components and properties are
I~sted.These properties are arbrtrarily categorrsed and show therr most rmportant features Mechanical propertres are not necessarrly the most rmportant ones, but they reflect the prrnciple of cons~derrng
the track as a mechanrcal system subjected to vehicle loadmg
Elasticity
Rail prof le
Fasten~ngsystem
Slabs
Stability
Durability
X
X
Sleepers
Ballast
Strength
X
X
F"1
X
Track support systems
1
Table 14 1 Oven/iew of the most Important track p ~ o p e r t ~ eofs each component
Pi
ivri
- Track elasticity is dominated by the strffness properties of some of the track components such as
rail pads and ballast. Damplng, also known as energy loss or imaginary stiffness,
regarding low, medrum, or hlgh frequency load~ng(See 14.2.2).
IS
very relevant
- Track strength depends on the robustness of the design, the quant~tiesand the qualrtres of the
used materials. This
slabs (See 14 2.3).
IS
especially the case regarding rails (and welds), concrete sleepers, and
- Track stability is provided by the rigid frameworks of sleepers and rarls, but also by the good resistance of sleepers In ballast (See 14.2.4).
- Frnally, for long term performance durabil~tyand resrstance against fatigue are of course primary
requlrements for track components. The environmental and loading condrtions of a partrcular track
sectron, however, heavrly Influence the durability requirements.
14.2.2
Iri
Elasticity properties
*9
I
l d
A
'"1
1
lid
l
This rail pad has remarkably lrnear stlffness propertres In Table 14 2 some static stlffness values of
rail pads for concrete sleepers are shown
A A,-
Iz0
-60 k~ 126 7 k
80
6o
40
20
0
Figure 14.5 shows a typ~calresult of a load0 01 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 06 0.7 0 8 09 1
rng test on a baseplate pad, wh~chIS shown
Dlsplacernent [mm]
In Frgure 14.4 Generally speak~ng, softer
materials have less linear stiffness proper- Fig~ii-e14 3 Typ~calrailpad stiffness determination graph
t ~ e sunder static loading, but also under low
and medium frequency load~ngand temperature loadrng Statlonary loads on the baseplate pad rntroduce further deformation, as can be noticed
at the top of the load~ngcurve in thrs figure. This materrat property IS called creep.
Suppller
Pandro [I871
T~flex[266]
Tlflex [I701
Vossloh [285]
BR
GVBA
NS
DB
DB
Materlal code
4548
Fc9
Fc9
Zw692
Zw687
Mater~al
Studded
elastomere
Rubber
bonded cork
Rubber
bonded cork
Th~ckness[mm]
10 0
65
45
60
Load~ngrate [kNIm~n]
50
30
30
30
Load~ngrange [kN]
1-80
3-40
3-40
2-50
65
100
125
400
' Applled by
I
I (secant) St~ffness[kNlmm]
Plastic
Vossloh 12641
plastic
60
50
2-40
F
&
970
Displacement [rnrn]
b
Figuie 14 5 Typical baseplate pad stiffness determination graph
The stiffness values of this and other supports have been collected In Table 14.3.
I -1
I
I
1-
Suppl~er
Trilex [I 701
Vossloh [254]
Vossloh [285]
Applied by
NS
GVBA
DB
Mater~alcode
Fc9 IFc6
Zw1403 I Zwp4OU
Zw692 I Zwp104
Materral
Plastic 1 Rubber
Plastrc 1 Elastomere
Thrckness [mm]
45/10
50127
5.0 110
30
30
30
3-40
2-32
2-50
39 2
37
22.5
Pad classrfrcat~on
'soft'
'medium'
'hard'
Pad stiffness
<80
80-1 50
> I 50
Support classrfrcatron
'soft'
Support st~ffness
130
'soft-med~um'
30-50
'med~um-hard'
50-70
'hard'
>70
IS
In the DB standards for slab track [46]the vertical stlffness of a single rall support (spaclng 0 65 m) IS
22.5kN/mm +/- 2 5 kN/mm In above-ment~onedgeneral European standards, the D6 requirements
for slab track supports are thus classlfled as soft.
One major difference between European standards and e g. national standards (DB, Railtrack,
AREMA, etc ) is that the first only categorlse the different supports and pads and assign testing methods, while the second accurately state both the testrng method and the required results for acceptance
In Chapter 8 some ballast bed stiffness values have been stated, so that the equivalent support stiffness of ballasted track can be calculated for comparison Laboratory or in-situ tests and requirements
on ballast stiffness are, however, rare. Statlc support stiffness of ballasted track vartes between 20
and 40 kN/mm per stngle rail support. Compared to slab track support strffness this covers the 'soft'
end of Table 14.4
Low frequency loading (<40 Hz) can more accurately represent the elastlc behaviour of the track due
to the passing wheels of a travelling train than statlc loadrng tests can. In Figure 14 6 some loops of
low frequency loading of a single support are shown. These loops allow determination of stiffness and
damping (energy loss) values per frequency. There is a clear difference between the loading and the
unloading branches of each graph. Energy loss is the ratio of the closed loop area over the total area
underneath the loading part of the graph. Energy loss for most of the single rail supports varies
between 5 and 15 %. This level of energy loss makes these single rail supports to heavily damped
structures In mechanical classificat~on The energy loss of rail pads is in generai lower than 10 %,
whtle ballast and other parts of the substructure have extraordinary large energy loss properties
J
"I
1
A A A
r-
r
r
30
25
'
~ 2 ~ - a t l O H z 5 5 k N l r n m ---------at
15 Hz 56 kNlrnm
Fatlgue properties due to re-peated loadlng should not allow more than a 25 OO/ Increase of stiffness
according to [29]More about fatlgue testlng IS mentioned In 14.2.5
In and on clvll structures like brldges and tunnels, the energy absorption of the track structure mlght
be lnsufflclent If thls IS the case, the civil structure, track structures, and env~ronmentwill suffer from
damage, vibrations, and nolse. In order to abate these problems, extra elastrc~ty(reslllence) IS added
to the track or the clvll structure, e.g. by means of super elastlc supports or ballast mats
For additional elast~cityand energy absorption, porous but durable materials are used, see Chapter 8
In ballast mats elther holes or bonded cork particles are embedded ~n natural or synthet~crubber
products wlth thickness between 20 and 40 mm. Ballast mats are Installed dlrectly on the concrete
l
and protect ballast stones from crush~ng.Typical stiffness properties of
surface of the c ~ v i structure
some ballast mats are collected In (Table 14.5). They convert the track superstructure Into a suspended mass sprlng system
F4
iu
Suppl~er
Phoenix [227]
Tiflex 12971
Clouth [36]
Mater~alcode
U33-01
Fc250/Fc101
USMIOOO
Material
Synthet~cand
natural rubber
Rubber
bonded cork
Natural rubbers
33
24 1 6
30
0 015
0 025
0 019
0.01 8
0.014
Osc~llatronarnpl~tude[mm]
0 075
0.03
P!
kw
j Preload [ ~ i r n r n ~ l
Table 14 5
0 03
1111.
Llkewrse, addltlonal elastic supports (hellcal springs, absorbers, rubber bearing plates) or mats are
lnstalled as bearings underneath and along slabs. A final suggestron IS to only Insulate the sleepers
or blocks on whlch the ralls are fastened, from slab or ballast by means of sleeper boots, block encasings or undersleeper pads. Examples are shown in Chapter 8 and Chapter 9. All elastic components
lnstalled In the track - even In switches - are, of course, subject to testing and acceptance. It is, however, rmposslble to pay attention to each lnd~vidualtesting procedure and the acceptance llmrts at this
point.
ku
F
kt#
FL"
14.2.3
d
3
;uii
m
h
u
m
kii
"i
d
I
i 7
I
Strengih properties
For rails, jo~nts,and welds, however, strength and fatigue testlng IS generally prescribed In national
standards Though rt IS certain that most of the joints and welds are exposed to worse loading than
the unmodlfled rails, strength IS determined In a comparable way and wlth comparable minimum
values. In [I881longitudinal tension tests are described for glued (insulated) rall jolnts. The tension
forces can run up to over 1500 kN before the joints crack. For acceptance, minimum force levels of
1200 kN are requlred In Figure 14.7 the test set-up is shown.
Comparable features can be
d~stinguished for testing the
strength of sleepers as for testlng rall joints For example, the
most likely failure mechanism
found In monoblock concrete
sleepers IS crack~ngIn the middle on top or around the housing
of the fastening system. In
Figure 14.8 one of these two
tests is shown. Here too,
national (company) standards
and testing methods, in general,
dominate over the European
standard [30]. In this standard,
sleeper
strength IS determined
Flguie 14 8 Reinforced rnonoblock sleeper strength test
by means of forcedly cracking
the sleeper by applylng bendlng
stresses In a four-polnt bend~ngtest. The present pre-stressed monoblock sleepers have suff~clent
resistance to rsduce the crack width, though tests have shown that reinforced sleepers can perform
equally. Tests have been conducted on reinforced sleepers su~tablefor light rail purposes [307]. Crack
w~dthdepends on the level of tens~onIn the reinforcing rods under loadlng. The tension will stead~ly
increase under the Influence of dynam~cloadlng. Results from those tests showed that crack wldth
could be kept within the restrctlons under static and fatigue loading.
r
Modern Railway Track
4-
14.2.4
Stability properties
II _
Track stability guarantees correct track positioning even under severe loadlng condrtions. The most
interesting reason why track requlres sufficient stability IS that it will buckle due to high longitudinal
forces In the ra~ls.To overcome thls, the framework of ralls and sleepers should be sufficiently rigid
and embedded in a stablllsed ballast bed. Rigidlty in the framework is achieved by means of longitudlnal and torsional resistance in the fasteners. In 1291 tests are listed to determine these resistances
Longrtcrd~nalresistance In assembled tracks varies between 8 and 20 kN per rali (per set of fasteners). The torsional reslstance of most of the present fasteners IS between 30 and 70 kNmIrad 12821
and b e t l ~ e e n100 and 250 kNmJrad per meter of an assembled track framework.
-?
i
d-
1sl-
B
t
I,_
In order to conserve the flxatlon between rail and sleeper in ballasted track, the longltudinal resistance should be at least 12 kN. Lower or extremely low resistance values are applied in case of Interaction wlth civil structures like bridges. Track stability should then be provided rn alternative ways
Lower I o n g r t ~ ~ d ~reslstance
nal
also applies for slab tracks in which case stabilrty of the track framework IS almost guaranteed. In 1461 a mrnimum longrtudinal reslstance of 5 kN per rail (per set of fasteners) IS required. In Figure 14.9 a test is shown for determining the longitud~nalresistance of a
speclflc embedded rall sectlon In slab track (see Sectlon 9.8), whlle In F~gure14 10 a test set-up IS
shown for standard fastening systems mounted on a sleeper
r
Y,
rMil
The propert~esof ballast beds regarding stability have been investigated by many, both theoretrcally
and empirically, In the field and in laboratones. In [282] the results of lateral stability of a ballast bed
are reported as a function of veltlcal track loading and longltudinal forces. Lateral ballast resrstance
should be determined for track panels instead of single sleepers, as the co-operation of nelghbourlng
sleepers is not negligible Lateral track resistance In ballast IS dlvided Into elastrc stiffness and plastlc
frlction
p
lorri
Purely elastic lateral displacement is In general lrmited to 2 to 5 mm. The maximum lateral reaction
force of ballast per sleeper In unloaded condition is 7 to 11 kN. For displacements above the
maximum elastrc value, the lateral reactron forces of ballast caused by friction amount to 5 to 10 k~
per sleeper All lateral ballast behaviour depends on the ballast conditron, In particular the level of
compactness and consolidat~on,see Chapter 7. A new sleeper desrgn can be adopted to Increase
track stability as well as improving the lateral resistance of the ballast bed .
14.2.5
h
~4
Y
i
The clamprng force of rail fasteners can decrease due to the effects of repetitive loading, causing
fatigue in the clips as well as irrevers~blecompressron of the rail pad. Repetitive loading tests as
described in 1291 can be carrred out (Figure 14.11). In Table 14.6 the decrease in clamping force is
illustrated
ld
Supplier
Pandrol [I 871
Pandrol [I 871
Vossloh [32]
Appl~edby
BR
BR
DB
Fastener code
el809
e2039
skll
12 5
17 4
18 9
12 1
16 1
16 2
lrrq
tad
pfl?
bi
3
13
I
Considering the durab~lity and fatigue propert~esof embedded rail structures, see Chapter 9,
research has been performed and reported in [I321 and [168]. In embedded r a ~structures,
l
the viscoelastic compound in which the rail is embedded provides elasticity, fixatron, and the track's stability.
Therefore, durability of this material is extremely ~mportant.Durab~lityis tested on resistance ayainst
ageing, temperatures, hydration, chem~cals,and electr~ccurrent.
In Table 14.7 the fatigue propert~esregarding track elasticity are listed for a number of typical embedded rail track structures UIC60 and UIC5A concern marn l ~ n eapplrcations, while the S41 struct~ireIS
dedicated to light r a ~ lSA42 is a spec~allow noise rail des~gnwith future lrght rail application which
was deveioped and tested In the Netherlands in 1998 [22](see Section 9.8 3) Though the testing
conditrons differ (loading ranges, sample length, loading rate), an Increase of static track st~ffnessIS
observed The static stiffness values amount to asymptotrc values for further repeated loading
Rail profile
UIC60
- - - w u [I
~ t321
d ~
Appl~edby
DB
I VA60
Vnuu
Elast~cstrip code
100
UIC54[58]
UlC54 1581
S41[133]
S41 [I 331
NS
Brernen
v~60
VA60
VA40
VA90
102
102
fc6sp
30
SA42 [I 681
30
0-5 1
0-7
0-36
0.6
05
0 44
0 25
-52 1
I (vert.)
21.8 (angular)
50.0 (veri,)
(veri.)
22
22
1 43 5J (angular)
idnguiar)
2-30
22
-22
Fat~gueload level
171O h
170%
133%
170 %
1 million
I I IIIIIUII
1 million
1 3 million
1 m~llion
45.2 ( 'GI
v e L.t I)
53
-- I (vert.)1
' ' " b ' L .
22.9 (angular)
62.7 (vert.)
P
21 8 (angular)
71 8 (vert )
The standards for fatigue and durabrlity testing of discrete fastening systems and embedded rail drffer
per applrcation. The loading cond~tion- In particular the lateral loading on the rail - very much influences the durability and stability of the track Gauge w~denrngis a common but unsafe observation in
fatigue tests Moreover, the performance of components has to be checked by means of visual
inspection of cracks and correct in-place positionrng
'
Mode117F?ailway Track
Assessing electrical properties requires testing long-term durability, for example resistance against
rust, and measuring rail to rail insulation values. Spraying salt water on fasteners and sleepers for
several days or weeks is a commonly applied test. The sola at ion values still need to be met and the
replacement of conlponents still has to be possible.
Assessing acoustics and vibrat~onsis becoming more and more an established part of railway engineering. Dynamic st~ffnessand damp~ng.both on component and on track level. are tested for high
frequency vibrations and absorption properties at different levels of loading Though extremely important for environmental issues, design guidelines and acceptance standards hardly exlst regarding
these propert~es.
Individual track support properties can be of
use in estimat~ngnoise and vibration radiation
conjunction with advanced calculation models,
like TWINS [265] For acceptance, however,
most dynamic properties are still evaluated by
comparing them to the properties of exist~ng
components, and by recording the performance
of new and existing track structures. In
Figure14.13
the
noise
and
vibration
measurement results of some (super) elastic
track support systems are shown w ~ t h
reduct~onsup to several decibels
Not only dynam~cproperties, but also shapes
and dimensions can be altered to improve performance In [137] the inflclence of the size of
an embedded rail is investigated regard~ng
noise and vibration properties. This has led to
the development of the low-noise r a ~ l as
reported in [22]
If the results are insufficient, noise reduction
can be achieved by means of general solutions
such as slab track covering tiles, see
Figure l4
l4
[2861JOr
a very porous
layer (Figure 14 15) More about the field of
/25 -30
20
Float~ngslab
Sleeper boots
* Ballast mats type 1
Ballast mats type 2
--- Cont~nuously
supported
II
915-
0
-108
.-o
_r
0
-5I
-10;
16
31.5
63
Frequency [Hz]
- I
125
i
~Liodei;I Raliwaj TIacii
14.3
I
f
1,
The performance of track structures IS not only related to the performance of the components. The
connectrons between these two rnfluence the properties of the components and contribute to the
propertres of the track. Thrs makes it necessary to test and assess track structures as well.
The by far most well known type of track structure test is the performance test: the installed track
structure IS monitored for vlsual structural damage and geometrical rmperfect~ons.Moreover, thrs test
y~eldsa realrstic type of loading, but raises problems regard~ngsafety, duration, and rntensive rnspectlons Acceptance standards are hardly available and far from ~iniform.In this chapter, some examples of structural testrng and acceptance are outlined which can contribute to assessing the quality
and the safety of track structures
Qualrty and safety of the track structure, which can only be established by means of testing and determining rndrcative parameters, IS based on:
- Average, extremes, and devlatron in the propertres;
1.
f"l
i-
TC&l
rL"
.1
Directly from the moment of constructing a track sectron dev~ationin propertres exists, whrle the use
of the track causes additronal devratron In propertres along the track section as well as over time. The
rndicatlve parameters should fall wrthin lrmits whrch are clearly formulated. In principal, safety has
more stringent requirements for acceptance than quality, although these requrrements do not apply to
every srngle ~ t e mthe requrrements regarding qualrty apply to. It is for several reasons acceptable that
limit values vary.
In thrs sectron some examples of test~ngand acceptance that partrcularly apply to structural testing
will be demonstrated. Frrst, testlng for noise and vibration - which IS typically related to place - is
~ntroduced,followed by passenger comfort (ride qualrty) - which is related to variance over place
Secondly, the propertles of the track In these situations are points of interest as well as, thirdly, the
interaction of the track with ~ t ssurround~ngsand wrth the vehicle is It is, therefore, ~mportantto determ ~ n ethe properties of the track in an unbiased way.
14.3.1
P
Its1
5
6
F?
ki
I
I
I*I
F"1
*rri
V1
V1
rn
I
I
uiu'
63
125
250
500
n
of ballasted and slab track recorded at
Figure 14 18 V ~ b r a t ~ olevels
8m from track centie
31 5
Frequency [Hz]
@3
16
Ik
In 1481,the measurement results of a continuously supported embedded rail installed n prefab concrete slabs on roadbed are reported. The results show the differences in vibratlon energy transmisslon between a ballasted track and an embedded rail structure under passenger trains at a track
sectlon of Netherlands Railways, recorded at 8 m perpendicular to the track (Figure 14 18)
I
I
Modein Ra~iwayirach
14
In the beginning of this section we saw that the appllcatlon of floating slabs, ballast mats, under
sleeaer pads. baseplate pads. and block supports contributed to lower~ngthe transmitted vrbratlon
energy These applications also introduced and shifted the lowest vertical natural frequency of the
track The cont~nuo~isly
supported track structure el~mlnatesmany of the higher order natural frequencles n d~scretelysupported track. and easily dom~natesthe lowest vert~calnatural frequency of drscretely supported track as described by the single mass spring system In Chapter 6.
Over the years it has become clear that a decisive des~gnpr~ncipleto exactly assess the effectiveness of vibration and noise reduction IS diff~cultto construct. Local circumstances (sod propertres,
track alignment, track and vehicle qualrty, drstance to buildings) make it very complicated to judge
improvements and measures at the track in advance. Experiences in comparable situations and professional sk~llwill help to certify that the testing and recording of track durlng servlce falls within the
limrts that are listed for human and structural perception of vibration and norse (e.g.[51], [55]).
F"?
14.3.2
r""'L,
m
hi
Assessing track quality from the point of view of vehicles and - more ~mportantfor revenues and
safety - of passengers is very important. Track quality should, therefore, be divided in two parts:
namely, considering the vehicle and the passenger.
For the passenger, quality assessment is based on comfortable transport which IS achieved by means
of limrt~ngthe low frequency vibrations which passengers are exposed to The limitations are collected in [93] and [I 341 and concern 3D average, maximum, and standard dev~ationvalues The suspension systems of the vehrcle, the track geometry, and the design speed determine the comfort
levels
In [283],a method is presented in which typical geometrical track elements contr~buteto improving
the comfort levels of passengers In high-speed line vehicles. Especially the transitron curves in the
horizontal plane are improved and connected rn such a way, as Introduced by [236] and shown In
Figure 14 19, that jerk and Impact loads are reduced The accelerations to which the passengers are
exposed are significantly lower.
i
i
P
itid
MC=RC ,.r
.*
fl
e
kc
D
.RC.
outer
Inner
In
cun/es
Analysing vibration levels recorded at certain posrtions w~thinthe vehicle (e.g. at bogies or axle
boxes) can ~dentrfyweak spots In track geometry or in track structures This IS important as high
vibration and acceleration levels can be harmful to the vehicle. Just like passenger comfort, ride qualrty for veh~clesis also measured and categorlsed with acceleration values for average, maxlmum, and
standard deviation.
e
C:
m
!I
FW
I
By paying closer attention to e.g vibration
recordings, various types of track defects in
geometry and structure can be detected.
Very commonly observed problems in track
structures are the loss of track support
(bouncing sleepers) and the stiffening of
scipports (compacted and pulverised ballast)
and transitions close to level-crossings and
abutments The device which is capable of
detecting these krnds of problems in track
support stiffness contributes to listing maintenance spots, determining the preclse t v ~ e
of maintenance, and, thus, to saving on
maintenance costs.
2
Load
F ~ g i i r e14 20 High-speed deflectograph for road appl~cat~oli
For vehicles. comparable transfer functions can be composed which relate (wheel) force input to
(passenger or vehicle) body acceleration.
Y,Cf 1
H,-,(f)
U
'
Y,(f)
(14.2)
When consiclerrng tlie force Input rn both above-ment~onedequations equally, the transfer functlon
from rail deflection to body acceleration shows up easily. This proves that dynamic track properties do
inflcience the vibration behavrour of the vehrcle on it.
q5
NOISE A N D VIBRATION
7 5.2
L;
S o m e definitions
IS
lilli
P
201og-1
PZ
(15.1)
Figure 15.2 shows the relationsh~pbetween the lrnear scale and the dB scale
Power spectral values are mostly calculated as root mean square (rms), or effectrve value, per 113
octave band. In the low frequencies associated with v~brations,accelerations are often integrated to
produce velocrties.
When expressing them as dB values a reference value should be given Noise values are
normally expressed relatrvely to a reference
value 2 10-5 ~ / m ~
The human percept~onof norse is characterised by the filter shown in Figure 15.3. Thrs Afilter, as it IS referred to, removes almost all
contributrons below 200 Hz.Noise levels are
normally presented after hav~ng been Aweighted Thrs IS indicated in dB(A). Dependrng on the application, spectra can either be
presented as A-weighted or not.
P2/~1
t
o
10
15
20
25
30 L[dBl
1
I
20
10
m
2 -10
a,
3
2
- -20
-
E -30
rii"y
-4 0
llld
-50
IV'~'??
-60
20
100
I k
Frequency (Hz)
'O
20
w
I
ru'
1
k
IS
P*(f))
Leq = 1 0 / 0 g ~ ~ ~dt[ ~ ]
(1 5.2)
Pl
I
&
in which p, = 2
a
w
Basically different from the root mean square value in (15 2) is the sound exposure level SEL which
~ i m * p,.(t)
IS
represents the equivalent energy of a phenomenon durlng a reference tlme T, = 1 s, according to,
rn
iur!
SEL
10iog~j[--l
Pait))
Tr
s*?
!d
dt
(15.3)
The difference between both expressions is the reference ttme T, over which the energy is averaged.
In (15.2) T, = T, whereas ~n(15.3) T, = I s.
m
Litid
7
I
15.3
G r o u n d vibrations
15.3.1
Introduction
ip3
@T
iui
PA,
d
in(
F""i
id
Al"1
""1
Vibrations are caused by the large forces between wheels and ralls These forces fluctuate in
response to wheel and rail roughness over a wide range of frequencies. In addition, the distributions
of axle loads in a train also produces a force excitation as rt passes a flxed point. The latter effect
leads to excitation at frequencies which correspond to the vehicle passing frequency and its harmonics. whereas forces due to the wheel or rail roughness have a periodicity determined by the wavelength of the roughness and the vehicle running speed.
The combined veh~cleitracksystem is complex and has many natural frequencies When one of the
excitation frequencies corresponds to a natural frequency of the system there is a particularly strong
vibration A strong vibration also ensues if an excttation frequency or natural frequency of the system
corresponds to the sleeper passing frequency Whereas natural frequencies of the system are independent of running speed. the sleeper-pass~ngfrequency increases in proportron to the runnlng
speed. As the speed rrses, a corncidence of frequencies may occur and the vibrations will reach a
peak and then diminish Thus. vibrations do not increase steadily with speed and a speed reductron
may sometrmes make the vibratrons worse
A
cn
1,
Vibrations propagate from the track through the ground by means of compression waves, shear
waves and suriace (Rayleigh) waves. For each type of wave the energy becomes less as distance
from the source increases. Thls is due to geometric dispersion and energy absorption in the ground.
The lowest frequencies are the least damped
The main lines in the open radiate vibrations by means of Rayleigh waves according to the mechanism sketched In Figure 15.4.
V~bratlonsdue to trains on track ~nthe open
Annoy~ngv~brat~ons
ma~nlyat frequencles less
than 10 Hz
rL
In the case of underground railways the vibration energy is mainly transmitted in the frequency band
30 - 150 Hz through compression and shear waves as indicated In Figure 15.5. These vibrations,
which most commonly have an energy peak in the region of 50 Hz, are noticeable as a rumbling noise
due to re-radiated sound from walls and ceil~ngswhich typically vibrate at 5 - 25 Hz.
Bulldings near main line railways are usually at such a distance that the vibrations due to compression and shear waves fade away while the surface waves remain.
The most critical conditions occur when the predominant frequency of ground vibration coincides with
the natural frequency of a building. Although the fundamental frequency for lateral vibrat~onsis in the
order of 1 -10 Hz, components may have higher natural frequencies
V~brat~ons
due to t r a m ~ntunnels.
Annoylng malnly due to radlated noise at
frequenc~esabove 30 Hz
rooms on
cellar
so11
, v~brations
Dlrectlon of
particle motion
Direction of
Figure 15 5 Vibration
propagation by underground railways
-.
partrcle mot~on
S-wave
i 9'..8;,11\, bynolse
,i s
k~~4
em~tted
t~als
=!
_J
I
I
I
--
'
1
15.3.2
LA
Vibration energy is transmitted through the sod as body and surface waves. A wave is ~ h a r a c t e r i s ~ d
by the particle motion u, the wave propagation speed c and the wavelength k. A plane wave propagatlng in the x-direction at a speed c can be described by the expresslon:
277
1-1x-ct)
Ir f i
u = Ae
(15.4)
If the load excitation is of a steady-state character, the frequency of the particle motion corresponds to
the excitation frequency f The wavelength h is determined by the excitation frequency f and the wave
propagation speed c according to the relationship:
f = -C
"1
7
7
d
'
W
irrYi
I
a9
(15.5)
h
In the case of transient loads, the frequency f will correspond to the frequency at which the layered
nature of the soil structure favours vibration transmission.
The partlcle motion of compression waves is in the direction of the wave propagation. whereas that of
shear waves is in a plane perpendicular to it. In the case of Rayleigh waves occurring in the vicinity of
a free surface, so11 particles follow a retrograde elliptic motion (counter-clockwise) as indicated in
Figure 15.6 At the surface the vertical displacement is about 1.5 times the horizontal displacement.
Rayleigh waves are often compared to water waves. There is one fundamental difference though, for
in the case of waves travelling to the right, the water particles move clockwise (prograde) in deep
water according to a circular motion, while in shallow water the particles move according to an ellipt~c
motlon in which the horizontal displacement is greater than the vertical displacement. With Rayleigh
waves and water waves the particles follow a closed path. Therefore, t h ~ smotion is called orbital
motlon. It should be emphasized that waves do not transport any mass, just energy.
rui
For shear waves (or transverse waves) the propagation speed equals-
I
I
ils
(15.6)
iul
,m
II
bid
i"l
kd
i
9
k
7Y
-------*
Instantaneous part~clevelocity
---_____---
_----__
----______
_ _ - - - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _-- - - - - - - _ _ _ _ _ - -----_ _ - - - _ --..
- - - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -------- -- - - D~splacernentvectors
---_____-- - - - _ _ __- _ - -
15 NOISE
4ND VIERATION
the degree of water saturation and varies from 0.01 - 0 1 m" for saturated loose soils and dense soils
respectively. The ampl~tudesof body waves attenuate much more rapidly, as the geometrical dampIng on the interior is proportonal to R-', and along the surface IS equal to R - ~ .
Figure 15.9 shows hor~zontaland vertical vibration ampl~tudeas a function of
depth for Rayle~ghwaves. Obv~ously, -o
these waves attenuate rapidly with
depth. The energy propagates almost
completely through a layer extending
down to a depth of one wavelength.
The generation of waves during passage of a train can be considered to be
a more or less steady-state process.
The energy radiated through the
waves depends on the transfer function between train load and track displacement.
This
frequency-related
function
depends on the track and soil properties. The track models discussed In
Chapter 6' Or the approximate s o l u
t~onspresented in [235], can be used
to determ~nethese frequency response
character~stics.
Arnplltude at Depth z
Arnplltude at Sutface
0
02
o4
06
"1.2
ti:
ycn
& c
08
10
12
14
For most rallway vlbratlon problems on plain tracks in the open, the predominant frequencies of the
load spectra are of the order of 5 to 50 Hz.As Rayleigh wave velocities vary between approximately
50 and 250 mls, the wavelength of Rayle~ghwaves IS expected to be in a range from 5 to 50 m.
In natural soil deposits, which are often stratified, resonance effects can occur. The lowest natural frequency f of a homogeneous soil w ~ t ha thickness h can be determined from:
in which c~ is the shear wave propagation velocity. For example, a clay layer of 5 m thickness plus a
shear wave velocity of 100 mls has a resonance frequency of 5 Hz One of the constraints regard~ng
high speeds is that the runnlng speed should be well below the wave propagation velocity to avold
undesirable Interference phenomena
An example of calculating crit~caltrain speed effects using the program SPOOR has already been
d~scussedIn Chapter 6.
15.3.3
Human perception
4 - 8 Hz:
30 - 80 Hz.
IS
t
Modern Railway Track
1-
-3
' 1
1
A
equat~on
lo-'
dB
reference vaiue
acceleration
L = 20 iog,,(aia,)
veioc~ty
L = 20 loglo(vlv,) dB
v, =
lo-@mis
d~splacement
L = 20 loglo(dld,)
d, =
10-11 m
120._
a, = 10 5 mis2
d~
dB
measured value
reference value
ldBI
= 20 logl/
110.-
100 --
I I I I I I
c u m
l l l l l l
I
0
c u m
l l l l l l
0
i o
0
T
7
I
Mi
F"I1
iui
e""l
l,lsj
1 EP vaiue
LEP [dB]
LEP [dB]
LEP [dB]
vo = 5.1 om8mls
vo = 10-8 rnis
vo = 10-' mls
<Ol
< 66
< 80
< 100
66 - 74
80 - 88
010-025
100 - 108
74 - 82
0 25 - 0.63
88 - 96
108 - 116
82 - 90
0 63 - 1 60
96 - 104
116 - 124
90 - 98
1 60 - 4 00
104 - 112
124 - 132
> 4 00
> 98
> 112
> 132
Classification of
perceptibility
I
not noticeable
very weak
weak
good
strong
very strong
P9I
I7
W
,
Tests carried out by ORE Dl51 [98] showed that masonry walls that had been subjected to a 14
mmis peak vibration at 13 Hz over a per~odof 60 days did not undergo any substantial damage.
15.3.4
Measured vibrations
A number of lnvestigatlons on vibration transmlssion carried out by ORE Dl 51 are described In [215].
Figure 15 13 shows acceleratlon spectra measured on the first floor of a buildrng durlng the passage
of a traln at 60 kmlh In the test three wheel tread condit~onswere considered newly re-profiled
wheels, wheels worn in service over 150 000 km, and wheels worn In service after 150.000km wlth
flats developed by skidding, 1.e emergency braklng wlth suppresslon of wheel-sllde protection
1-
L-
1-
r1
I
Accelerat~onlevel [dB]
re I0-4 m/s2
--
30--
':':
20
--
lo
.-
brI1t.-1
:'.+is re91nfilec?~ ~ l ~ n e ~ i s
0 --
-10
16
32
63
125
250
500
1000 f [HZ]
railway
!
\-
40'
kl~>/l;
20
8
From the measuring results presented rn
Flgure 15.15 it becomes clear that, according to DIN 4150 the DTS should not
approach buildings closer than about 15 m
At about 20 m d~stancefrom the track the
DTS causes the same v~brationlevel as an
ore trarn
r Bog~ewheel-bas,. passing
80-
16
31.5
63
125
250
'
k
[Hz]
3b
rI'm
r"""
Y
1
J
,
I
-1
Result~ngground
v~brat~on
[mrnls]
h
Global standards according to
DIN 41 50
8 rnmls adrn~ss~ble
for bu~ld~ngs
In good condit~on
"I
I
""1
d
F~gure15 15 Measured
ground
DTS v~brabondue to
""i
nq
I
kai
4
'"I
bi
Vibration reduction
15.3.5
Vibrat~onprotection measures are largely confined to modificat~onsto the track structure in tunnels,
and to additional measures in the ground under or alongs~detracks on open terraln.
The common principle In all the systems used in tunnels IS to support the track mass by a resilent
spring. The mass-spring systems act as a barrier to vibrations with a frequency greater than 42 times
the natural frequency.
"
,
For an undamped I-mass-spring system the dynamic amplification V, be~ngthe ratio between
dynamic and static force or dynamic and stat~cdisplacement, equals:
Isu
~-~[12!
m'
I
(15 12)
In w h ~ c hfn is the natural frequency and f is the frequency of the exc~tation.The vibration reduction W
can be expressed as:
W
(15.13)
I - V
Figure 15 16 how both the amplification and the vibration reduction versus frequency for a natural frequency of 10 Hz. The vibration reduction in dB reads:
1
W,,
i
2OIog-
(15.14)
f for -f > 3
40log-
fn
f"
(15.1 5)
qilia
F
The most effect~veway of reducing vibrations is found in measures taken at the source. Of course the
same is also valid for noise reduction.
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
Undamped v~brat~on
Natural frequency f, = 10 Hz
Vibration reduct~onfor
Spring
..........................
................
.r>
..I'. ...........
1
Figure 15 16 Pnnclple of
vibratlon reduction
15.3.6
frequencies below 10 Hz
by increasing the ballast depth from 30 to 75 cm. Thls is not an attractive solution because of the
costs, the werght and the extra height;
installing resilient mats between the bottom of the ballast and the tunnel invert;
.
- installing sleeper sofflt pads with the pads between sleeper and ballast;
- installing super-elastic
Figure 15.17 summarrzes experimentally determined sample transfer functions w h ~ c hdescribe vertical vibration reduct~onversus frequency. The behaviour IS qulte slmrlar and their effectrveness is
larger at frequencres above 30 Hz.
For constructional details of these measures see Chapter 8.
15.3.7
V~bratronreduction [dB]
20-
Soffit pads
lo/
Ballast mats
o-
---
-lo
1
16
31 5
63
125
frequency [Hz]
Figui-e 15 17 V,bratlon reductloo achieved by ballast mats and
soffit pads
-7
Most slab track systems, which utilise baseplates in their structures. have the baseplates resiliently
mounted relatively to the slabs. The vertical elasticity in either one or two stages is. however, generally designed to be similar to that of a typical ballasted track Therefore. their vibration attenuation is
not significant compared to ballasted track, and at low frequencies may be even worse.
' 1I
'a$
7
IF!
However, some special types of baseplate system, such as the "Cologne Egg", mentioned above,
have also been applied on slab track.
Slab track systems, which employ the principle of resiliently mounted blocks or sleepers, can show
improved vibration isolation compared with direct-fastening baseplated systems by virtue of the
increased mass, which is resiliently mounted when considered as a simple mass-spring-damper,
Probably the most well known example of this type of track system is the STEDEF-VSB system,
which is also shown in Chapter 9.
7
I
kid
fl
;
i
Fn
1I 2
I
All these constructions become beneficial at frequencies above 30 Hz This means that these concepts can be effective for reducing vibrations radiated as P and S waves by underground railways. It
is difficult to realise the mass-spring concept at an economic cost at lower frequencies of 10 to 30 Hz,
where in practice the problems often occur.
15.3.8
M e a s u r e s for t r a c k s in t h e o p e n
Tracks in the open mainly produce surface waves with vibrations at low frequencies Especially for
those frequencies below 10 Hz active isolation, by means of a mass-spring concept. will not be feasible In such cases passive isolation may be considered, for instance by using open trenches in the
vicin~tyof the structure exposed to vibrations, As the surface wave energy IS mainly transmitted
through a layer with a depth of one wavelength, intersection of this layer will therefore reduce the
transm~ttedwave energy.
brrr
I
'
Extending further the principle of increasing the track mass which is resiliently supported, thereby
reducing the natural frequency and hence increasing the effectiveness of the system as a vibration
isolation measure, slab track systems have been designed in which large precast or in-situ concrete
slabs are resiliently supported from the tunnel invert.
In [74]a number of tests based on this principle is described. The isolation effect appears to be more
than 70% if the depth of an open trench exceeds about half the length of the surface waves. There
are, however, a number of practical constraints, one of them being the trench depth. In fact. this solutlon requires the Rayleigh wavelength to be shorter than 20 m. Besides. it is often difficult to install
open trenches permanently and to a sufficient depth. Franki has developed a system which allows a
permanent gas-filled screen, consisting of pressurised plastic cushions, to be created in the soil
Much work on vibrations has been initiated in the Dutch CURICOB L400 project on design~ngsocalled modules describing vibrations in civil engineering objects Among them is a source module for
the assessment of rail traffic-borne dynamic forces and vibrations resulting from irregularities of the
track andlor the wheels.
15.4
Railway noise
Bridges
Moving trains radiate noise mainly as a result of wheel and rail interaction. In addition to structureborne noise which was discussed in the previous section, t h ~ ssection will deal with air-borne rolling
noise which is mainly radiated in the frequency band 500 - 2500 Hz.
fl/iode/n R a ~ l ~ v aTiack
y
r'
I1
Figure 15.18 shows a typical example of the spectral composition in dB per 113 octave at 25 m distance from the track centre on the budge and in the open field. These graphs clearly reveal that the
vibrations of the bridge durlng tra~npassage lead to an increase in low frequency noise energy levels
and to a considerable rise of rolling nolse. The precise figures strongly depend on the br~dgetype.
Above 1000 Hz bridge and plain track produce equal noise levels When calculating the A-we~ghted
equivalent noise energy level (Leq) the open field glves 86 dB(A) and the br~dgeonly 2 dB(A) higher
whereas on a spectral level the differences are in the order of 10 d B The discrepancy IS caused by
the A-welght~ngfilter which removes almost all contributions below 200 Hz
The Leq values measured by ORE at 25 m from bridges vary between 80 and 101 dB(A) In the open
field these values lie between 75 and 93 dB(A) The increase in nolse level attr~butableto the br~dge
varies between 0 and 11 dB(A)
:J
-7
,
il"t
IJd
u
plal
I
I
ilj
Figure 15 20 s i / e , ~bridge
t
cross section aiid
view
of a bridge
AS the rail trough forms a monolithic part of the main girder a very stiff support 1s created with an
extremely low vibration level due to the dynamic d e c o u p l W b e t w e e n rail a n d bridge F~~~~~15.21
shows a measuring example of a silent bridge and s l m u l t a n l o u s l ~Presents the noise level spectrum
of a conventional steel bridge. The difference is in the order of 10 dB,
1'
I
NS experience
NS has carrred out a lot of noise measurements alongside tracks to investrgate the noise level in relatron to track type and rolling stock type The SEL values obtained at a distance of 25 m from the track
centre vary between 91 - 99 dB(A), which corresponds approximately to Leq values between 85 - 93
dB(A). The scatter due to the influence of the rolling stock amounts to 5 dB(A) A remarkable NS
experience is the fact that on tracks with wooden sleepers the noise energy levels are systematrcaily
higher, of the order of 1 -3 dB(A), than on tracks wlth concrete sleepers
r
{
Silent track
Noise problems associated with rallway operatrons are nowadays attacked In a more structural way.
In the Netherlands a major research project called 'S~lentTrain Traffic' was completed in 1998, where
N S in collaborat~onwith industrial partners and research institutes, aimed at a noise reductron of 10
dB(A) for the whole system. For both subsystems, rolling stock and rail ~nfrastructure.optimization
were carried out regarding structure, components, and materials
In the sub-pro~ect'Silent Track' a new structure was developed
with a target of reducing the noise production with at least 5
dB(A) compared to ballasted track and consequently 7 dB(A)
compared to conventional slab track The solution was found
in an embedded rarl structure As most of the vibrattng energy
is in the rall and the slab is only vibratrng at least an order of
magnitude less, the solution went towards transferring more
energy from the rail to the slab Thrs was achieve by using a
relatively flexible block rail, cast into a relatrvely stiff corkelast
(polyurethane m ~ x e dwith cork) The final design, shown in
Frgure 15 22, was comprised of a block r a ~ lSA 42, with a
weight of 42 kg/m, provided with a UIC 54 railhead
Acoustrc calculat~onsand tests at TNO [I371 had shown that
the noise reduction target was met At TU Delft calculat~ons
and fatrgue tests had been carried out [168], which proved the fitness of thls assembly for 225 kN axle
loads
Finally this structure was tested in situ at the slab track near Best, described In section 9.8.3, where
the claimed noise reductron levels could be confirmed.
F
k
~WodetnRatlway Track
16
16.1
Railway Infrastructure Monitoring (RIM) represents one of the most important pans of an Asset Management System (AMS). For more details on this subject please refer to Chapter 19. The overall
managing capabilities of the AMS will greatly depend on the quality of the available monitoring systems As the focus of thrs book is the railway track, track monitoring and condition assessment techniques will be given special consideration. However, since it was stressed that successful track
condlt~onanalysis and consequent management could only he performed in comblnatlon with other
railway infrastructure, monitor~ngof other infrastructure objects and means for their management WIII
also be briefly elaborated on Speclal consideration will be given to substructure monitoring and the
monitoring of switches and crossings, as therr Influence on the track cond~tronis significant.
The reason for monitoring is usually twofold. The first, immediate reason 1s obviously to detect irregularities that could endanger the safety and reliablllty of railway traffic However, if a monitorrng technlque is continuous and fast enough to allow consecutive mon~toringruns to be performed at regular
time intervals. an extremely important temporal aspect is obtained which is of essential importance to
management This means, that such a monitor~ngtechn~quecould pro- Y
a successful cond~t~on-based
vlde ins~ghtinto the infrastructure element's behaviour over time And this could allow condition forecasting and consequent maintenance planning This concept usually represents the ult~mategoal of P
any cond~tronmonrtoring
16.2
Tunnel monitoring
Continuous tunnel monitor~ngrepresents one of the latest developments within the field of railway
infrastructure management. Only recently, techn~quesfor laser, thermal, and video scanning of the
tunnel's inner surface became ava~lableand more widely used Many railway tunnels worldw~deare
more than a 100 years old, and due to the extensive development above or adjacent to existlng services there has been an increased emphas~son monitoring the integrity of tunnels
Figure 16.1 shows the tunnel profile laserlvisualltherma1 scan processlng system
"ScanView". ScanView is a
viewing utrl~ty whrch uses
soph~sticateddata manipulat ~ o nto display the rnformation
gathered by the TS 360 BP
Scanner in a stra~ghtforward
and
intuctive
manner.
Amongst its features are
i
16 INSPECTION AlJlD DETECTION S'/STEMS
I
- ~ n n o t a t i o nfeature allowing areas of the scan to be
1
1
i
- Multiple Nolse
I
L
.J
I
I
6.3
118
,1
3
I""l"r
i"l
ii
7
kid
.--
~LlodernRa~lrvavTI'3ck
Figure 16 3 shows the framework Pontis uses in recommending projects for an agency's capital or
maintenance programs In making project recommendations. Pontis dstinguishes between preservation and improvement projects Preservation ~ ~ o ~ ~ C ~ S - C of
O bridge
~ S I S ~maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation (MR&R) actions performed on Individual bridge elements. Pontis models how MR&R actions
improve element condition, as well as how bridge elements deteriorate over time in the absence of
MR&R actions. The overall objective of preservation projects is to maintain bridges at minimum longterm cost, without altering the bridges' functional aspects The result is a recommended MR&R policy
for minimizing long-term preservation Costs for each bridge element. The general structure of the
BMS software is presented in Flgure 16.4.
Modern Ra~lwayfiack
The two key objectives of such an Integrated approach Include the follow~ng.
i .i
1
I \
LL~
lllT
2 To deterrnlne feasible means for alterlng the negatlve effects of substructure on the overall track
structure in order to reduce maintenance costs.
d3
~liq
rn
wrri
l
P
l
- Defin~t~on
of "rules" to govern the dec~sion-mak~ng
process dealing with opt~malM&R works to be
7
1
J
- Monitoring the performance of the proposed M&R works as feedback for further adjustments of the
Rt
'
I
I
"rules".
m
irsi
16.4.1
Overview
There are various parameters that indicate the condit~onof the substructure However, ~naccessib~l~ty
of the substructure makes the use of these parameters much more difficult. There is no doubt that the
best condit~ondata would be collected by means of excavat~onwhich prov~desdirect evldence However, this opt~onis often either absolutely imposs~bleor at least not preferred, as ~twould cause rnevltable traffic d~sturbances.The parameters used so far and some of the prospective ones include.
- Track geometry data
- Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data
fl
hi
d
i F"1
- Mo~stureContent data
- Infrared Thermographlc inspection data
- Overall Drainage informat~on
-
As In case of superstructure, the Ideal techniques for substructure mon~toringwould be the ones that
could be performed in a contlnuous manner, at reasonably high speeds, without traff~cd~sruptions,
regardless of time of day and weather cond~tions,and could be repeatedly performed at regular t ~ m e
intervals so that the substructure behav~ourcould be captured
However, as Indicated earlier, ~t IS extremely hard to monitor layers whlch are located deep down
below the surface. But desp~teof that, to date a number of techn~queshave been ~dentrfiedw h ~ c hcan
assist in the substructure ma~ntenancemanagement. Some of them are mentroned below
A 6.4.2
G r o u n d Penetrating Radar
The principle of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) measurements is based on the radiation of very
short electromagnetic ilnpulses which are then reflected from the interfaces of materials of different
dielectric properties and recorded. The detected signals offer potential for assessing foul ballast conditions and drainage problems hidden beneath the surface, as well as borders between different substructure layers, air voids, water inclusions, and other inhomogeneities. Reflections recorded by the
receiving antenna by moving both transmitter and receiver along the selected track surface can be
visualised as 2D images or radar grams, where the intensity of the reflected impulses is displayed in
the form of a grey scale. These images can subsequently be analysed, both manually or automatically using computer-aided pattern recognition techniques, and could then provide further information
on, for example, the thickness of the substructure layers. The principle is explained in Figure 16.5.
Furthermore, if GPR measurements were
repeatedly performed at certain time intervals, they could provide information on
locations where changes take place in the
thickness of substructure layers, indicating possible problem places like, for
example, ballast pockets. As in the case
of the geometry car, radar data can be
obtained on a continuocrs basis as the
equipment is mounted on a suitable vehi
cle and moved along the track. This pro
vldes the opportunity to survey long
distances and provide a 100 % coverage
of the track wlth reasonable track possession.
During the last two decades many
attempts were made worldwide to Improve
the use of GPR wlthin the Track Substructure Monitoring with varying success
The rellabillty of the interpretatton of the
radar scan readings remained the maln
problem and the key obstacle to the wrder
use of thls method Only lately, some new
approaches have made the method seem
more promising. One of these approaches
took place In the Czech Republtc, where a
joint effort of the Czech Ratlways (CD)
and a company G-Impulse Ltd. based In
Prague, led to the design of a multl-channel GPR system and a connection
between GPR and a track recordrng car.
The baslc principle of the multi-channel
antenna GPR IS presented In Figure 16.6
STABIDARD SYSTEMS
MULTI-CHANNEL SYSTEM
AIR
WATER
SAND
SOIL
ROCK
64 -- 16 2
3-5
CONCRETE
4 - 14
depth
c t
2&
- arrival t ~ m e
c - lightveloclty
E-
d12I~ctrlc
canstant
Operation frequency 16 - 1500 MHz (for railway use 100 - 500 MHz);
81
Unfortunately, rn most of the cases railways do not possess the rrght equipment for this type of measurement and, thus, do not utrlrse the Insight these measurements could have provlded them with The
baslc prrnclple of t h ~ stechnique IS that the \~ertrcalload IS applled to both rails s~multaneouslyuslng
hydraulic cylinders, and a load cell IS used to measure the vertlcal force.
At the same trme, an optrcal level placed next to the track outside the zone of influence of the load, IS
used to measure the corresponding top of rall deflectlons by slghting targets attached to the rails. If
collected over tlme, data about track stiffness and its changes over tlme combrned with the GPR
measurements data on the thickness of layers and thelr changes, could prov~dethe track manager
wrth much better rnsight Into the actual cond~tronand behaviour of the track substructure.
hid
irJ6
FA1
ecrv
-----+
Dr~v~n
dg
~rect~on
Load
yr:
I
:
7
D~stancerneasurlng
laser sensors
Servo system
lnertlal unlt
measuring
laser Doppler
Load
measurement
e
rn
'uli
I
16 INSPECTlON AND DETECTION S'r'STEMS
Movement of the laser sensors is lrmited and controlled by a servo system which
_J
IS
also mounted on
the rigid steel beam and, thus, ensures that the laser sensors are focused at all times Input data for
the servo system is provided by the inertial unrt and a distance measurlng laser located at each end
of the beam. Figure 16.10 gives an overvrew of the data recording system.
1 ,
,i
1
- "l
1 13
.
Doppler prinople
As noted earlier, the measuring principle of the High Speed Deflectograph is based on the use of
laser Doppler sensors. Here follows a short explanatron of the Doppler shlft effect on which the velocity measuring sensors are based The shift of the observed frequency relatlve to the emrtted source
frequency IS the result of a difference in the velocity of the sensor and the deflection velocity of the
surface. Doppler already defined thls principle as follows In 1842.
V
-
f ~ o p p l e ,- fsource
(16.2)
"7
where.
-----'.
,,<.-~h
"1
Source recedrng
Long w a v e s
P"I
/W\MIZ/C '\\, .% ~ 4 : , , ,
/
i
(, --9,,
Source approach~ng
Short w a v e s
1
/\, \ \
,
L
L
7
,
,
<
,
x. .
'./ \
l
i
Interpretat~ono f m e a s ~ l r e ddata
Using surtable models for the interpretatron of the measured data, real-time information about the
structural condltlon of the track can be obtained which makes it possible to detect problems at an
early stage. The data obtained by means of the High Speed Deflectograph can be used to supplement data obtained by means of other measurlng systems, thus enhancrng plann~ngand cost-effectrveness of marntenance works.
A number of possibilities exists in order to interpret the measured data, for the cholce of method is
dependent on the number of laser Doppler sensors used and their respective positrons. The data can
be rnterpreted for the purpose of reveallng sudden changes in deflection velocity. Data can also be
processed usrng a movlng average routine to provlde more accurate data whlch describe the displacements of the structure.
~LlodeinRa~iiivayTrack
Furthermore, obtaining the frequency response functon (FRF) would allow for a more detailed picture
of the track condition If the High Speed Deflectograph were configured with a larger number of laser
Dopplel- sensors. it may be possible to study wave propagation (the latter is subject of further testing
of the equipment and of investigations into feas~blemodels for data interpretation).
I.
o-
/
-
1
'
-400
5
;
'm
-800-I
-1200-
a' "
&-
-1 600
,-
--
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Poiynornral fit
The deflection bowl based on the polynomial fit and its derivative with respect to time is presented at a travelling speed of 20 mis in
Figure 16.13. This shows how it is possible to use dfferentation and ~ntegrationto transform deflection veloclty data into a deflection bowl, and vice versa.
The above example requires the
device to be configured with one sensor for each point In the deflection
bowl where the deflection velocity
must be known.
o-
r 20
P
b
.
w
-400-
15 -
- 10
-g
a
>,
-5
Field of application
As opposed to stationary measuring
systems, the High Speed Deflectograph provides continuous measurements which make it feasible to survey
a complete network at regular intervals. It can therefore be used as a
Screening tool to detect discontinuities
in bearing capacity, but also in order to
detect the presence of loose rails or
sleepers whlch could pose a potential
safety risk
-s0
-0
-I 600
-5
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
-Polynomial f ~ t
Deflectton velocity
F,gure 16 13 Polynomiai fit and deflection velocity at a travell~ngspeed of
20m/s
The HSD prototype was developed for the applicatlon on roads and has proven to be very successful.
The prospects for the success of the HSD prototype development for railways are also very good,
because it is generally easier to measure on rail surfaces than on road surfaces. The rough surface of
a road introduces more noise in the measurements compared to i a ~surfaces.
l
Also the ~nterpretation
of the data is expected to be simplified compared to the interpretation of the road data
iP
Plri
E
&
16.4.4
Infrared thermography [34] represents a possible means for determining the condition of
the track bed This technique is very costeffectlve and large surveys can be undertaken quite rapidly It is also non-rntrusive and
auses no environmental rmpact
LJ
I
r,
A
I
.?
*I
lid
~rrill@
I
iwukJ
Figure 1 6 14 S~irfacetemperati~reaga~nstso11temperature
when atmospheric temperature is 6 "C
"1
Id
d
rSr
II
,'
m
irri
I
j
<
FI"1
lAIl
1
7itl
. <-
is*i
However, the heat flux equat~onsdo not involve the surface temperature of ballast, which is the one aspect that
can be recorded by the infrared camera The heat flux
through the whole plane is assumed to be the same as
that through any individual part. This means that heat
flux through the e n t i r ~ballast is the same as that from
the surface to the arr It is expected that rt will be possible
to theoretrcally predict the surface temperature of the
dirty and clean ballast based on knowledge of the temperature of the ground and the atmosphere. Both of
these temperatures can also be measured
Thls means that the ideal condition to conduct an infrared survey is when the temperature difference between
the clean and dirty ballast is greatest. Frgure 16 14
shows the two surface temperatures of clean and dirty
i
1
ballast in relationship to the soil temperature at an
I !
; ! atmospherlc temperature of 6 "C Since the relationship
I ]
-- -+
is linear, the slope of the graphs does not change when
a
!-.
-. * F , u n i e l6f=%,
dS
3 3k 5 f : *:
the atmospheric temperature changes; only the cross**tcz>,*
over point does It can be seen that the temperature dif16 15 LlF res~iltsused to dehne contarn~nation
ference between the atmosphenc temperature and the
soil will have to be greater than 5 OC to ach~evea 2 OC
difference between the two different types of ballast.
6w
Flgure
'
rpj
Y*.d=w.wY.r
-6fs
P,
irrJ
iAli
Frgure 16.13. Surface temperature in contrast with Infrared soil temperature when atmospherrc temperature is 6 "C.The results found so far using infrared camera analysis indicate that this technique
could be very promising in order to identify different areas of ballast deterioration
16.4.5
i"""l
Refuelling operations in rarlway sidings can give rise to diesel spillage The advantages of the LIF
cone 11241 are that the two channel cone penetrometer (tip resistance and sleeve friction) provrdes a
continuous profile of the ground condltlon, while the LIF element mounted behind the cone provldes
real time data on location and relative concentrations of diesel oil Subsequent analysls of the data in
the office enables the extent of the contamination to be defined with the aid of contour plots of relative
concentrations of diesel oil, together with combined plots of ground condrtions and assocrated con-
ik7di
I
f9
i""l
lvoli
r
i
I
16.4.6
I
r"
far we were able to wjtness some experimental monitoring systems using electrical j-eslstlvlty as a
proxy for imaging changing moisture content in engineered earthworks. The moisture content of
controls both its density and strength, making it the key property when considering the stabl/l[y of
embankments containing soils.
SO
Earthworks are used for embankments carrying both road and rail links Non-invasive geophysical
methods 11351 have potential to monitor moisture content. Electrical resistiv~tyfor example, is sensirive to the moisture within a soil In the field. resistivity tomography utilises arrays of simple metal
stakes as electrodes in schemes that enable the measurements of electrical resistance to be inverted
into electrical resistivity of the subsurface in two and three d~mensions.
embankment reslstrvity
relationsh~p
embankment
10 3
:
1
'I r
f I
II
-,
-2
-4
-4
-n
-G
-8
J
ae - 3 3 n ~ m
lllTJ94 I n
-d
E
-+j
35.0
<O 0
-,,
igj
are appiicable
and provide figure 1B.17. Moisture cootelit
an initial model based- nn
-.
which the effects of changing moisture content can
be predicted. Matrix conduction l c
-.-exists. In such cases empirical
,,,,,,,
general approach to assessina around
..--
-1
Moisture content inferred from the resistivity Monitoring performed at Red Soil Road Embankment in
Molo Olenguruone, Kenya, in the per~odApril 1993 - August 1994 is presented in the following
F~gure16 17
"1
I
16.5
16.5.1
Introduction
?'?
u
u
d
Switches and crossings (S&C) are often found to present a very large problem with sometimes as
much as 25 % of the total M&R budget being spent on them each year. Practically all the railway companies, regardless of their organisational structure and technological level, permanently face this
problem of cost.
9
I
kid
?
I
ij
p~
There have been attempts to resolve this problem by applying more or less sophisticated S&C Maintenance Management Systems, some of which where computer-alded and some paper based However, although these systems often managed to alleviate the problem to a certain degree, they never
seemed to solve the problem completely The reason for this could be that the general methodology
for S&C Management has never been fully developed and defined. On the other hand. this could well
be the consequence of the fact that the diversity of the technical solutions of S&C is far larger than in
the case of plain track. This diversity of solutions has to a large extent hampered the development of
a consistent methodology and clear guidelines for S&C management
'
1
'rrr
Following the concept of condit~on-basedmaintenance management. the key steps that would have
to be taken in order to achieve better S&C management would be.
- Define the crltical elements of S&C that account for most of the S&C failures and maintenance
- Define key parameters which define the condition of S&C or their elements in an as universal as
s"g
- Investigate best possible methods for (poss~blycontinuous) monitoring and data-collection of the
previously defined parameters;
I
- lnvestlgate and evaluate existing maintenance activities applied on S&C and the possibilities for
their improvement in order to make them more condition-based rather than suited to the predefined fixed time intervals;
- Investigate possibilities of defining "rules" (similar to those used in ECOTRACK) and thresholds
rn
kd
i
7yi
that would be based on the collected data and captured deterioration pattern and would govern the
subsequent decision-making process directed towards improving safety, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of S&C.
Future will most probably witness the entire S&C Management being done using exclusively automatic S&C condition monitoring. Nowadays however, although the capabilities and reliability of the
automatic S&C condition monitoring are rapidly incresslng, it seems that i t still can not be entrusted
with the total S&C management. Rather, a fair amount of standard (but computer~sed)geometry
recording and visual lnspect~onsst111has to be regularly performed and coupled with automatic S&C
condition monitoring in order to arrive at the optimal S&C management system.
16.5.2
\
j
I
I
I
1
1
I
I
I
___----
Por~t~on
Iml
ready
Flgiire 16 20 Measured data for two switches performed ~ntwo consecrit~vetime sections
I
16.5.3
Switchview
I
I
Switchview represents a
software program for viewing switch ~nspectiondata In
a clear and understandable
fash~onfor the purposes of
I
I
I
JI
I
I
6 i l 101 l o m a
121 101 I 0 I I M
i
1
I
Figiiie 16 21 Sw~tchkiewaiphan~imericaiprint-out
--
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
rn
/I
i
The main vessels used to achleve the preset goals were
.d
Systematic analysls of maintenance needs and organlsation, e.g. using Reliability Centred Vlalntenance (RCM);
- Life cycle cost (LCC) analysis ~norder to confirm the anticipated effect on costs and delays when
Lw'
utilising these methods. Safety analysis methods were used to confirm that there had been no
reduction in safety level.
r7Bm
vud
i
b W
IJ
nq
w
I
"*1
d
' M
One of the first steps in fulfilling the objectives was to analyse the distribution of failures of various
~nfrastructurecomponents provided by REMAIN partners, both on convent~onalrailway llnes and
hlgh- speed railway lines, and detect which components accounted for most of the problems. The statistical data shown on Figure 16.23 and Figure 16.24 include all k~ndsof fallures caused by the equlpment Itself. Fallures due to external causes (i.e. damages produced by maintenance machinery) are
excluded As can be derived from Figure 16.23 and Figure 16.24, most of the farlures (ca 55 %) are
caused by signalling equipment and turnouts. ("Signalling equipment" here Includes slgnals, track clrcults, lnterlockings, ATP or LZB, and the traffic control centre.)
Since switches were found to be important components in the condition monitoring approach of any
railway, and since they obviously were a frequent cause of failure In both conventlonal and high
speed lines, sw~tcheswere selected as the key elements for further investigation within the REMAIN
project.
rs*I
rnI
19
lsPii
mI
490
1"l
I,
P
L*
Usually, inspections and M&R actions are scheduled at fixed time intervals. In order to not endanger
the availabilrty and safety, these rntervals are often made too short. On the other hand. srnce inspections usually require a certain amount of human interactron, they are often quite expensive. Therefore, a lot of money could be saved in the long run if the t ~ m ebetween inspections could be extended
without effectrng the availabrlrty and safety. At present there is often no up-to-date information available on the true state of components between inspections. which is another reason for scheduling
rnspections at fixed intervals However, if informatron about actual wear would always be available, at
least for the critical components, the time between complete inspections could be extended and
adapted to the actual need
Concepts for monitorrng and dragnosing the
related components are discussed in the
following sectron based on a list of about 30
sw~tchand track farlures compiled by VAE
Some of the farlures can already be
detected by the Roadmaster 2000, whlle the
automatic early detection of others is still a
problem that has to be investigated further
\%?"a)?"i
iw
WAE
SYSTEM CONFlGURATlON
I
Central station
(Workstat~on)
Cornmunlcat~online
RS 485 or RS 232
BUS
RS 485-profibus
Systembus
Systembus
1,
Sensorik
/
I (
i, 1
I
Turnouts
Sensorik
w ~ w In r ~ ~ n m w
n flr *
In wrong geometry,
A-
~ v r l m u . ~ ~ ~ u 4 . , ~,,,,"b.u,;
,
I"Dpm.
w r u t , ~ n - ~ n In a ~ a
I'
i
I
IN,,
lil,"
P?
*1
,,,I,l ,I.3-
" ,b
P
1
f
F
&d
A,.>
Modern Rallway ~ r a ~ / ~
MEASURING POINTS
TURNOUT MONITORING SYSTEM I' VAE IOADMASTER 2000 ''
VAE
VAE
4
~nmiw~tdr
Lrchlng sunern
~ w i i ~ l n ~ c v a r
I?
~ v l g ~ r ~ nlrrr/
rl~.~
/ 11
C,r~s~ngrnsr~
-,
Datum Jun1737
O
1.l.
1vq
uUatri~rm~lm~em905pre
!&m
Flgure 16 26 Locatlon of the measuring stat~onsln the turnouts (sw~tches)
, 9d
arS
I4
1
I
IS
given in
F*r
""""r
mid
I
On the acqu~sitionlevel, the measured data are collected by appropriate sensors and analogue systems in a d ~ g ~ telectronic
al
collection system w ~ t hbus modules The data are then preprocessed and
prepared for transmission. On the user level, the measured data are v~sual~sed
in the form of tables
and graphs The result is that the output of such messages is suitable to recognise trends.
Measuring Points i n the Turnout
m
M
I
1
d
P
The locations of measuring pornts are illustrated n Figure 16.26 The measuring points are:
1
Ilu'
- Direct measurement of the force needed for each single operation of swrtches;
1
Y
- Monitoring of the pressure needed in the sw~tchmachine for the ora:ration of sw~tches;
I
nn?
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
Monitoring of the strikes at the crossing point, ind~catingwear of the check rail andlor wing rail;
- Mon~tor~ng
of screw preloading forces in bolted compound crossings;
- Longitudinal forces in the rail;
t
-
used tor
sors' sigific algothe data
rval to a
~ ~ i i o raille
way line. The system is fully operational and
has been commissioned at the end of 1998.
Four years of R&D activity served as the base
for the design.
;
-.-a-
L4
.VVdlt:
IS
BteCtiOn
odiction
ult. The
rack circuits with fixed and coded currents can be made
variations of currents and voltages. Should t h P,...-,~s
~
and
---
the prediction is more difficult. In the case of the switches for exampe, it
IS necessary to keep under observation the temporal behaviour of current and oower rnnc,
, .
each operation, normal or r ~ \ / ~ r c a A +,-- -
I-
n<
a y a ~ 1
cs inienaed
~ ~ ~
for the purposes of a remote control of the railway equipment The centralisat~onis performed at different levels at a line tract, at a full ,
at
regional and at a national level.
-
16.6.1
Introduction
,I
s - 8...,,,,a,
..U"
V U L -
.'a-
-.-.a",
&
ur-~
ucperlas
U"'
'.J
"1
-I
i
16 INSPECTlON AND DETECTICN SYSTEA/IS
klodern Ratlway 3 a c k
m
ivvi
16.6.2
"1
P"f
Y
m
iu
"1
U
l
isl(
Qb"l
Y
I
3
I
,
,
l
rC"\
Id
m
I
We~ght57 tonnes
I d I N S P E C T I O ~A I D
D E T E c T I ~SYSTEh:S
~
\
Wth 1s' o n desel engine t can run with a maximum speed of 140 kmlh and measurements
are cand
r-i
red 0 a P
P 0 0 I
.The UST 56 has been equipped w t h the latest In measuring
computer technology referred to as the URS (Ultrasonic Rail inspection System) deveoped
TNO lnst~tuteof Appl~edPhyscs (TNO-TPD). The rail IS nspected at different angles with the he:Y the
of
16 special ultrasonic detection heads.
The control electronics ensure permanent optmisation of the signal levels, the rail
type
automatically a n into account in the optimisaiion. It s also completed w ~ t ha new measuring
system
for
detectng so called h e a d check flaws. Accurate determination of the position on the rail :rack is done
with a wheel encoder (odometer), together with magnetic sensors, D-GPS satelite navigation and
manual input of location Measurements are carr~edout every 2 or 3 mm. The accuracy of the global
poston of reported defects is about 1 meter. Depth of a defect is reported with an accuracy of .bout
1 mm. The defect reporting performance is very high: more than 95 X of reported defects are confirmed to be defects W e controlled calibration runs demonstrated the oi~tstandingperformance
the system. Data are stored digitally and can be imported or exported to the data bases. D~gitaland/or
paper reporting IS provded to the customer within 24 hours of the inspection run. Cr~ticalanomalies
may be repoled wthln a few hours, or even m~nutes,after ~nspectinga section Several hundred; of
kometers of track are inspected and reported each day, depending on the q u a t y of the track.
Architecture of t h e URS
The UST96 train houses the URS inspection system This system is composed of two subsystems.
the Incident Detector (IDS) and the Repoll Generation System (RGS), which are both be~nghoused
onboard the UST96 More precisely, the route from
the ra~lsto the reporting encompasses the chaln
presented in Figure 16.32. Besides these parts,
there is also the CAN subsystem. which consists of
two dedicated keyboards and an LCD display, This
is used for efficiently entering special codes, markers location numbers and controlling the measurement parameters while measuring. The on-line realtime Parts SEL+iPR+WST+CAN together constitute
the IDS (Incident Detection System), as opposed to
the RGS, whlch represents an off-line PC system
connected to the IDS by a network link onboard the
train
receivers (built by
AD conversion +
Fiber optic
PhI
archivrng
F ~ g ~ i r16
e 32 Process flow with~nthe URS
The Workstation (WST) refers to the VME-bus crate with the processor board. It is a standard DECAlpha AXP slngle-board computer It runs the Digital Unix operating system and deals with all the preprocessing, data display, graphical user Interfaces, on-line data storage, and serial communicat~ons.
It has nelther display nor keyboard of its own. Via the onboard network two X-terminals are connected
to thls computer displaying the two user interfaces: 1. data visualization (rail plot) and 2. control. The
two SELs and the CAN are controlled via separate (optical) serial links. Also, a 3rd party DGPS system is connected via a serial link.
The data connection between sensor electronics and SEL's is analogue, whereas the data connection between the SEL's and the IPR IS digital using optical fibre.
I
F1
In addition, analogue signals from the transducers to the operators desk are provided via an optical
link. A digital storage oscilloscope IS connected to these outlets
The software consists of real time, soft real time and batch processing modules. For the IDS there is
software running on the SEL, on the IPR and there are dedicated processes running on the WJST
commun~cat~ng
over unix sockets with multi-processor scalabilrty. On the RGS, software IS running for
visualizat~on,automatic classification, Interactive classification and reportlng Expert systems like
processing and case-based class~ficat~on
processing have been implerule-based class~ficat~on
mented [I381 Dedicated multi-l~ngualreportlng modules are present, developed according to the
wlshes of the different international end-customers. The software on the RGS IS runnlng under Windows
k
9
bid
"9
1'
The UST96 train has two probe blocks per rall containing two 0, two 7G0, two 35" transducers and
two extra 70" transducers for inspection of the
lnner slde of the rail head To achleve the optimum
signal-to-nolse ratio, the electronics for the transducers are mounted in a housing on the bogie
adjacent to the transducers Figure 16 33 shows
the probes mounted in the carrier, w ~ t hthe black
BNC cables running to the pulserirece~verboxes
The 4 thrck tubes supply the water
3
7kd
'death'
'death' zone
/
W ~ t h70" transducers and satellites the
central part ra~lheadto the running s ~ d e
and partly the web
The transducer arrangement of the UST96 IS presented in Figure 16.35. The echo pattern, as presented on an oscrlloscope, IS shown In Frgure 16.36.
F i g ~ i i e16 36 Ultrasonic
pa tiern
,i
Lp'
L~
- transmission pulse area, in which the transmission pulse is emltted and the receiver amplifier is
?;
st111overloaded;
- water interface area, in whlch the sound strikes backwards and forwards between probe and rail
"7
surface. This effect leads to pulse elongation for both the transmission pulse and the echo signals,
which limits detection of defects at the top of the rail head;
- defect echo area, In which defects can be detected directly The 0"-probe scans these cracks in
the central part of the head, the web and the foot. The 70"-probes scan transverse cracks, whether
perpend~cularor slightly incl~ned,In the head and the upper part of the web;
- backwall echo area. Thls concerns exclus~velythe 0"-probes. The occurrence of mult~pleecho's
means there are more backwall echo areas. However, only the first defect area is used for detection.
ics, which cover all the transmission and receivIng circu~tsfor the probes For an optimum
signal-to-noise ratio these are mounted In a
spec~alhous~ngon the guiding trolley, near the
probes, in the grey boxes as shown In
F~gure16.37. In this environment the electronics are subjected to large vibrations and grea
fluctuations in temperature and humid~ty Th
transducers and pulser/receivers have been
designed and constructed by the Dutch company Son~mex
I
Id
7U
mounted
- Arnpl~f~catlon.
On the SEL processor boards
ri
a
I
ii/lodem ka~lwaynack
F"
I
- Test signal generation. The SEL can re-generate pre-stored ultrasonrc s~gnalsand treat them as
corning from the pulserlreceivers. Running the SEL in a spec~altest mode, the data acqursition
and processing chain can be tested and calibrated without the presence of the pulserlreceivers
and probes.
- Comrnunlcation to IPR. The SEL sends the incidents to the IPR for further processing.
16.6.6
ill
i-
i$"'
L
lncident P r o c e s s o r
The Incident Processor (IPR) IS a dedlcated VME card resrding In the VME crate in a 19" rack. The
IPR has a dedlcated processor (DSP). The IPR provides all clock signals for the two SEL's. digitises
the tacho signal, combines incidents from both SEL's and concentrates all the information Into "incident reports". These reports are communicated to the main processing board vra a FlFO data buffer
and the VME bus. An Incident IS not restricted to just echo patterns of the defects in rails and constructions, but may also refer to marking signals generated by the system, the drlver or the operator
dur~ngthe inspection run. These "real-time markers" are also inserted into the data stream by the
IPR
P
bk
The transducers are pulsed synchronously using the tachogenerator, which is connected to a wheel
of the measuring trolley and delivers one pulse per mm covered. Normally the transducers are drrven
every 2 or 3 m m covered. This situation always allows for inspection at the hrghest possible speed
The IPR computes the approprrate clock signals from the tachogenerator w ~ t hwhrch the SEL drives
the pulserlreceivers
To test the system, the IPR has an addrtronal FlFO buffer. In normal mode the data FlFO is used to
transport data from the SEL to the maln processor In test mode the second FlFO IS filled with prevrously recorded data by the main processor and IS subsequently emptred by the IPR as ~fthe data was
originating from the SEL In thls way, the functioning of the data acqu~sltionand processing chain can
be tested from the IPR upwards, wlthout the presence of the SEL, pulser/receivers and probes
F t g ~ ~ r16
e 39
E
b
F
ird
_
_
I
nnm:
16
12
- - -- -- -
OEEOTE:
PROFIW
--
-20
--
I(IC54
60
30
159
,ga
120
UJM~IKTE:
PLOT
enkc1
--
---.A-
IIWCTE:
NnRKER NU:
Figure 16 41 Example of on-line observer screen, as used for oil-line data quality monito~ing White airows are drawn over the
screen dump to point at indications ofjoints wit11 bolt-holes 111 this screen, a sinall defect is difficult to spot A trained and experienced expel?, howevet, can identify all kinds of instrcictions like welds, bolt-holes, switches, cerfaln types of surface wear, severe
defects, etc Note that for demonstration purposes a relatively old track was chosen there are lots of echo's present On modern
rails like those of high-speed lines there are only few echo's visible, because there are no bolt-holes and few construction elements 111 that case, anomalies are much easier to spot
During rnspectron an on-line rall plot IS monitored for the observer on a video screen (Figure 16.40). A
large colour monrtor drsplays the measurement data over several hundreds of meters of track on-line
(Figure 16.41). Per transducer, the results of every 60 cm of rail are represented by a single horizontal line. There are s~xteenchannels dep~cted,eight for the hand r a ~and
l
eight for the right hand ra~l.
Per rail, the left most channel lndrcates the drsappearance of the backwall echo from the rall bottom.
The other channels lndlcate when an echo, appearing in the detection zone for that channel, exceeds
the preset comparison level for the 0, +70, -70, +30 and -30" transducers respectively. The operator can thus permanently mon~torthe quallty of the measurements. Larger defects can be notrced
immed~ately.
In the r a ~ plot
l
plcture, the km-posts are reproduced at the extreme left. Some marks are also ~ n d i cated, per ra~l.The marks are abbreviations for structures l ~ k eLL for glued ~nsulatedjolnt, TL for therm ~weld,
t
HM for hectometer post and KM for change of posrtion Marks can be Input manually or by
the system The data as drawn on the ra11plot screen IS s~multaneouslyprinted on paper for reference
purposes
.,
- ..
2 2 i 5 i i ; ; i j j f ; 2 1 1 ~ ~ ~ ~,.,.>d.:.
~ ~*,~. .~.w-vw$-&
~ ~ ~,.*...',.'
; ~ ,.a.-a.a-..
A~.a:ei~
------z*".-L-'~2~=-~~~-kr-'--m~-F---m:~-~-w~~~~~.*ww%=
.,r
~ \ +~,",,
* ,,
., CL.
Bentand
---
erelrl
I,;lre[rltqeclei,ell
s.-...-
..........-.-....
.--.-
i
8
%-.-.-??
,">,.
7
,*,-.
--:e
m.,:f;:i.~G,.;:-t.:3 Lq,..aw,,..
, ~ ~
ticane
II Felr!la.ri 13%
,,~,%.
- - --
...I
, ,-.,-I-,3.>2
r
~
N.3$ilr;leren
..... __..__._
_ - - - _ _ _-_---_
~.*dr~caden/
, '
Flgure 16 42 ljvpical off- 11nedata analysis screen showilig two fish platedloints one for the leff leg (upper part) and one for the
right ley (lower part) Thls visualizatioi? 1s a "slde vlew" T l ~ ever?ical axis shows depth (0-180 mrn), the horizontal axrs distance
One meter of data IS shown, horizontal tick marks are present every 100 rnm Each dot is a s~ngleecho Where objects are
present, the echo dots cluster lnto lines and curves The white horizontal indications on [he top of the ra11s are regtons where the
bottom echo is not detected The yellow curves dep~ctthe top of the 30rnm wicle bolt holes
16.6.8
For the analysrs of measured data the URS system 1s complemented wrth the Report Generatrng System (RGS),whrch runs on a separate PC on the US-train. Slnce 1996 thrs PC has already been
upgraded to a dual-CPU server machine All data coming from the IDS are first processed by the
RGS system usrng an advanced rule-based expert system. Thrs computer classiflcatlon procedure
offloads the operator from having to srft through non-defect objects, commonly found in the rails, by
hand After the computer class~frcat~on
step. objects not ~dent~fied
by the expert system and all posslble defect objects are shown to the operator. The operator always makes the final judgement. Finally,
the defects are reported and prrnted on paper. Lists of found defect objects can be prlnted out. Also,
the detarled echo's of an object can be printed in a colour coded format wrth 1 meter of echo's on one
sheet of paper, srmilar to the screen dump shown In Figure 16.42. Reports can be produced In vanous languages and can also be supplied in electron~cform (floppy, CD).
TNO TPD has developed a hrghly automatrc classrfrcatron procedure, whlch can automat~callyspot
the d~fferencebetween cracks and structural pertarbations and f!ag up potential flaws The algorithms
are based on years of experrence with the first generation tram and on research carrred out in the field
of expert systems. However, the frnal class~ficat~on
of potential flaws IS always performed by the
human expert. Overall, thrs enables a detection rate to be ach~evedof over 95%
-.~
A_J
_J
$Y1
""i
b!
For most of the time the results of a measurement run is reported to the customer within 24 hours.
The system not only gives the location of the defects found, but also offers detailed information on
their nature F~gure16.43 shows an example of two cracks detected by the UST 96.
rn
I
16.6.9
P"4
d
3
'
n
YrPl
The UST96 measures NS main lines with daily tonnage above 40.000 tonnes twice a year The
remaining tracks are measured annually Data are stored digitally and can be imported or exported to
the data bases. Parts whrch are not measured by the US-train are measured using ultrasonic hand
equipment. Also, Eurailscout operates hand held equipment for special tasks like switch inspection or
acceptance checks of rail welds. Data are handed over to compatible software modules like "SwitchView". The incidents reported by the US-train are stored in a computerized planning system This system controls the overall plann~ngand production. It also provides the information needed by the
manual inspection team
On NS the number of rarl defects replaced annually per 100 km of main track amounts to about 7.
Globally speaking, 25 % of these defects originate in plain rail and the remainder in welds and jo~nts.
About 80 % of the rail defects are found by ultrasonic inspection, whlch comes down to approximately
4 defects per 100 km of track inspected. The frequency of Ultrasonic Inspection on the NS is given in
Table 16.2.
Type of tracks
All tracks
2-4
One of the contracting companies in The Netherlands, BAM NBM Rail, p r o v ~ d ~ nmgdnual ultrasontc
rail ~nspect~on
services, use the rail fatlure report form presented on the Figure 16.44
Date of inspection
Adviced date of repair
NBM US-number
Draft of construction
Figoi-e 1 6 . 4 4 An Ultrason~cR a i Fad~irePepori Form used by the Dutch Contracting Company BAbl NBM Rail
L,
These are non-contact optical systems for inertiafree scannlng of the rail runnlng edges and the rail
head profile. One such system as used by Plasser
& Theurer, is shown in Figure 16.45. The optical
measuring systems are positioned in a measuring
beam which IS installed in a bogie between or In
front of the runnlng axles. Two optical measuring
systems are housed rn this measuring beam.
~ R I
l
mf
w
I
lrr~
P
BPll
lsaa
a Scann~ngmirror
Laser
Laser beam
hud
es*l
-_
,.
Urrj
P"
I
d The class~caland still most appl~edsystems for track measurement use telescopic measuring axles
P
P"i
I
'
"
d
for gauge, horizontal, and vertical versines. Located in front of and between the main axles, the
measuring axles are linked to the vehicle frame and the running axles, respectively. When preparing
for the measuring run, the measuring axles are lowered individually onto the track.
On bogie-mounted vehicles the telescopic measuring axles are located between the two axles of
each bogie. During the measuring run pneumat~ccylinders press the wheels horizontally and vertically against both running edges of the rails. This ensures accurate scanning of the track geometry
over the entire range of permissible speeds up to 120 kmih.
Guiding skids prevent the measuring wheels from derailing due to the lateral pressure when travelling
over a switch or crosslfig (Figure 16.46) A safety mechanism will automatically lift the measuring axle
during a measuring run if a measuring wheel should climb up the rail
7 - m
I
11 1
r-
f
kt!
PI
Inertial measurement
Inertial measurement uses the known measuring technique by which the spat~alposition of a measuring sensor is determined either by double integration of acceleration measurements or by uslng a
strap-down measuring platform.
The special advantages of lnertlal measurement are.
fl&
high-speed lines;
- Dlrect use of measurlng data in order to calculate track correction values and rnput In track mainte-
nance mach~nes
\
fl&
1
Y
L:rn
Distance = ,I VAdt
Cispiacen~!??
= (\ ;?\'.I
dt)
x sin 8,
P
Lm
IRI
F ~ g ~ i r16
e 47 Applanix track ~neasunngsystain
I"
Rail surface
The exact data for planning rail grinding is
acquired using special
corrugation
measuring
cars of the company
Speno. Track recording
cars can be equipped with
axle
box acceleration
measuring devices w h ~ c h
give a good indication of
the location of the errors.
In some cases they are
also equipped with precise corrugation measuring dey~ces
&
333
dlnh>x
/ QAMut
I &untflrd I
=I-/
n~rd~lol
3 Y554M
16.7.4
To evaluate the geometry of the contact wire it is necessary to measure the height of the contact wire
above the rails and the horizontal position of the contact wire and to know the relative position
between track and overhead wire It is, therefore, practical to have the catenary measuring units on
the track recording car
The non-contact laser measuring device, shown in Figure 16.50. is a very compact and preclse
device which is mounted on the roof of the measuring veh~cleand can easily be integrated into a track
recording car In addtion, a measuring pantograph for measuring dynam~creaction forces should be
ava~lable.
1
Video inspection
16.7.5
Video inspection systems enable visual supervision of the section of track both during the run as well
as later With new, high-resolution systems automatic fault recognition is also possible.
Inspection using a video system can be performed instead of the cost intensive, time consuming, and
also dangerous line inspections on foot.
Video inspection systems also enable a visual track database to be established which makes it much
easier for the engineer in the office to link track recording information to the local environment.
16.7.6
Iud
1
baa
7b
m
h
The basic goal of processing and recording measured data consists in converting the individual sensor data into track geometry data. To achieve t h ~ sit is necessary to set the data in relation to the distance measurement and km marking.
The distance is measured by a rotational pulse generator which is either integrated in the telescopic
measuring axle or mounted on a running axle. The voltages produced by the sensors, like the linear
transducers. are transmitted directly to the analogue digital converter interface which serves as input
interface to the computer. Adaptation, conditioning and calibration of the sensor signals IS performed
in the computer digitally and in real time The event marking of stations, crossings, bridges or tunnels
is performed either manually by an operator using an event keyboard or directly from a route data f ~ l e
which is loaded into the computer before the measuring run
The track geometry data elaborated in this way form the basis for the evaluation of the track sections
measured The overhead line measurements are conditioned, recorded and processed for the evaluation in the same way
On modern track recording cars, the complete processing, recording, evaluation of measured values
and storage of the data is performed on an onboard PC computer network in real time controlled by
complex software The menu-controlled sofiware can be operated and supervised by railway technicians operating the vehicle.
Due to the modular structure of such software, additional measuring systems can easily be incorporated for the catenary and rail profile measurement as well as for video inspection. Furthermore, in
the light of further developments it is easy to make adaptations within the PC operating system.
w
k
d
wd
1"9
1
U
Analysis systems
The recorded data is analysed on board and a track quality report for each section of 200 to 500
meters of track is issued. The most common used TQl's (Track quality indices) are based on standard
deviabons, but there are also indices in use l ~ k ethe Plasser & Theurer ADA 2 index, which is based
on virtual deviations of acceleration and, therefore, considers also the perm~ssibleline speed.
Besides the analysis immediately during the measuring run, further evaluations can of course be
undertaken at a later date Here too, the elaboration of interfaces to the offboard analysis systems
provided by the customer is an important factor
F
d
ra
'7
-.-
"
"/1P
16.7.7
F ~ g ~ i r16
e 51 H ~ g hspeed track recordlng coach EM 250 of 066
C,
FT
Since 1999, tracks In the Netherlands are recorded with the UFM 120 of the company Eurailscout
(F~gure16.53) This self-propelled non-contact measuring car for 120 kmlhr recording speed is
equipped w ~ t hthe same measurrng equrpment as the EM 250 of OBB for track and rail measurements In addit~on,it has a v~deorail defect scannrng system, a non-contact laser measuring unlt for
the overhead wlres, and a vldeo catenary Inspection system
FIR*
bd
m
d
- EM 130 on 5elg1~1rn
ra~lways
Also slnce 1999, a self-propelled four axle measuring car with 130 kmlh measuring speed is used to
measure the TGV tracks and standard tracks rn Belg~um(Figure 16.54) The track measuring system
IS a chord measurrng system based on telescop~cmeasuring axles and measuring bogies. This is an
example of the coexistence of both measuring systems in the field of modern track measurement.
"1
For r a ~prof~le
l
and overhead wires non-contact laser measuring systems are used.
p"i
The major~tyof measurlng cars for smaller networks, l ~ k eurban transport systems and local neiworks, are self-propelled two axle veh~cleswrth
telescop~cmeasuring axles (Figure 16.55) Measuring speeds vary between 30 to 80 kmihr, sometimes up to 120 kmihr The measurrng parameters
can be the same as descr~bedfor the other measurlng cars.
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
3 5.8
r
i
'
T-
kl
Introduction
15.8.1
For efficient and adequate control of track maintenance processes, fast and accurate measuring systems are indispensable This chapter primarily describes those sysiems in use on Netherlands Railways, such as the recording systems for short-wave rail geometry and long-wave track geometry.
rn
L
Nowadays almost all admin~strationsmake use of automatic measuring systems either by rent~ngthe
equipment or owning it themselves As many railways have developed their own track recording cars
there is a large variety of makes. but specialised firms, such as Plasser % Theurer. also sell recording
cars. Basically there are two principles. i.e with mechanical transducers and contact-free by means
of inertia systems.
For short-wave rail geometry measurements the variety is much narrower. Speno in Switzerland rents
out a recording car which measures displacements directly. An attractive alternative, which can be
applied well at high recording speeds, consists of axle box acceleration measurements This IS, for
rnstance, applied by NS and Railtrack.
15.8.2
S o m e a s p e c t s of g e o m e t r y recording
When looking at track irregularit~esdifferent wavebands can be considered. Faults in the 0 - 3 m band
are mainly due to the rail shape and welds, whereas the longer waves originate from ballast and subsoil It is. therefore not possible to represent track quality properly by one simple figure. Figure 16.56
represents the different wavebands in the vertical geometry which are significant for the maintenance
of rail and track quality This information is nowadays commonly measured by recording cars
Speed [mls]
R a ~Lengths
l
+ Harmonics
60 (13
-m
.-0
50
m
3
I
L
I 0 0 kmlh
01
02
05
Short Waves
10
Medium
20
--+If-
rb!
n
50
Long Waves
--s
1
16 INSPECTION AND DETECTION SYSTEMS
Table 16 3 . for example, surveys the different wavebands which were used in the NS track recording
system EMS The irregularities are split up according to the maintenance processes available for torrectrng rail and track geometry.
I
,J
I
>..d
'
9
I
Waveband l
Phenomenon
Detection
Remedy
1 - 3 0 cm
Corrugation
Gr~ndlng
1 -100cm
Bendlng
R a ~accelerat~ons
l
Turnlng off
Rolllng defects
Grlndlng up to 2 m
ILJ
'
2-3m
I1
AJ
deflections
i'h l r
3-25m
Conventional
Automat~ctamping
25 - vlf m
Long waves
Stabll~zedplatform
Desrgn tamping
rn
70-wm
Geometric deslgn
Quasi-stat~c
Design tamplng
Table 16 3 Different wavebands with corresponding phenomena, detecbon and remedy possibil~ties
kwi
"1
d
p"l
).
Measured arnplltude
Actual amplitude
IHI =
S?;CF , 5 2
,AI;~r:;t;?r,,:
2o-
15-
;-..
p.
i ;
.
i
i :
s !
: .
ievei
. :,
SNCF, SJ
1
1
I
Level
NS
Al~gnrnent
o5
12 5
t
25
'
7metres. This ~nformationIS repre-
10
20
30
50
70
100
'
BR
Wi
It is important to note that the effectiveness of modern tamping mach~nesis restricted to the same
waveband.
L;
A"i
d
m
Complementary measuring methods were developed to collect short- wave information on rail geometry:
- Trolleys or straightedges with a short reference base for measuring rail rolling defects or corrugations and weld geometry;
[84]and [158], on
geometry inspection cars. and filtered in such a way that the s~gnalsproduced are as far as possible independent of speed.
k i
514
, -
i
Modein Railway Track
r'
i
In order to quanrrfy track quality wlth reasonable accuracy. the measuring systems are requlred to
have an overall measurlng accuracy [88]depending on the spectral content according Table 16.4
L-
Waveband
Typ~calspectral
content [mmz]
Required measurTable 1 6 4
16.8.3
r
fl\"
The most common way of representing qualrty IS to compute standard devrations. T h ~ smethod IS further applred In thls book. In thls case, the qual~tyrndex d~rectlyrepresents the total energy of the
measured geometrical parameter Alternat~vely,the mean absolute value, which is proport~onalto the
standard deviatron, can be easlly obtained by analogue fllterrng as applied by SNCF [136]. These
lnd~cesdo not give ~nformationabout the shape of the defects, but are very well-suited to contrncrous
maintenance declslon-makrng.
A thrrd kind of assessment consists of looklng at vehicle reactions. For Japan's hrgh-speed Irnes, for
Instance, the geometry is weighted according to the veh~cleresponse characteristics described rn reference [243]. Real tlme vehlcle calcc~latronsare carrled out on NS and this process is described further on ~nthis chapter
15.9
16.9.1
Introduction
PI
As ment~onedpreviously, since 1999 tracks in Netherlands are recorded with the EURAILSCOUT
UFM120 measurlng coach (Flgure 16.53). Using an Integrated system that measures, processes,
analyses stores and rnterprets track quality data.
Eurailscout operates several h~gh-techmeasuring cars and devices for measuring track geometry,
overhead wire, rarl surface, ultrason~cchecks and switch inspection.
The measurrng systems of Eurailscout now have interfaces to several v~sualrsationand software
packages like the Plasser "Off-board System", to Erdmann's "GeoView" and to the "IIS" (track qual~ty
database of DB AG). Measured data are exported to these systems d~rectly.
The UFM 120 represents a universal measuring car designed for the track Inspection of European
normal gauge l ~ n e s(1435 mm). It stands for a new type of fast running high-tech inspection cars With
a slngle run rt can measure all the relevant qual~tydata of the track geometry, the overhead wire and
rails as kvell The UFM 120 IS equipped with the latest measurrng devices connected to a local area
network (LAN).
PI
&@
C
I"
h d e r n Ra~lwayTrack
16.9.2
Fallway gauge
I
I buffer
1
7
.
5
0
0
- distance
Axle base
- Gauge;
ar*
- Vertical profile;
2,500 m m
90 m
70 tonnes
Maxlmurn
speed
For investigating the condition of the track qualrty
Own drlve
UFM120 is equipped with a contactless geometry measTrain
uring system. The heart of this system is an inertialbImrnum
measuring system (IMS), actually consisting of 3 high
weed
precision gyro systems and accelerometers for all 3 spaSlfa
tial directions x, y, z Through the combination with an
Vehlcle control (PZB)
optical track measuring system, using laser d~stance
sensors and a GPS location system, the required long- 1 Railway warnrng system
time accuracies are established This geometry measur(Mesa 2002, TeleRail)
ing system is in the front side of the car body, positioned
Table 16
Technical data
between the axles, and can emit the following parameters.
iui
1998
1,435mm
23,000 mm 1
Date of construction
//
120 kmlh
120 kmlh
120 km'h
Present
present
1
1
I
Present
UMF,20
r*i
- Horizontal profile (alignment),
m
I
ipj
m
ma
I
d
I
i"S
I
lrd
lrvi
It is obvious that the precise allocation of test results represents a basic need. It is necessary for tr~ggering the subsystems, to combine all information at the local area network and to calculate several
parameters (e.g. twist). It is especially important when data are processed later at the office. There
are several posit~ondetecting systems on the UFM 120 acting at different levels.
#A,
. fl
These track parameters are measured at every 25 cm, stored in an onboard computer system processed and printed immediately during the ride All the measured data can also be plotted as a graphical representahon, as well as be exported to the external data medium
'Id
- Automatic detection of known positions with a magnetic sensor (e.g. for magnets at the NS lines),
1 A
I
- Automatic detection of known positions wrth an optical sensor (e.g. for "lndusi" safety brakes at
AG Ilnes),
I
P1
7
- Manual triggering
516
DB
I-
16.9.3
O v e r h e a d wire m e a s u r e m e n t
P'
,
,
-
;**
The overhead wire inspection system consists of two parts; a recording system in the train which
determines a the basic data, and the processrng software which generates information from this for
decrsion-maklng relating to maintenance. The recording system in the train (Figure 16.59) consists of
the opt~calwire imaging system plus the sensors for superstructure movement. loc-atlon and pantograph acceleration.
-1
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
I
I
I
LA
-I
l
Li
The type of contact wire used by many railway companles has a round cross-section. The width of the
worn unders~derepresents an ind~cationof the degree of the wear of the contact wrre. The overhead
line lnspectlon system explolts thls fact and records the worn surface of the contact wlres. Thickness
estimates are produced from the worn surface recordings using algorithms developed for this purpose
The recording system in the train
l J
1 r-q
wa
lIllq
Iw
w*q
pui
m
I
km
fm
At the heart of the overhead line inspection system is an optlcal system with which the contact wires
above the coach are imaged at a high resolution (Figure 16.60). Up to a running speed of 180 km/
hour, the resolut~onin the d~rect~on
of travel 1s 2 cm, and 0.15 mm perpendicular to the dlrectlon of
travel The system employs lasers for illumination and CCD linescan cameras for the imaging of the
contact wlres. The images are stored along w ~ t hmany other parameters on CD-ROMs These other
parameters ~ncludecontact wlre height, hard spots, lateral dev~at~on
of contact wlres and superstructure orlentatlon and position along the track. The accuracy and rel~abilityof the determination of wire
poslt~onIS extremely h ~ g hThe reason for this IS that the overhead line inspection system produces a
complete image of the contact wire
Processing of the measurement data
The processing procedure of the measurement data which is stored on CD-ROM onboard the train IS
shown schematically in F~gure16.61. The CD-ROMs first go through a pre-processing step In which a
number of characteristics from the stored images are calculated Together with the other measurement data, these are graphically presented In reports called '1.5 km plots'. The four most important
types on these plots are:
- 6.30 m);.
R"1
- Helght: The d~stanceof the contact wires in relatlon to the ralls (4.45
- Position: The location of the contact wlres In relat~onto the centre of the track;
=T
srsi
m
- Mtnimum thickness: Thls is the lowest thickness of each 0.5 metres of the route covered;
- Hard spots: Thls IS an lnd~cationof the resistance that the pantograph experiences, in fact an
acceleration sensor.
Modern Ra~iwayTrack
ir"'i
1,
16.9.4
Rail Profile m e a s u r e m e n t
- Rail type,
Profile
rid
Exceedences of the preset tolerarlces are elaborated and dlsplayed Moreover, the specla] wear
characterist~csare belng measured and establ~shed.
Both rail profrles and the calculated values could be directly d~splayedon a scr, "en ~nreal trme. Subsequent processing and reporting of various statrst~calcalculations is also ava~lable.
UI L
Tl..&I%
895
I.actdrna
S l u l w h
*T
Zffi I
t-haIr
4 1 8 . - .
Dm-
- Worn-out welds;
- Round or oval imprints;
Hulogramm
ausdelch
IX
24-4
* 32
Unk~
f1-?*76pechk
Seharm
Fah,kantenfehler
S C S ~
Schlem
Fahrkanlmfehkf
FahrflScnenfeMer
Fahrkanledehler
-.
Schlene
-.
li
I
i
I
16.9.6
-1
Video inspections s y s t e m s
LA
1d
T
I
"9
m
kill
R"1
I
lvrr
Every camera platform IS equ~ppedwlth hlgh performance llghts In order to Improve the contrast
and the vlsibrl~tyat nrght or In tunnels
The plctures captured by the cameras are displayed on two mon~torsdu
take place on standard video-tapes The UFM
tre Point x, track dlrectlon and positron) to t
added to these video Pictures as well as marks. so that interest~ngand c r ~ t ~ c pants
al
can be recovered very eas~lywhen performing post analysls
Figure 16 68 and Figure 16 69 show some vrdeo ~nspectlonshots.
L
'El""1
4
I
I rri
I
,.,*
:#
I:
-, vr
"
a*
El
,
- -L' ',*a
>"*
-*
7.2
.dl
-2-
. :*;
;
3- " --
--
Ir
9 :
&:A&?P*~$~~:.$$\,&~
;&$*@- *-;zn7
~@~&&g&zF;<dTd-.,%? &*:p.~*%4
,*<q7&J@p+i7
tci*?:*$*<;,
*8$.<{f
$>;*bfe<-@
- --*
#&.L;&~,s&*~"*-7*
,*& >%,%
2bpG-bf--:
*;zz
2-
-&-:;~,~:+
$* 4
1a
..,,'-:$&
--**=:-~
<b21~:&3p+s4
-,L+h*4
".&*
2I,~.,
d*,
-+
J,
---\"?- --$ *
.%-
~6-y
>+" :-A&%
b
*+ 2ys
:~;:~~$;;$;~$-%~$~~:~'~4v
&- * ?@-%%2*
3&
r
~ - - * ~ . * * G O = M + ~ ~ ~
-$$g~lt,p3;t;4?:*l
~3&~"~<;*5$s&~~%~-~~-~=
$I---*"
SL-a ~ ~&-,a*
- 3
2wF33$>2~k<;~$&g?~F
*.*
. =T *x5rE* "<:&;;y-:
,
;a-
%;:,:,-
*LT%.i
.I:tbaF3x4+;2zA9;,yg
$
:&$k?&
s-'c~BJP:PY~~~'~I*~>~,~
*
q{+yc4
,+
*&*v
:\".*~:&*-&*$y;~%k:i3
g
$%?"E%$%&Tiz:+
X?%Gei :ib~'&k -..: 3
, * - ,
&..
&$*.,
3 f**%;
3 , ~ * < ~ " ~
,lw-A.
$&
"%$
$&!,
&**hh,>b*-
Ibwxp-.~~
11+
%L>
*=
;,.
<
,-
'-.&~~~~r;j~&~'y&ir;s~~&L~z~f,5?
L ~ sk --gq:
~ , * ~+G*.~-Z
~ ~ y $ ;-a. s ~,-:&
, ~ ~ -~ 6$ <$ ~ F ~ ~ ~ ~ 3 & ~ ~ - ~ ~ j
,-.-
?<ym=q
Sqz;<
$%&%..2s43 $;$zL,:
*~
v-,
>?A
.-
-;
522
*L
i-_
W
b
L
hiodein Ra~lwayTrack
16.9.7
: :
"
2
g----r-----?La-Z-&?
-4
I
L
,-I
<,
" ",
c'i It
,'
C'
i
ii
I
t
_j
czsg
: ;
; :
g", E Zm
w
I '2 ;
1i
:"
3..
-----.
K"
Ski% ? ~ 2 &
i, r
<
i
'L
Heisht
,
.
<
j3m
-T
i
i
J
GV
2 2 a,
( Gzig'e
T=*iecl
acr
Tl,d
1I
Il
19
l1
iq
rrlrlchr~ng tens
Bnn-W
.Y
\"'
,-' S!:i2 2m
1'
F,'
i
i
*A
T,s;ist 5.7
ROO
Fil.
u
LJ
Figure 16.71 and F~gure16.72 show screen shots from the GeoView software.
GeoVrew combines drfferent information of a ra
track, displays all rneas
ured data and calculates
quality data, while the
exceptions and quality
indexes of several thresholds are represented by
different colours.
One can zoom into the
map of the track, stretch
the display, calculate statistics. By a click to a track
location data values are
read back and pictures
can be displayed. Subsequent measuring can be
compared to estimate
trends and conclude decision
suggestions
for
maintenance.
,---.--Q 2yzm.A:;;
1.4E.PM
r-
Mndsurammt
Qnla
:!
i
ii
I
I
ll
! 1
1 1 ;
"41
I
r3
I
"7
,lid
I
.......................
I d
...........................
ull~
................................
l1
~m
l
id
PRI
l
kmi
,astart 1 d 5 a
9po.t-*
IN ~ m m s
.............
1 6 uia.dektl~e-411~/ .~-COI.I
................
./...
PHOTO PNNT
G.~V..
4 ^3Ygmh
01 7
144Pbl
Addtronal values can be calculated and displayed at once, for example a floating mean over a base
length (e g 20 m) cord measurement curves. as they usually come from measurrng axle systems
(e g 4.6 or 5 5 m) are calculated from space curve po~nts.
J
I
=
!a
h
m
d
I"Li
between d~fferent
parameters could
also be evaluated,
F~gure16 73
3
I
.....................
':ua:~-3-
a,
,n
534
1:
i-
.>
to:
L.I
nl
Moden? Ra~iwayTrack
I"
i>
_
Since all the data are stored digitally. they can be reviewed again in a playback after an inspect~onrun
and analyzed w ~ t hother settings.The post-processing equipment is shown in Figure 16.74, whereas
the process control IS expla~nedin Figure 16.75). Examples of alternatives to be analyzed are.
I-
- Evaluation
according
to
different
thresholds;
- Calculation of the quality indexes for
track segments.
The UFM 120's measurement technology
and software allows for the first time ever
the extreme accurate allocation of rail
parameters in different ranges - geometry,
contact wire, rail profile and surface.
Moreover, for the first time accuracy of
geometry values is high enough to simulate other measuring vehicles (e.g. cord
systems with measuring axles) without
extra expense.
In such a way, UFM 120 measurements
IJ
1
r
b
L
FP'
L:
J
-t 1
-1
1
1
7 6.A 0
1
I yy
1d
I
'll!q
I J ~
1000
Force at speed v,
I
I
?i
IW
10
I I
uui
~ ( f =) n - ( f ) i i i f )
~"nl
iuri
I
10
,
'"1
1 1 11111
100
I ] I 1111
*i
cf-"n(f)Y(f)
1000
10-03
,
,
03-07
,
01-003
Wavebands[rn]
d
-I
( 1 6.3)
In which:
G(f) =
Y(f) =
H*(f) =
H(f) =
f=vl^h=
v
=
c
= constant
p"l
lvari
am
J
j
9
IJ
i"i
lk,
+c,t+c2-h
(16 4)
If the static value does not need to be measured it can be removed by high-pass fllterlng, which at the
same tlme ellminates the constants c l and c2. This creates a reference llne whlch runs abreast of the
track and aga!nst whlch the track positlon is measured.
-..
r
Modern Ratlway Tiack
c
I
?-
r
iL
FI
High Pass fllterlng to
constants
e offsets
e
r~-~ove
non-i~nearltres
lntegratlon
F~lter~ng
Ftgure 16 77
system
----
i i , , r ~ ~ p rU
c Iall
F
4-
T~me
Length (1)
IIIC
..-..
,, , Y
Thus, here the coach and its suspension perform the function of a mechanical low-pass filter. The
hlgh frequencies, w h ~ c hcause the hrgh accelerations, are filtered before they reach the acceleratron
transducer.
It will be clear that those wavelengths of the track which, at a certain runnlng speed, produce frequencles lower than the natural frequency of the coach, are pr~ncipallydetermined by means of the acceleration transducer, whereas the shorter wavelengths, which produce frequencies h~gherthan the
natural frequency of the coach, are principally determined by the relative displacement measurement.
Of course, no phase differences are allowed between signals which are to be combined.
a
8
kd
In The Netherlands the following track geometry signals are produced. cant, level, alignment, and
gauge In the 0 5 - 25 m and 0 5 - 70 m wavebands, whlle the quasi-statlc component in the 70- m
waveband is also determined for cant, curvature, and gauge Moreover, the track twist is calculated
from the difference in cant on the two bases of 6 m and 2.75 m.
Vertical
How the dynamrc measurements are actually carr~edout is shonn diagrammat~callyIn Figure 16.78
and will be explained using the example of vert~callevel. The measured vehicle body acceleration is
doubly integrated with respect to time in order to obtain the absolute spatial car body displacement.
For reasons explained previously, the long waves are cut o f electronically at 70 m (attenuated by 3
dB) using a fourth-order Butterworth f~lter.The purpose-built electronic control system continuously
adjusts the time-defined parameters of the Butterworth filter to the speed, so that the characterrst~c,
based either on spatial frequency or on wavelength, IS r;ot altered. As the system integrates three
times at the most, hrgh-pass filtering should be performed with a filter at least one order hlgher to
el~rnlnatethe effect of drlftrng due to the Integration of offsets.
2
C
C
F
k
As the accelerometer IS mounted rigidly on the floor of the car body, the acceleration is always
recorded perpendicular to the floor. In actual fact, though, rt IS the vertical acceleration which is
involved. This is derlved from the measured signal by making an electronic correction as a function of
the car body rotation due to cant.
r
dern Raiiwav Trark
Cant
To measure cant the change in car body rotation per unit of time can be measured by means of a socalled rate gyro, which is the most expensive transducer in the whole system. The rate gyro has a
measuring range of +I- 20 "is, 24,000 rpm. a natural frequency of 20 Hz, and a damping ratio of 0 65.
rQ
The energy of the rate gyro is mainly around 0.5 Hz and is practically negligible above 2 Hz. AS the
phase error in this range is inadmissibly large a phase correction IS carried out with a second order filter This restores the phase up to about 7 Hz.
$'
'-
Lateral
In the lateral direction the differential displacements are measured in two stages, i.e. between both
rails and bogie frame by means of a laser system and between bogie frame and car body by means
of linear displacement transducers. As a result of body rotation there IS a rotation in the accelerometer. In order to prevent gravity causing a virtual lateral acceleration, the measuring system electron/cally ellmrnates the gravity component
F"'1
h,
$'
%ill
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
The mounting frame is provided with an aluminlum cover with rubber gaskets for sealing
and has two openlngs whlch are protected
by nozzles. The camera "looks out" through
one of the openlngs and the laser beam
exits via the other A third openinq
- admits filtered air under pressure at a rate of approximately 100 m3/h. As this alr exits through the
other bpenings at considerable speed, ~tprevents dirt and dust from enter~ngthrough
these openlngs.
he cameras are on the bogie frame and are
directed
at an angle of 1: 5 to the gauge face
---- . .
Figure 16 81 Laser system mounted in measunng bogie
of the rall head at the point where the lightspot is located. The cameras are equipped
w ~ t han array of 256 photodiodes, providing a measuring range of 50 mm. The light falling on a diode
is integrated for about 1 ms
-
Signal processing partly takes place in the hardware and partly by a mlcroprocessor The latter determines the slld~ngaverage of the last 8 scans.
Hb
r a ~ lhead
1
*($
=
H
"b
-($b---b-+/I&
ZP&
in which != 325&
(16.5)
mm.
hioclern Ra~iwa:/Track
CANT
CURVATURE
Y s~ v ' - g &
GAUGE
f-
=-=:-
L
8 = 8,
+ e2
1I-
r'
Two other tnnsducers are, in additton to the two linear displacement transducers between car body
and boge frame in the n-Wsuring bogie, installed in the second bogte to record curvature according
to the principle sketched in Figure 16.84. The quasi-static gauge is directly derived from the l~ne-scan
camera signals
A three quasi-static signals are low-pass filtered with a 3rd-order Besse filter. The phase relationship
is linear and causes a distance delay of 27.5 m. As the curvature recorded in fact corresponds to the
car centre, the delay of the signal in relation to the measunng bogie amounts to 35 m or 20 m for forwards and backwards running respectively. With the introductton of VRA thts delay can be corrected.
15.1 0.5 Signal combination for determining track parameters
The track parameters produced by the former BMS system of NS are derived from a combination of
s~gnalsprov~dedby 16 transducers. i.e. 1 rate gyro, 2 accelerometers. 10 LVDTs, 2 line-scan cameras. and 1 tachometer. The location of the varlous transducers is ~ndicatedin Figure 16.85 The track
parameters are derived from the following expressions:
P
i*
Ir
level.
Zl
Z2
+ AZ
(16.6)
cant:
cb
(16.7)
@r = J C + z 1 - z 2
alignment:
Yr
jjj-
1 1 1 9 81P--" +
2
+dy
(16.8)
iPrc
curvature.
K,
(Im
i
= Y3+Ys-Y4-Y6
'zi2
(16.9)
FA
_J
i_
Modern Ra~livayTrack
The alignment Y, governed by (16 15) is obtained by the network presented in F~gure16 88 This network is composed of integrators and multipl~erswhich take care of integration and filtering In the irequency domain the network provides the follow~ngalignment output:
1
j
in which.
"1
H(P) =
a,
a a
I,+-+
ala,a3
(16.17)
a1a2a3a4
'+;+7
P
*
I
The coefflc~entsof the 4th-order high-pass Butterworth filter described by (16.13) are produced by
means of the mult~plicat~on
factors of the network according to.
""i
Y
P"1
bid
m
a1
a,
c,/cl f3
a,
c,/c,P
a,
l/c,
v27c/hC
= cIP
(16 18)
d
al
Thus, by cont~nuouslyadapting the mult~plicationfactors of the network to the speed. a spat~alwavelength cut-off at 70 m is maintained.
*II
49
For mechanical maintenance the analysis 1s based on standard deviations determined over a length
of 200 m, whereas, for manual mantenance, locations where a predetermined threshold value is
exceeded are used as basis
r
Modern Ra~ivvayPack
The analysrs IS carried out for all signals in the 0 5 - 25 m waveband, whilst the 25 - 70 m waveband
IS analysed for alignment only. The long waves are especially important regarding vehicle dynamics,
as they generate low frequency steady-state car body vibrations n straight, or almost straight, tracks.
This long wave information serves to determrne whether it is necessary to carry out track linrng with
the aid of lasers and the DRIVER system [77].
I-
i-
Standard deviations based on the short waveband are decisive for determining use of tamping
machines in the automatic mode It is also this short waveband from which exceedences are
deduced, as they are necessary for manual marntenance. Above all, though, this short waveband IS
used to check whether a track may be considered safe.
The analogue measuring signals are also reproduced graphically in duplicate
Quality indices
Track recording cars normally generate standard deviations, often per 200 m sect~onin various wavebands. Local defects are disregarded here. As standard deviations are hard to Interpret for nonexperts, preference could be given to a QI deduced from the standard deviation. The starting point
with regard to Qls can be summarized as follows:
llgi
a
b.
c.
d
F"
IE"?
kd
F"
To satisfy the above requirements as well as possible, NS took the national geometry drstribut~onsfor
spring 1983 as a reference. Figure 16.90 shows the distributions of standard deviations per 200 m
related to the wavebands produced by BMS track recording car and the 3 QCLs. They rndrcate what
percentage of the length has a value less than the value on the x-axis
In order to achreve the best possible match, the curves are transformed by changing from standard
deviatron to QI, vra an exponential function accordrng to:
a'
I
(16.19)
1
4'0
O/o
QCL- 1
100
100
100
QCL- 3
O/o
QCL- 2
,
,
y
80
60
40
20-
J , ,
0
, * 0
/;'
V
0
*G
1
Yo
100 80 60
60
40
Ql,,=6.
75
20
QI
1
0
" "
.*
Cant
- Level
----- Align.
short
Align long
Tamp index
Durlng the recording runs a quality index report is printed for cant, level, and alignment. As the Indices
of the previous run are available on floppy disk, the difference between the previous and the actual
results is also pr~ntedout. If desired, it IS also possible to print out the standard deviations, for
instance, during a test run
Furthermore, mean value and standard deviation are printed for gauge, but, in addition, maximum
value In curves is also printed. The latter IS used to derive lateral rail wear data If any exceedences
are found these are reported too, but the details are printed on a separate list. To facilitate interpretation the maintenance section numbers are printed as well.
The normalizing procedure employed on NS had been chosen because of the school marking system
used in Holland. Such systems are, however, different from country to country. An lnterestlng alternative is therefore to apply normalized standard deviations and peak values. In this approach standard
deviation s and peak value P should be dlvided by the corresponding standard If these standards are
referred to as on,
and,,,P,
respectively then the normalized values become.
~i = G/c~,,,,
(16.20)
(16.21)
P/P,,,,
If this is consistent, all the normalized values have, like the qualiiy indices, the same sigi?ificance.
Normalized values less then 1 comply wlth the standards, whereas normallzed values beyond 1
reflect that maintenance action IS required. In fact the og0 values discussed previously can be
regarded as the norm in this approach The advantage of normalized standard deviations IS furthermore that a better resolution is obtained, especially In poor situations. In chapter 17 dealing with highspeed tracks further attent~onis given to the precise interpretation of normalized values
___?
I
/
I
Quality classes
In the past, ma~ntenanceadvrces were establ~shedmanually from quality ~ndrcesper 200 m section,
For automated plannlng and control it is ~ndispensableto start from a number of quality classes
(QCLs) to differentiate between jointed and long-welded '(CWR) tracks on the one hand and between
high and low speeds on the other.
The NS network has been split up into 3 QCLs according to Flgure 16.91. The Qls for each class all
have the same slgnlficance with regard to the quallty level.
QCL-1 pertains to main llnes
wrth a permissible speed V >
130 kmlh. Main llnes allowIng 100 kmlh < V < 130 k m l
h, wlth mainly long-welded
(CWR) tracks are classrfied
rn QCL-2, whilst all jointed
tracks
and
long-welded
tracks wrth V < 100 kmlh,
forming part of the main llne
network, belong to QCL-3.
Tamping
Cant
6 75
1 07
1 08
1.33
6 85
665
Al - l
Level
1.55
171
1.90
078
095
131
ra
214
278
305
F"
kd
QI,
QCL
lo
'L
~80[mml
Ln QI
[%]
~/aao
@'!
hi
Tarnp~ng ~ndex
F";
V
I,
MAINS
pg*1
rvri
Figure I 6.93shows a typical plot of the 0 8 0 value for a MAlNS as a functlon of time or tonnage borne,
The tamping intervention level is unlty by deflnltion. From the average rate of deterloration for a partlcular MAINS, determined from the preceding values, the intersection wlth the maintenance ~nterventlon level can be estimated and consequently the date that tamplng will be necessary
d
mrq
1*1
R*
1 -
!
-
Ao,,,
lpi.
and
G A = - [ G ~ + G ~ + +GN]
aGia,
N [AG, +
(1 6.22)
+ A:,]
(1623)
"1
(1 6.24)
brl
rrJ
Wlth the determination of the average rate of deterioration only those points whlch are not influenced
by rapid deterioratlon following tamping, I e. at least 0.7MGT away from the tamping operation,
should be considered
For overall analysls of the quality of all or part of a network, for Instance for planning the disposition of
maintenance resources, present and predicted average quallty figures over entire routes are very
suitable. For this purpose priority lists may be created with the MAlNS In the sequence of the tamplng
index. the MAlNS with the lowest quality is found at the top of the list and the MAlNS with the hlghest
quality at the bottom
f"l
hid
Apart from the tamplng Index, which dictates the sequence, the 80 % values for cant, level, and alignment in the 0.5 - 25 m waveband and alignment In the 25 - 70 m waveband are calculated In an analogous way.
P4
'"1
Figure 16.94shows the cumulative distribution functions of the mean deterloration of 4 successive
recording car campaigns, startrng In spring 1984 The dlstributlon of the tamping index reveals that 80
% of the MAlNS deteriorate less than 0.23units every SIX months and 50 % less than 0.11units
HOWthis works out for the rndividual track geometry components can be seen from the distribution
functions In the r~ght-handpart The deterioration in mm standard deviation per year for 80 O/o of the
network IS less than 0.14for cant, 0.20for level and 0.16for alrgnment. The 50 % values are as follows cant 0.08,
level 0.14,
alignment 0.10.
"i
-- -
1
Modein Railway Track
r
\
As a further example of
useful
management
100
~nformation consider
Figure 16 95
which
80
shows how the quality
of geometry has altered
60
over the years 1984 1988 on NS. Here the
40
80, 50 and 20 % qual~ty
levels are shown for
20
cant, level and alignment. Thls type of inforo
mation is useful ~n
monltorlng the effects of
new
and
~mproved
Figiire 16 94
methods of malntenance. Furthermore ~tIS
of great Interest to note
that the c u k e s hardly display any variation.
f
100
k2
80
60
40
-Tamping rndex
20
Level
o 25
Cumuiative distribution fiinctions of track deterioration on
o 50
NS
Wlth the emplrlcal Qls only a relatlve tamplng sequence or prlor~tycan be given. In fact the whole
maintenance process IS focused on retaming the arbitrarily chosen reference situation of spring 1983.
Of course this IS far from ideal and so there are many advantages In using vehrcle reactions for the
assessment of track quallty.
fl
dl
il!
'
1I
I
-\
'IIT
u,pl/
(nss
Curves
In curved tracks vehicle dynamics are more of a transient nature and long-wave resonance phenomena rarely occur. Thus, in sharp curves the short waves in the 0.5- 25 m waveband and the quasistatic signal w ~ l normally
l
be the main concern.
In transition curves a fault-free alignment still produces an output In the measured alignment signal.
Although the aim is to measure the deviation from the theoretical transition, the recording system
presents the sum of the deviation and theoretical value. Tamping mach~nesshould only correct the
first component and not the design values, and therefore there is a need to separate both contribut~ons.In the 0 - 25 m waveband the contributions from the design l ~ n eare negligibly small, but in the
25 - 70 m waveband they may prevail. With the introduct~onof the array processor for vehicle
response calculat~ons(VRA), part of the theoretical alignment can be estimated in a relat~velysimple
way. For each interval of 10 m the difference in curvature:
lkrd
A K- -
br'
yuj(x)
(1 6.25)
AX
is determined from the quasl-static curvature, which corresponds to the third derivative of the alignment s~gnal.The values are collected if AKlAx > 0.5lo-' m-2. These values are approximated by step
functions accord~ngto F~gure16.96.
irPl
Y,,,(sj
rui
- -
p(l
3 ~ 7 0 (Y~ ~)
(16 27)
~ ~ ( s ~
(2~s)
Iw,
(I
6 26)
H,,(s) Y ( s )
(16.28)
H,(s)Y"(s)
In comb~nationwith (16.13),the transfer function to be appl~edto the first derivative of the curvature is
found to be:
H,
(16.29)
-H7,( s
(zxsi3
R.I
h:si(271)3
(16.30)
7
Ifad
In w h ~ c h
@4
S
h,
C,
L
d
c2
AK = y"'(x)
AX
' 9
r
n/loc/ern Railway Track
takng the square r?ot the corrected standard deviation in the 25 - 70 m Waveband is
ing a value reflecting the amount of irreg~~lar~ties
to be removed by track maintenance.
Incud
i,-
With the aid of the quasi- stat:^ signals, BMS-I checks whether the non-compensated lateral acceleration compl~esw ~ t ha specified standard according to:
..
Ync
- -- JKrI
-
12 96
(1 6.31)
in which:
K,
= quasi-static curvature [lim];
C, = quasi-static cant [mm];
om,, = standard deviation of dynamic cant [mm];
= admisslble line speed [kmlh];
V,
norm = admisslble non-compensated lateral acceleration [m/s2];
= 0.4 - 0 8 m/s2 depending on ballast and track conditions.
[v,]~;;-
ALAt
36
eA!
vmac,
-g -
( I 6.32)
1500 3.6 Ax
A
c r < -550
Ax
vm slim
[m m/m]
(16.33)
AKr
-<-46.66
Ax
V
:
a/~,
[l/m7
(16.34)
These expressions have been implemented in BMS for the NS standards, with a,
according to.
A Cr
-<a
AX
10
AK,
-
a lo3
AX
[mm/m]
= 0 18 m/s3,
(16 35)
< --11.8V:
[1/m 7
(16.36)
I
-
if Vm 2 80 km/h
(16.37)
if Vm < 80 km/h
(16.38)
luuiJ
in whlch:
10
a = -I
v,
600
if within a 200 m section one of the parameters exceeds the specified standard. then the exceedence
report is printed.
1
I
--
Level 1
Level 2
Level 2
Maintenance Safety Recommended
Twist
10 mm
Cant
Level
Alignment
20mm
20mm
14mm
12mm
6080
20 mm
18 mm
20 mm
18 mm
GBO
4 0
Min~mum
Flgure 16.97 Principle of determining local defects
Local defects
lal
""i
L
ma
I
1
IS
applied, except
When one of the slgnals exceeds the corresponding level-I value mentioned in
Figure 16.97, the system searches for the
maximum of all signals over the following 15
m. The information on this 15 m is not
included in the calculation of the standard
deviation for the relevant 200 m sectron, on
I
I
IS
7
u
I
nrr(
Ls~
I
""1'
25
10
pl
F~giire16 98 Jofal niirnber of exceedences beyond 10 rnrn on NS
tracks as of spring 1985
l"i
i r r j
I
I
Gauge tolerances
i
I
From the point of view of stable vehicle movement gauge variations should be limited. This applies
especially to the lower limit. For new tracks NS applies the following gauge tolerances:
Mean gauge per section of 200 m 1435:;
mm
ang
,
I
As within a 200 m section the variation of the mean value is normally not greater than +I- 1 mm,
gauge can always lie between 1433 m and 1439 mm. In terms of BMS-I. these limits correspond to
the mean value mlnus three times the standard deviation and the mean value plus three times the
standard devration respectively.
mrn
Modern Ra~lwayTracic
16.11
16 INSPECTION AND
DETECTIONSYSTEMS
r1
The great problem in the analys~sof track geometry lies in the combination of the various components
and the assessment of these values. In the final analysis, vehicle reactions are clearly the decislve
factors. Passenger comfort criteria are all based on weighted car body accelerations Tracks experience loads In vertlcal and lateral directions which lead to stresses in the track components and ballast
bed causing deterioration of geometry and fatigue of components. Safety criteria are also speclfied in
terms of Y and Q forces If all these aspects are to be considered then the governing vehlcle reactions have to be determined. Thls was the reasonrng behlnd the development of VRA which has been
in use as part of the BMS system since 1988.
The VRA system IS described In detall in Chapter 6 together with the procedures for estlmatlng the
transfer functions for the vehicles considered, and the frequency-dependent welghtlng applied to the
calculated car body acceleratrons.
FU
Z
p
hi
If id= 0.6is exceeded over a length greater than 2 m, this is reported as level 1 If the ratio exceeds
Ld = I .2,
thrs is indicated as level 2 The Prud'homme criterion is tested against.
A
100
80
60 -
40
20
QCL-1
2500 km
SD
C
00
10
20
30
[%I
Level [%]
Al~gnment[%I
79
94
135
168
174
247
1.23
110
101
171
1 92
1.32
111
127
183
1.03
1.51
0 72
100
100
100
NS Q2
1 04
1 67
0 89
101
110
124
NS Q3
1.29
1.85
1 23
125
D l 61 .I
Cant [mml
Level [mm]
Al~gnment[mm]
Cant
DB
0.81
1.42
0.97
CSD
1.73
2.62
1.78
SNCB
1.32
2.14
SNCF
1.13
1 53
SBB
114
NS Q1
122
171
1I
1-
Equivalent standard deviation values with respect to NS' BMS system, produced by the recording
cars of various adm~nistrations,were published in [88]and are summarized in Table 16.7
r
C
then Increase agarn The increasing trend for long waves for both vertical and lateral spectra IS
explained by the recolouring operation which was carrred out to compensate for the 4th-order Butterworth f~lterused by BMS.
I""
I
16.13
I
I
a
P'"'
- lnertlal systems for measuring track gage, profile, alignment, and crosslevel over a range of defect
wavelengths.
- Gage-face optical rail profile system (supplied by KLD Laboratories, Inc.) for measuring rail wear
and wear patterns. At 150 m.p.h., rail profiles are measured every 15 feet, wlth smaller increments
at lower speeds.
I@
I@
iviri
P'
'mi
- Automated Track Data Alrgnment System (ATDAS) to highlight changes in track condrtion between
surveys. This system provldes a real time comparison between measurements made as the car is
running and those from selected past test runs made over the same track
1
- 32-channel general purpose data acquisition system for time or position-based measurements,
which allows the car to be used for a varlety of special tests
p
bi
~ l o d e r nRa1iway Trac/,
Figure 16 104 instrumented wheels for measuring wheel to rail contact forces
- Full truck of instrumented wheels (two wheelsets) for measuring wheel Lo rail contact forces
(Figure 16.104). These are installed when needed for special testing
-1
I
- Neural network to determine track geometry limits based on vehicle design parameters
-?1
- Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) to tag all data with track position information; Iner-
Pin!
bn
I
1
The neural network installed on the T-16 IS a typical artifi-Lial intelligence (Al) recurrent network It IS trained to n r ~ d i r \I\I~PQI-~-=I~I
t
~~teri ~ i i t,h
action forces generated from the T-16 as it travels over track ,...,.
- trark
.. --.. r r ~ n m e t r \d=1t2
u~
u r u
known geometry. Vehicle characteristics and
8
were used to train the network to predict the vertical and lateral
forces of the T-16 on other known sections nf t r n r k
3-u,l,rLcJ
rn
15.14
Rail Profile Management has traditionally often been considered separately from the rest of the track
elements due to its extreme influence on the safety of traff~c,but also due to pronounced economical
reasons A number of integrated maintenance management systems as well as decision support systems were developed specifically for ra~lsin the past. Since then a great deal of research and consultant work has been pointed in this direction Only lately rail management has gradually begun to be
cons~deredmore as an integral part of the track maintenance management systems like ECOTRACK
and, consequently, as a constitutive part of asset management systems.
These problems are resolved by adequate monitoring techniques and proper wheelirail interface
management. which involve ~mportantissues like track geometry, friction, wheel and rail profile measurements. train dynamics, wheellrail metallurgy, and, finally, operation factors like speed, loads, braking forces, etc.
t rail mang7ement.
The reason for this is that
Rail profile monitoring represents a vital c o m,-o-n n ~ n nf
.
properly controlled profiles for rail and wheels reduce the risk of dei-ailment and minimise the dynamic
.. .
interaction between vehicle and track. In addltion to this, monitoring1 ..alqn
Improves
passenqer
- comfort.
while reducing mater~alstresses and wear of trark
h l r l arbnvm
r
- --.. and
-, ,- \ ~ o,,u,L
,, nnn
[znts.
Regular recording of
both wheel and rail profiles makes it possible to monitor changes and control maintenance in an optimum way. in order to reduce ma~ntenancecosts and improve safety.
- . . I
- I
Ull
IIIUI IUL
i \ / l o o e ~Pallway Trach
M ~ d e i nRailway Track
Rail fatigue fa~luredevelopment goes through three phases. The flrst phase is the phase of crack lnitiatlon. The second one IS the crack growth phase and In the third one the rail finally breaks. DLlrlng
the flrst two phases, which last a certain amount of time, loadlng cycles accumulate before the
breaks in the th~rdphase. The whole idea of rail defect management IS based on the abil~tyof track
engineers to spot and control the problems during the growth period and keep them confined withln
the allowable limits In order to do that, regular inspections are needed as well as the implementation
of prescribed actions when defects, ~ncludingfatigue cracks, are found.
Worldwide no major trend changes are reported In number and types of rail fatigue defects. In most
cases the total number of rail fa~luresIS fairly steady Many defects caused by m a n u f a c t u r i ~faults
l~
and shell defects or~g~nating
from subsurface inclusions, are expected to drop due to advancements
in steel and rail manufacturing technology. Aluminothermic welds stlll remain a major problem for
most railways. However, ~tIS expected that improved processes wlll provide adequate solutions in the
near future.
Furthermore, a continued increase in the use of mobile flash welding instead of aluminothermic welds
should addltlonally alleviate the problem. However, an increase in surface initiated rolling contact
fatigue defects, like squat head checks, has been observed, especially In Europe and Japan. These
failures indicate the ~ n a b ~ lof
~ tsteel
y
to susta~nthe Imposed operating conditions. T h ~ sinability makes
the problem quite complicated, for the solutions can only be found in the domain of improved wheel/
r a ~Interface
l
and the improved properties of the used material.
Some of the conclusions drawn from the NS network were that the aluminothermic welds represent
the most frequent cause of r a ~ fat~gue
l
fa~lures,followed by flash butt welds, and, finally, the rails
themselves. Another frequent source of failure found on the NS network were the insulated jo~nts,but
t h ~ ss~tuat~on
has recently stabilised. The final observation was that the rail defects were more frequent on timber sleepers than 011 concrete sleepers. However, thls observat~oncould be affected by
factors like the type of traffic, fastening, rall age, ma~ntenancepolicy, etc. [ 6 6 ] .
Rail defect monitoring Includes varlous regular or specialrst visual I ~ S ~ ~ C ultrasonlc
~ I O ~ Stesting,
,
and
other methods like magnet~cparticle and eddy current or electromagnetic testing, or even radiography testing In cases of aluminothermic welds One of the methods currently used in the USA IS the
which means that defects ind~catedby an ultrasonlc test
so-called real time and verify ~nspect~on,
veh~cleare verified v~suallyandlor by hand held equipment If necessary, repair or renewal of the
defectlve rail takes place within one day of detection or a temporary speed restr~ctionis applied within
one to two days after detect~on.
The response time, of course, depends on the seventy of the defect Another method called continuous lnspect~onIS applied mostly on European and Australian networks The basic idea behind t h ~ s
method IS that continual inspection is followed by defect reporting and consequential programmed
action, depending pr~mar~ly
on the defect type and size On NS network, for example, the ultrasonic
test vehicle produces a number of reports w h ~ c hinclude real-time exception reports with defects
requiring ~ m m e d ~ aattent~on,
te
detailed except~onreports w ~ t hdefect prioritisat~on,off-line summaries,
and statistical reports.
The onboard computer provides extended defect class~f~cation
by a rule-based expert system. However, the final classificat~onIS still performed by a human expert. Except for larger defects, which are
dealt with immediately, hand equipment is used with~ntwo weeks to verlfy the existence of defects,
and the type of act~onto be taken.
their class~ficat~on,
nW
With~nERR1 D229 [66]several rarl failure models have been investigated, ~ n c l u d ~ ndatabase
g
statrstical models and mechanist~cmodels with probabilist~cs~mulation However, the conclusion was that
comprehensive models of rail fa~lurestill do not exist, but that many of the building blocks, at least for
detailed fracture and squat type defects, have been explored.
I7
I fd
I
hd
KK
It was also concluded that the comprehensive models which provrde a means of improving and supporting rail defect management would have to include:
r-
'
i
- Materrals
I
Track des~gn
Vehicle parameters
Crack initiation
Crack propagat~on
Action criteria
Pro-active measure
Fracture
16.16
Ballast represents one of the track elements which behaviour IS least known and hardest to monitor.
Some of the most important parameters, both from the monitoring and behavioural point of vlew, are
the ballast soiling level, petrographical content, percentage of organic components, weedy ballast,
surface pollution, grain geometry, grarn dlstnbution, hardness and stiffness, abrasion, age, and accumulated tonnage. However, most of these parameters are very hard to monitor, especially in a contrnuous manner and on a large scale This to a large extent obstructs successful ballast management.
From the managing point of view, the old ballast is the most interesting. The new ballast IS relatively
stiff; the elastic deformation and, therefore, the loads on the superstructure are, ~vlthinthe acceptable
limrts, used as a basrs for dimensioning. Under these circumstances, the ballast bed exhiblts markedly elastic behavlour. However, as it ages, ballast absorbs an increasing amount of energy whlch it
uses for its internal changes. Ballast grams become rounded and frne material IS formed.
As a result of these changes, the stiffness of the materral falls, leading to a gradual increase in elastlc
deformatrons. The result IS that the rail track's bedding becomes increasingly poor The loads on the
rails, the rarl fastenrngs, and the sleepers clearly increase. Due to decreasing stiffness of the grain
structure, the track quality obtained by tamplng is not achieved, 1.e. above a certaln level of ballast
sorlrng it IS no longer possrble to achieve any lasting rmprovement In the track bed by purely tamplng.
The old, defectrve track bed keeps coming back. The ballast bed's ab~lityto spring back is reduced by
the amount of energy consumed by the materral Since the amount of energy consumed gradually
rises as the level of pollution increases, this process can be compared to the weakenrng of a spring.
According to the laboratory tests performed wlthin the ERR1 D l 8 2 studies [63],the properties of the
ballast material become markedly poorer at soiling levels of approximately 50 - 70 YO,depending on
the weighting of the parameters. This could be taken as one of the crrterra for evaluatrng the useful life
of railway ballast.
However, the same studv indrcates that a certain distance should still be maintained from the critical
soiling level of 50 O/O to 70 % determrned In the laboratory. The reason given was that the ballast bed
soillng is very uneven. Thus, the most heavily soiled zones are the most interesting ones from the
point of view of soil mechanics, since they are the ones that determine the load bearing and deformation performance of the ballast. However, since specimens taken from the ballast bed usually contain
both material from heavily and less heavily soiled zones, this understandably produces lower degrees
of soiling than the values determined during the research.
The study also indicated that it was not possible to study the full range of stones and rocks present in
reality, as well as simulate all other variables which occur in reality (different axle loads and speeds,
weather condrtions, etc.). However, the final suggestion st111is that ~tseems justifiable to start with ballast clean~ngactivities at the soiling levels of 30 % to 40 %. This makes ballast sorhng a desirable
parameter to monitor.
C
3
21
Igr
!@
bid
R
ktk
_J
16 INSFEZTION 4MD DETECTION SYSTEMS
Modern Ra~lway7iack
'
/I
dr t
' '1
I
rJ
Techniques like Ground Penetrating Radar can also be applied on ballast The reliablllty of this technique has siill not been fully proven. However, a lot of scientific research has pointed In t h ~ sdirection
lately, the reason being an ever present lack of a quick and continuous means of ballast monitoring.
The prospects for the success of t h ~ stechnique are particularly promlslng if coupled with trial pits and
cores whlch combined should contribute to a much better and rellable ballast assessment. So far, at
the sites where the ballast was relatively clean, such as on mainline tracks, the base of ballast has
been clearly imaged by GPR. In particular, changes in the quality of the image correlated well with the
marked changes observed In trlal plts and track geometry records [131]. So far, according to the
reports comlng from the companies dealing with the ballast GPR scanning, it has been successfully
proven that the GPR ballast scan can be used to:
p n
lid
trl%
- ldentlfy sections containing attributes whlch can Indicate that the ballast IS in good
b
m
llvj
PA4
condition;
U
Pg
I
rs3
P*
16.17
hnr
f-
SRU'
w
Y
F"1
I
'
P"
isrj
!&I
rn
1Li
Hand-held Georadar allows swlft, inexpensive and precise inspection of a rail's foundations. Contrary
to expensive polnt drilling, a complete image of the ground structure up to five meters deep is
obtained, wlth depths up to 20 meters possible. Measurements, accurate to a centimetre, of the
strength of the ballast bed, PSS, FSS, pollut~on,ballast bags, silt, and water in the foundation layer
are possible. Georadar IS the Ideal means for quality inspection after construction, soil sanltatlon and
so on. The flexible, compact Georadar hand measurement system is used for special ~nspectlonon
short route sect~ons,switches and stations. The pgrtable, on-rail platform IS pulled manually and can
be lifted off the rail In the shortest possible time. lnspectlons on longer route sections is undertaken at
up to 40 km!h on the EM-SAT inspection vehicle or SKL installed system.
IR a ~AutoGraph
l
is the latest in a line of lightweight track geometry surveying systems. which measure
the actual geometry of the track. It dlffers from its predecessors in that it has been enhanced to measure track alignment and gauge
AutoGraph (Figure 16.106) IS a Track Geometry Survey Trolley. which measures actual track geometry. Weighing only 75kg with the heaviest single component of 1Skg and belng only 140 cm long, can
be easily lifted clear of the track by 2 men and assembled/dissembled In less than 5 mlnutes and carried in back of a car when dissembled. It can be pulled at the speed of 5 kmlh in two ways: manually
(power assisted if required), or by a host machine.
Autograph measures
parameters:
the
following
AutoGraph (Figure 16 107 and Flgure 16.108) comprises of two track geometry measuring components:
Measurement of Vertlcal Geometry and Cross level;
".
*I"
, >
e
mwc
iwi
hi
FS"1
I"
'&v,&*A-
'&:
7
,.
'.
1 -*-.. . '-..B
:-i- .-*
.'.-".,
,, ,
<N. *'
,=
-.
a:
'
i
'
9'
-'
' ? >
Q:;
*,
,
,
, --,
lwuli
P
d
C,
F""
1
-I
Ak~dernRailway Tr2ck
Typicai applications
I
-1
L
'1
- Follow up suspect track conditions highlighted by 'rough ride' or track recording car reports.
,",d
llrill!
I
I ~ ~ I I ~
16.17.4 MINIPROF
ippi
w
d
""1
The sensing element, whlch is identrcal for both
the wheel and rall un~t,cons~stsof a small magnetic wheel, w ~ t ha diameter of about 12mm,
attached to the extremity of two joint extensions. This magnetrc wheel guarantees a safe
contact durrng measurement. By moving the
magnetrc wheel manually the extensions rotate
as demonstrated in F~gure16.110. In fact t h ~ sIS
a polar coordinate system w ~ t h2 degrees of
freedom. The two angles are measured wlth
the a ~ d of optical encoders, hav~ng an
extremely high accuracy in the order of some
microns.
d
y
p*i
P"'l
d
w(
I
""1
blPi
""r
kid
9
d
"9
d
554
"7
i
Modern Ra/iway Track
From the recorded wheel profile the follow~ngparameters are calculated, stored and monitored on the
screen:
The definition of these parameters together with the admissible values according to UIC and RIV are
given In Figure 16 1'13
' 9
~'
7
Fs
The recordlng of one wheel profile takes about half a m~nute.Figure 16.115 shows an example of a
wheel prof~lemeasured on London Underground Lim~ted(LUL), together with the LT3 reference profile In the same p~cturethe curvature of both profiles is displayed.
A special version of the recordlng unlt was developed for measuring profile and structure of brake
disks for wear studres at Dan~shState Railways.
Undisturbed reference
transposed rails
Precise height, t ~ i t
Modein R a ~ l l ~ aTrack
y
I
Combined diameter and profile measurement with MINIPROF
In additon to the cross sect~onalprofile MINIPROF can also provide the wheel diameter, by assuming
that the train wheel is perfectly round. When the diameter IS known at one point of the cross-sectional
proflle, the drameter wrll be known at all points of the proflle, i.e , ~tis possible to give the diameter at
the top of the flange and at the running line in one measurement (Figure 16.123 and Figure 16.124).
The wheel dlameter can be determined from the measurement of the versine. To slmplrfy the calculatlons, the verslne IS considered Rsupport"above" the wheel.
h
the measured versine.
L
the distance between the centre of the supports
Rwheeit the radius of the wheel.
Rsupporttthe radlus of the supports.
R
equals Rwheel Rsupport.
+
The radius of a circle through the centres of the two supports (Pythagoras, see Figure 16.123):
R'
'wheel
(16.41)
( O ~ L ) ' + ( R - ~ )= ~( 0~5R ~ ) h2
~ +
2h
-
( 0 . 5 ~ ) ' +h2
- 'support
2h
( 1 6 42)
Fa
1J
fi
Fn;
1
R - d R 2 - ( 0 5 i i 2 = ?D - im
(16.43)
a
The accuracy of the diameter can be calculated from the first derivative of the verslne.
Diameter accuracy
--
-.-
Versine accuracy
ah
aD
Versine accuracy
D
-I -
iPsll
(1 6.44)
2 J 7 2
I
_i
The accuracy of the d~ameterdepends on L. the d~stancebetween the centres of the supports, and
the precision of the measured versine (Table 16.8).
' ,J
- ~ ~ - i q a ~ = m . - ~ ~ : ? ~ ~ w ~ . ~ ~ * : i ' ~ ~ ~ ? : - p y - y ~
.I ;~ ~ ~ w - w r ' ~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ p ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i f f r . ~ ~ ~
-thi.
La*
lIm
I.dr
Fm.
1n.n
fie,o
a.lm gnnu
r - a r zI ~ { I - F ~
im
1
l ~
4'
D=800
D=900
D=1000
L=250
0.19
0.24
0.31
L=150
055
0.72
0 89
L = 50
5.23
6 61
8.15
-8
'
1-i l
.rill. a
UuwCI*l
-b
'
Rail grinding
(1111
isvi
The reference profiles can either be new profiles or grinding templates. The program calculates res~duals. 1.e the difference between the actual profile and reference profile in curvilinear coordinates,
P
I
is3
p7
bm
itli
P
This means the offset is given perpendicular to the reference profile and the distance is measured
along the reference profile
The program can automatically position a rail template according to the CEN standards in such a way
that the template touches at the top of the rail and coincides with the point 14 mm below the rail
crown.
Figure 16.126 shows the template relative to the measured rail. whereas Figure 16 127 displays the
offsets measured perpendicular to the template in a curvilinear coordinate system
Ref.-alsgn.:
2.86
Profile-tilt: -6.27
dx:
6 . 8 5 mn
d * ~ : 3.51 rrm
-me--..-
---.
-*
. -. "'.-::c*.-..:.. .
>=*%-.
8 1
a
. & > "
, ,"
I"
.i 2
-*.;. .;.,.
-->
:i
"
'
1ItINIPROF calctilares
offsets perpendicular
to the ternplate
>-5
%,.
L,'.
r\
'2
. , ~.\
<:*.-$%;
::
1,.."+$J=-
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
Wheel marntenance,
- Rail maintenance;
grindrng for
i,
R"
Contact mechanrcs;
Wear,
WI
Steeringlcurve negotiation
16.17.5 RAILPROF
-.--
-4
JUII
[La.
In the e a r ' ' 9 8 0 ~NS Stadid an lntegra approach 10 the improvement of a geometh control, specially dedicated to welds
- -- 2 n d inln+"a. To make such a control effectrve accurate and versatile measur1"
methods are in@\,it=hln
-r-l [nlS
a .
.rrU
reason it was decided to develop a stra~ghtedge measuring
--V
JUII
"4LUUIc.
technrue
I d0
.
The extreme condrtions as regardng accuracy and enrironmerit were the- .
1 1 la1 t3d
- - r e - developments failed The RAILPROF system, however, Compl,eS
with the tlght specifications of IVS- . Fin!
, ,3u, 1~
, 128 show+ 2 nhntn-raph of the en1 iinrnont
---VE
Measuring principle
-600 0 00 0 00
-595 0 0 1 0 0 2
-590 0 02 0 03
The two sensors are located inside the housing and driven by a step motor. The latter is responsible
for the results not being influenced by the operator. Besides, the one button push to carry out a measurement has great advantages for safe operation. The measuring principle is explained in
Figure 16 129.The measuring base can be either 1000 mm (RAILPROF IOOO),or 1200 mm (RAILPROF 1200) In the 1200 version the measuring base can be reduced to 1000 mm via software
RAILPROF contains a built-in PC compatible processor For practical reasons RAILPROF is provided
I
naq
Cr3
iA"I
I
Lri
with a limited keyboard and a small screen They allow the operator to retrieve data like measured
profile, trend, short waves, versine, grinding measure, etc. Immediately after a measurement conclusons can be drawn without having to wait on downloading the data into a central computer
The data is sampled at an interval of 1 mm, and then condensed till data points every 5 mm. After
eachdigitally.
measurement the result is displayed on the LCD screen for direct assessment. both graphically
and
I
Definition of parameters
7
I
id
First the longitudinal proflle is determined, consisting of the deviation from a straght line connecting
the first and the last measuring point. This is displayed without further data processing For the other
parameters the profile is split into long waves (trend) and short waves.
The trend in every point is the mean value over a length of 10 cm at either side. The versilie of the
weld is calculated as the maximum value of the trend, so independent of the short waves A measure
for the amount of material to be ground is derived from the weighted difference between the recorded
profile and the calculated post grinding profile.
The short waves are calculated as the difference between profile and trend and play an important role
for corrugation. The average wavelength is determined by dividing the measuring length by two times
the number of zero crossings. The mean amplitude is the sum of all maximum values plus the sum of
all minimum values divided by the total number.
There are basically two options for processing the measured data to be selected by 'measuring welds1
and 'measuring corrugations'. The measured data points are processed as follows
- Determine the high pass component of the signal by applying a rectangular fllter with the edges at
plus and minus 10 cm;
1-
16 INSPECTIOfiJAND DETECTION
sYSTE~IS
h""
Corrugation
The h ~ g hpass part of the geometry is displayed on the LCD screen together with the following condensed information:
[mm];
[mm];
[mmim];
[mml;
- Average ampl~tude
[mml.
The grinding index is calculated as the average value of the material to be ground off. For the precise
defin~tionreference is made to the next section on welds.
Welds
The low pass pad of the signal is used to characterise the weld geometry. On NS the follow~nglimit
values are applied.
- Versine < 0 3 mm;
bd
J-'
----- -- -.
'-
-'
-.
- .- - ---
F
b
I
.,
kt,.,l
-T-c
:nP
., . "..>
',
<,
tJmlwF
n ~ VEST
~ iL P ~ F
rts
Rce
u
,l(,.L,NRi
,a,,=4
F
,r.E
"
,Oil
t+m
rry
.; ;i;no :
;::I
,,
<.nn
iin
.+-
+RoFr,-L
ira'no. ' G
n ?a nn
LYUFX
im
F"
Cre
Modern Ra~lwayfiack
16.18
11 1
Arnstelr,
_j
1'
A
1 '
"r(
hd
I
I
I
Sct~iphol~..~*dh
A-t'
7u
""1
B A M NBM Rail bv
Projektgesellschaft m b H
Warschauer Strag? 34-38
D-lo243 Berl~n
4800 DD Breda
The Netherlands
"f
kid
Hans BachrnannQger-ts.com
E-mail:
Thomas.Foege@ger-ts.com
www.bamnbm.nl
Gzs\lsr~wTw.4c:c
infocBbamnbm-rail.nI
~ Y ~ T E M S
VKCJI:i('l5:iScLC?$<E \FT
m
-ud
q7
7 7 HIGH-SPEED TRACKS
4-
HIGH-SPEED TRACKS
L
A7.1 .I Vehicle reactions
$"
Despite vehicle runnlng stability, wheellrail forces and car body accelerations at high speeds should
be confined to acceptable llmits As far as the track is concerned, these vehicle reactions can be influenced by the track geometry. In addition to the quasi-static components, which occur in curves, the
response components comprlse a dynamic part. The dynamlc components can be further split up into
low frequency steady-state contributions and high frequency impact loads occurring locally at welds
and generated by wheel flats.
On account of the quasi-static and low frequency loads, the track may not drsplace permanently In the
lateral drrection, i.e. the Prud'homme criter~onshould be met. To guarantee safety agalnst derailment,
the YIQ ratio should be less than a speciflc value, normally 1.2.For the sum of the quasi-static and
low frequency Q-force, i.e. the 97.5% value, DB apply a standard of 170 kN. According to [252],BR
calculations use 340 kN for the sum of the quasi-static, low frequency, and high frequency Q-force. In
the case of the TGV, a maxlmum Q-force of 137 kN was attained for the quasl-stat~cQ-force supplemented by twice the standard devlatlon of the low frequency dynamic component [231] T h ~ s67%
value of the Q-force is practically the same as the value applied to the German ICE
C
F
As far as passenger comfort is concerned, the quasi-static and low frequency dynamic car body
accelerations are dominant. In extreme cases a non-compensated lateral accelerat~onof 1 5 m/s2 IS
allowed For both the TGV and the ICE the absolute maxlmum for the total peak value of the car body
acceleration is set at 2.5mlsz. Under normal conditions the standard devlation of the car body accelerations will be limited to 0.2m/s2.
In the case of the various high-speed projects, extensive series of measurements have been performed to check that the llmits discussed earlier are not exceeded. A summary of the DB measurements on wheelirail forces, published in [147],was drscussed in Chapter 4.The 97.5% value of the
Q-force attributable to locomotives appears to Increase up to 150 kN at 250 kmlh. Frelght wagons
with 22 5 t axle loads exert the same Q-force on strarght track at 120 kmlh According to [231],
during
measurements on TGV trains a 67% value of the Q-force of 134 kN was found.
In [27]measurements on the German ICE are described. Figure 17.1shows the CY2, forces as a
function of speed, measured in a curve wlth R = 3400 m and in a curve wrth R3495 m and a cant
deficiency of 140 mm. In all cases the Prud'homme criterion was met. No acceleration at car body
level was found that exceeded 2.5m/s2.
PAlf
hi
p
iu
In order to test the viability of the system periodic acceleration measurements should be carried out
The safety llmits according to the SNCF are set as follows:
6 m/s2
2.5 mls2
3 m/s2
v .r 350 kmih
The above values are absolute safety criteria Under normal conditions the values of Table 17.2
should not be exceeded. With the opening of new lines these values are used d u n g the so-called
homologation runs in whlch the speed is step wise increased until the maxlmum llne speed plus 10 %
is achieved. These measurements are periodically repeated. If the values of Table 17 1 are exceeded
the SNCF should report this to the M1nlsti-y of Transport.
.-.
. .-
Fj
kd
1
P
17 HIGH-SPEED TRACKS
4 m/s2
1.5m/s2
1 75 m/s2
,.
For a stable runnlng performance of high-speed trains the equivalent conicity is a prime factor.
According to the European Traln Standards for lnteroperabllity (TSI) the following values should be
adhered to:
Speed range
0.25
0.20
0.10
0.30
0.25
0.15
i",
The SNCF's policy IS to start with a very low conlcity of 0 025,achieved by conical wheels with an
inclination of 1/40 Durlng service the conicity
increases t111
approximately 10,with exceptional
values of 0.13,the maxlmum value the SNCF
allows. The DB is starting with a much higher
equivalent conicity, in the order of 0.1,associated
with the philosophy of worn wheel profiles. DB's
maxrmum value IS 0.15for high-speed operat~on.
p"1
k
17.1.2
Track geometry
"2m
70 Prud'homme limit
0
200 210 220 230 240 250 260 270 280
Lateral forces at tract~veunlt
1 Y,,
w
I
1
3
Y 2
[kmlh]
forces at tract,ve
wheelset, curve R = 495 m , h, = 140 rnrn
70
PruddhornrneI I ~---------IL
I
50
40
30
20
10
_V [kmlh]
0
In the absence of a VRA system, track standards
70
80
90
100
110
have been developed based on practical expene w e . For instance, for 200 kmlh lines BR applies a F i g ~ i r e17 I bleasured /atela/ track force exerted by the
maximum value for alignment of 1.8mm ~ B and
~
SGerman ICE
for level a value which is 1.5 tlmes greater, i.e 2.7
mm. Thls is based on a vertical car body acceleration of o = 0.2 m/s2.
F
41
id .
F-
77 HIGH-SPEED T8ACKS
r
I-
r
04
03
02
P=
01
i.
0 03
r
k
0 01
P
kk
0 001
Figure 17 2 Target psd-fi~nctionfor level and allgnment for tracks operated at 300 km/h
pll
3
According to [186], SNCF applies a mean absolute value of 0.6 -0.8 mm, w h ~ l elocal peaks In cant
and level should be kept to 10 - 12 mm. These Mauzln car values apply to an extended measuring
base of 33 m obtalned by means of recolouring
In fact such an approach is too global as these standard dev~atlonsrefer to a waveband of 0 - 25 m.
This waveband covers the Q and Y forces qulte well, but car body acceleratlons originate from much
longer waves. For natural frequencies of the order of 0.7 to 0.9 Hz the dom~natingwavelengths at 300
kmlh are 119 - 93 m. For thls reason the total measuring range should be extended to a wavelength
of about 120 m This waveband is too long to determine one standard devlation and, therefore,
should be split up, for Instance, as follows:
- 3 - 25 m. short-wave geometry associated wrth Q and Y forces, automatic, tamplng actions, and
exceedences due to local ~rregular~ties;
PI
h
experience
In Flgure 16.102 psd funct~onsfor different types of track are given. These functions have been estlmated over a track length of about 100 km each. Regardless of the track type, the shapes are very
similar There IS also a dlstinct correlation between short-wave and long-wave irregularrtles. The psd
functions for NS UIC 54 concrete track are extremely good and may be considered as the best possible rn practice Flgure 16.101 shows another set of psd functions. Except for the BR .ones, they were
recorded on conventional speed lines The 6 R spectra refer to tracks for V = 200 kmlh. The target
spectra for 300 kmlh lines, presented in Figure 17.2, have been derived from thls ~nformation.
Standard devlations which are to be used as target value and as limit value according to Table 17.4
have been derlved from these spectra.
Waveband
Al~gnment
Level
otarget ImmI
011rn,tfmmI
3-25m
10
1.5
0.7
10
25 - 70 m
20
30
13
20
70- 120 m
2.7
4.0
34
5.0
Otarget
[mmI
"ilmit
[mmI
Tabie 171. Target and 11rn1tstandard devlations for h~gh-speedtracks operated at 300 krn/h
P!
17 HIGH-SPEED TRACKS
17.1.4
This section specifies the standards which should be applied in order to maintaln the requ~redquality
level on high-speed tracks The standards are basically formulated in terms of vehlcle reactions, 1.e.
wheellra~lforces and car body accelerations If the transfer functions between track geometry and
vehicle react~onsare known, the vehlcle reactions can be calculated directly mak~nguse of the measured track geometry This requlres an ultra-fast on-line computing system as described in Chapter 16
Aga~n,if the transfer functions of the rolling stock are known it is, in principle, posslble to make some
estimates of the admissible geometry to prevent vehicle reactions exceeding therr lrmit values In this
process one should realise that several geometrical components will contribute to a specific reaction
and there is, therefore, no unique relationship between maxlmum vehicle response values and
admissible track geometry
The steady-state vehicle reactions have a random character and are expressed in terms of standard
deviations Isolated or local ~rregularitiespossess a deterministic character and are expressed In
terms of peak values.
Rail geometry
I
The recommended standards for rail geometry are specified in Table 17.5.
If welds are produced or inspected manually, ti IS recommended that a 1.2 m straight edge provided
with two LVDTs be appl~ed0 2 m apart as described In Chapter 10. The recommended admissible
deviations are:
- versine: k
0 2 mm,
- step:
0.1 mm.
If these standards are exceeded the welds should be straightened and ground, for Instance using
Plasser and Theurer STRAITlGWM220 machines.
Waveband
Slgnal
Standard
Peak Pno,,
0.03- 0 3 r
n
03-10m
10-30m
kd
onor,
200 rn section
90 %-value MAINS
12 m/s2
If displacement is measured
0 05 rnm
72 m/s2
014mm
The recommended standards for vehicle reactions are specified in Table 17.6 The IS0 filter characterlstlcs are presented in Figure 6.26 and Fgure 6.27. Non-compensated lateral acceleration is defermined according to (16.31). The derivative of the lateral acceleration is used in expressions (16.33)
and (16.34). The Prud'homme ratio follows from (16.40).
Requirements f o r c h e c k i n g track g e o m e t r y
17 HIGH-SPEED TRACKS
ivloclern Ra~lway7iack
17 HIGH-SPEEC TRACKS
I
i
1I,
1..
C,
!hi
17.2.4
Track Laying
For the 57 km long test section concrete sleepers in ballast were selected. The prestressed monoblock sleepers were fitted with Pandrol e-clip fasteners. The rail profile was UIC60.
On all bridge decks ballast mats with a thickness of 25 mm were ~nstalledon top of the protective
waterproofing layer over the bridge to reduce the track stiffness. All the track components have been
tested, e~therin Korea or abroad, to ensure that they meet the requirements of the high-speed track
performance specifications.
p
b
d
n
lj
p
d
7 1 HIGH-SPEED TPACKS
""U.2
Id
In six successrve steps, ballastrng and tamping operations ensured that the track IS lifted to its final
level, provrdlng a mrnimum ballast thickness of 350 m m Dynamic stabrlrzing is carr~edout three times
during the lrftrng process.
77 HIGH-SPEED T2ACKS
ix'
I
17.3
Dimensions of railway t u n n e l s
In the design of tunnels the dimension of the cross section is an important factor for the total costs of
the tunnel. In tunnels the resistance IS greater than in the open air. At the entrance and the exit there
are sudden air pressure variations. wh~chare uncomfortable for passengers because they can cause
problems like ear pain and headache These air pressure variations have an effect in the whole tunnel
because they cause air-pressure waves in longitudinal direction. Especially the ~ntroductionof highspeed tralns, wlth speeds greater than 300 kmihour and wlth sometimes many long tunnels made a
new approach of this Item necessary. In the next part a short explanation IS given of the problem
associated w ~ t hrunnlng at high-speed trains through tunnels. At flrsi there is a cornpartson between
the srtuation rn the open air and in a tunnel.
P'
L
17.3.2
In the open air the train resistance is normally considered under the assumption that the air is incompressible. The air resistance normally consists of two components as shown in Figure 17.8:
- Difference in air pressure at the front and the rear of the train due to air pressure
variations along
~ l nf
t thn cl t
~ D C I
Turbulent flow
r f - ~ n
r n c ; ~ t - --6
~ 4~
+--:-
R!
Surface
res~stance
----- - - - - _ _
D~versedflow
FI
Ring tra~ntunnel
-----
__f
---b, In a tunnel
1
I
7
u
-t-------
&?I
II u
- ---
Flbi
'rri
___f
It"la
- ---
Ps
Rlcidern Ra~lrvayPack
17 HIGH-SPEED TRACKS
I
I
c
Line 1 compression wave (blue 11ne)caused by the front of the
tra~nwhen enter~ngthe tunnel
Line 2. depression wave caused when the rear of the tran
entering the tunnel
Line 3 position of the front of the tra~nIn the tunnel
IS
17 HIGH-SPEED TRAC,ys
Real t~rne[s]
Figure 17 13 Influence of afr pressure wfthout shafts and
perforations
17.3.7
External alr-pressures cause Internal air-pressures because a train is not air t~ght.The speed of
reduclng the difference In air-pressure in- and outside is depending on the form of the leak in the exterior of the trarn and on the magnitude of the alr-pressure-d~fferenceitself.
The project organlsation High Speed Line South in The Netherlands developed for the new railway
llne from Amsterdam to the Belgium border a model in wh~chthe train is a permeable and compressible box Depending on the shape of the leak the stream will be viscose or not.
Not-viscose stream
A not-vlscose stream is proportional to the square root of the difference of the in- and external pressure.
3
dt
p,
pe
C,
Sgn:
= -c,sgn(p,-
p , ) J F j
(17.3)
= Internal air-pressure
= external air-pressure
= constant factor, to be determined with a static test for the specific leak
If p, - p, > 0 the value is 1 and if p, - p, < 0 the value is -1.
I"!
Viscose sfream
ibi
If the flow
IS
viscose the pressure variation is dlrectly proport~onalto the difference in air pressure:
-I
d'/
-dl
-~,sgnip,-p,)
C2 is dependent on the leaks, the sound propagation speed and the volume of the train.
(17.4)
-93
17 HIGH-SPEED TF?ACKS
I
For safety reasons (for example if a window is broken) a maximum external pressure varlatlon of
L
I
I
10 kPa is attained.
For tralns a model exists (not shown) with a Wohler curve which shows a relation between the
number of air pressures on the train and the allowed intensity of these air pressures.
-I
iil
R e s u l t s of c a l c u l a t i o n s f o r t u n n e l s in t h e H S L in The Netherlands
17.3.9
,
131161
Table shows computed results for the required square meters of the Cross section of two tunnels in
the HSL South wlth a different length and a different combination of shafts and periorations,
Lrj
Length
kmlh
TS (1
TS (2)
TS ( 3 )
GH
3001220
7200
2*80
2*60
2*50
OM
3001220
1369
2*59
2*49
2*45
PI
I
brvi
P/
hi
pnl
ki
Design speed
TGVISMT
Tunnel
P1
I
lul
ma
Lli
PI
1
GH
OM
TGV
SMT
17.4
Maglev Applicatjons
17.4.1
Introduction
tul
pm\
I
k
u
il
A ~ Y
brl
"*1
mi
~1
hi
There is a growing interest in the possible use of magnetic trains for very high-speed traffic, Test
tracks exists in Germany and Japan and application in operational lines is cons~dered.With magnetic
trans the supporting action is achieved by electromagnet~clevitation while the propulsion is also performed magnetically by means of a linear motor. In test tracks Very high speeds were reached up to
500 kmlh.
There is a basic difference between the German Transrapid system and the Japanese system, In the
German system the levltat~onis achieved by attracting magnets in the vehicle and in the guideway,
resulting in lifting the vehicle. In the Japanese system the levitatlon forces are generated as a result of
the speed of the train, where the super conducting magnets in the vehicle Interact with the coils in the
sidewalls to generate the l~ftingforces. This means that first the tram 1s running on wheels and is lev,tated after a certain speed has been exceeded.
ell
rrsd
17.4.2
The Japanese s y s t e m
ma
I&/
In the Japanese system the "8" figured levitatlon coils are installed on the sidewalls of the guideway
When the on-board superconducting magnets pass at a level of about several centimeters below the
center of these coils, an electrlc current is induced wlthin the coils, which then act as electromagnets
temporarily As a result, there are forces which push the superconducting magnet upwards and ones
which pull them upwards simultaneously, thereby levitating the vehicle. The principle IS illustrated in
Figure 17 18 The distance between vehicle and guideway is depending On the speed and lies in the
order of 10 cm.
kloder:7 Ra~icvayTrack
17 HIGH-SPEED TPACKS
Gu~deway
Figure 17 18 Levtratton prtnctpie
hiode111Railwa)/ Tiack
Propulsion System
The synchronous longstator linear
motor of the Transrapid maglev system is used both for propulsion and
braking The function of this non-contact propulsion and brak~ng system
can be derived from the functional
pr~nc~ple
of a rotating electric motor
whose stator rs cut open and stretched
along both sides of the guideway.
Instead of a rotary magnetic field, the
motor generates an electromagnetic
traveling field The support magnets rn
the vehicle function as the rotor (excitation portion) of the electrrc motor
The principle is explained in the
Figure 17.24 and Figure 17.25
In contrast to conventional ra~lway
systems, the prlmary propulsion component of the Transraprd maglev system - the stator packs with threephase motor w~ndrng - are not
Installed in the vehicle but in the
guideway.
By supplying alternating current to the
three-phase motor wrnding, an electromagnetic traveling field is generated which moves the vehicle, pulled
along by its support magnets which
act as the excrtation component (see
Figure 17.24)
Electromagnet~cLev~tat~on
Support
.The speed can be continuously regulated from standstill to full operat~ngspeed by varying the frequency of the alternat~ngcurrent. If the
d~rectionof the travelrng field is reversed, the motor becomes a generator whrch brakes the vehicle
without any contact. The brak~ngenergy can be fed back into the public network.
The longstator linear motor in the guideway is
divided into individual motor sections which a
only supplied with power as the vehicle passe
~ o w e nf
r the sq l ~ h of
The location and the installed power
stations depends on the requirements on th
propulsion system. In sections where high
" thrust
is required, e.g. gradients, acceleration, and
an
braking sections, the power of the substation
substations is
higher than on level sections which are travelle
at constant speed. And because the prim
component of the propulsion system is insta
in the guideway, Transrapid vehicles need not
carry the entire motor power for the peak
requirements, as is the case with other types of
vehicles. The support and guidance system is
supplied with energy without contact via the linear generators integrated into the support ma
nets. No overhead wires are required for the
- . .-
.-. ...~.
..
. . .
.,.'
Figure 1 7 27 Principle
of sw~tchstructures
~~TE&~L&T-Z
Tunnels
1
With its flexible route alignment parameters. the Transrapid guideway can be adapted to a great
extent to the landscape. Therefore, tunnels are seldom necessary, even in hilly and mountainous terr a i n Even when they are requlred, the tunnel cross-sections necessary for the Transrapid are smaller
than those of railways. This 1s due to the smooth, aerodynam~cshape of the vehicle and small clearance envelope. Typical tunnel cross-sections for tunnels longer than 150 m and vehicles with 2 to 8
sect~onsare given in Table 17.11.
Speed
250 kmlh
400 kmlh
450 kmlh
70 m2
180 m2
225 m2
36 m2
85 m2
120 m2
Table 17 11
Fiin
1 7 HIGH-SPEED TRACKS
Two features of the Transrapld maglev system allow it to have extremely favourable route alignment
parameters. These are the act~vegcl~danceof the veh~clealong the guldeway and the propulsion sys,tem (motor) in the guideway. With these, gradients of 10% can be cl~mbedand curves with t ~ g h radii
t
and cants of up to 16" can be travelled wlthout difficulty. These favourable parameters also allow the
li
gu~dewayto be flexlbly adapted to the landscape wlthout massive earthworks and ~tIS often possible
I
to collocate it with exlsting traff~croutes, thus saving precious land and cost.
1
1
,
1
j ~ e s ~ i the
t e high speeds of up to 500 kmlh the safety IS relatrvely great. The vehlcle vrrtually cannot
derail because ~twraps around its gu~deway.And since grade crossings are not allowed, noth~ngcan
k e t In ~ t sway. Collisions between Transrapld vehlcles are also ruled out due to the techn~callayout of
dthe system and the section-wise switch~ngof the guideway motor The vehicle and the traveling f~eld
of the guldeway motor move synchronously, 1.e w ~ t hthe same speed and In the same dlrectlon Add[qtlonally, the section of the longstator h e a r motor in which the vehicle is moving is only swrtched on as
ujthe vehicle passes. Other Important elements of the safety concept are.
automatlc tram protection
,-passlve protectlon equipment to prevent damage to the guideway structure and violation of the vehlcle's clearance envelope
J
automatlc lnspectlon of the guideway
;protectlon of the passengers dur~ngboarding and exlt In the stations by means of platform doors and
I gap bridges
9
I
Environmental issues
al
,acornpared wlth other transport systems, the Transrapld is extremely quiet. There is no rolllng or propulslon noise At speeds up to 250 kmlh, the Transrapld hovers almost soundless Due to the non"Icontact levltat~onand propulsion technology, the nolse emlsslon at speeds above 250 kmlh is mainly
jdetermlned by aerodynamic nolse. The pass-by nolse levels of the Transrapid have been measured
at the Transrapld Test Facrl~ty(TVE). The levels for elevated guldeway compared w ~ t hother rail sys-$terns are shown In Figure 17 28. For at-grade gu~deway,the levels are even lower.
1
The alr flow surround~ngthe Transrapid has been extensively studied at the Transrap~dTest Facllity
T(TVE) The aerodynamic effects are comparable to a gentle w ~ n d .The measured air flow veloc~ty
along the vehlcle at a dlstance of 1 m and a speed of 350 kmlh was smaller than 10 kmih.
p ~ d Test
Fac~l~ty
VE) have shown
at the vlbrat~onsat a
stance of 25 m and
a speed of 250 kmlh,
lcal In urban areas,
rcept~on threshold
a dlstance of 50 m,
o vlbratlon IS percelv-
rn
18
18.1
Introduction
I
Manual
rna~ntenance
5%
Maintenance and renewal of large railway networks require huge amounts of money. For example, the annual expenditure for NS permanent way
(prrce level 2000) amounts to about EUR (E)180
mill~on(Figure 18.1). Only 25 % of thrs value concerns mechanised track maintenance and 5 %
manual track maintenance It Is, therefore, obvious Figure I8 1 Total annual expendfture for maintenance and
that the high expenses are caused by track r e n e ~ a l a t N S ( p n c e J e ~ e l 2 ~ 0 0 )
renewal To achieve an effectrve cost reduction the
decrsion makers need to be provided wrth adequate information. W ~ t hobjective data of t h ~ ssort, processes become more transparent and, thus, can be better controlled
1
F
F
ir
f'
I
bh
As will be explained in more detail in Chapter 16, computer-arded Track Maintenance Management
Systems (TMMS) logcally represent a constitutive part of Asset Management Systems (AMS) However, until AMS become sufficiently developed and fully accepted as a concept, TMMS will exrst more
as ~solatedsystems Even as isolated system, if designed properly, they represent invaluable tools for
any track and/or ir?frastructure manager
In order to properly manage track maintenance, a vast amount of data is needed Types of data to be
collected for computer-arded TMMS are summarrsed in Figure 18 2. For an efficient analysis of the
track the data had to be divided into segments In fact, all informat~onis linked through the track segment to which it refers.
This information IS by no means restricted to just data from automatic recording systems. Other data.
such as from visual inspections, various layout and operating data, data about speed reducbons, spot
L
p
ka
13 TRACK
'
MAI~~ITEI'IAfiICE
bIANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Modern Railway T r a c ~
'
marntenance, replacement of track components, and, particularly, maintenance history and costs
should be taken rnto consideratron as well
1 Segment length could dlffer from one rarlway organrsatron to another, and generally depends on the
rarlways' ma~ntenancepolrcy However, In most cases thls length corresponds to the segment length
for
whrch the track recording car produces qual~ty~ndrces.Track recording car data, on the other
I
I hand, mostly refer to sectrons 100 or 200 m long, or alternatively, are stored on a kllometre basrs.
Finally, the rnformatron needs to be aggregated Into long "route" sect~onsIn order to obtain an assessr ment of the qualrty or needs of a total route section between major points on the network
I
I d
18.2
\
I
Spec~ficdata are needed for proper monrtoring of the various types of track deterroration. Some baexamples of these data are l~stedbelow.
LJ
SIC
I Geometry measurements (alignment, vertical, twrst, crosslevel, gauge, quality rndices, number of
faults, other user-speclfic parameters)
2 lnspectlons and other m e a s ~ ~ r e m e n t s
General conditron;
#I@!
I
wui
rm
Rail failures (number of failures, number of failures outside welding zones, % of defectwe
ra~ls);
wd
I
Rarl wear (vertical wear of rail head, lateral wear of rail head, chamfered angle of rail head);
Corrugation (amplitude of corrugation, vertical acceleration).
R!
mi
In addition to the specfic data. there are also general data w h ~ c hshould in any case be collected for
a section of track These data are referred to as "infra data" and usually consist of:
'1
1 L a y o ~ and
~ t operating
Ful
ud
Loads (annual load [MGT], maximum axle load [tons], date from which data
IS
valid, etc.);
"1
%i
1 M
Speeds (speed of freight trarns and passenger trains, date from which a speed
IS
valid);
P"1
bsl
1
I
I4Pj
-,
I
Modern Railway Track
'
\ssimilar sections of track may have very different rates of deterioration and maintenance improveiients (restoration), ~tIS necessary to collect geometry data In very short sections for the purpose of
bptimisng maintenance and identifying the influencing factors.These sect~onsmay be as short as 200
IF. The types of data that are requtred are as follows:
I
!
I/
- Maintenance hlstory;
I1
I
,JI
Vertical geometry;
- Lateral geometry;
lnfra data.
Vertlcal and lateral geometry is usually measured by track recording cars like EURAILSCOUT (see
16.9 They enable the standard deviations to be calculated, which has been shown to be usepurposes. In some cases vehicle reactions calculated from recorded geometry are
used to assess track quality. When measurements have been made over two or more tamping and
T i n g cycles, average values for both the "deterloration rate'' and the "restoration rate'' (improvement
om ma~ntenance)can be found for each section (Figure 18.3). Examples of such analyses can be
g u n d in literature.
fl
118.5
Y
A general explanation of the diagnostic principle can be found In Figure 18.4. The basic idea of the
diagnosis principle is that the behaviour of the track geometry of a certain segment, expressed by
leans of a certain geometry parameter, IS monitored in t ~ m eand, thus, captured.[l43]
lsvd
green I ~ n eshows the hypothetical deterloration of the track geometry ~fthe track had been
4:fthetothick
deteriorate without any maintenance ~nput.On thls line three phases can be distinguished: the
Wrst phase, often referred to as "youth", occurs immed~atelyupon (re)construction or completion of a
renewal work and characterises rapld and substantla1 deterioration caused by the initial settlements
1 4
ird
I
.L
I
ill
b
--..
-..............................
-,, 1,
-\-:,-
I
L -
$ 7
- ,
--,
I
,
<
ir
Traffic (MGT)
Modern Railway T r ~ c k
'
of the track (Figure 18 4 marked w t h "a"). This perlod is also hlghly unpredictable and differs conslderably from one track section to another. It is, therefore, very hard to model. This is why this perrod is
usually disregarded by discarding any geometry measurements performed within t h s period from
analyses. The length of this period is fortunately quite short which diminishes the consequences of
omiss~on.
ik
The second phase, which occurs once the track has been sufficiently stab~lised,shows a more or less
linear deterioration pattern This kind of behavlour occurs durlng most of the track's life-tlme and this
is exactly the period on which most of the analyses are based (Figure 18.4, marked wrth "b").
The th~rdperiod occurs in the latter part of the track's lifetime and 1s characterlsed by a more and
more rapid deterioration which eventually even takes on a more or less exponent~alform (Figure 18.4
, marked wlth "c") Normally, this is a situation whlch should never be allowed to happen under any
circumstances, as it could effect the safety of traffic as well Thls IS avolded by applying certaln appropriate M&R works at a much earlier stage, 1.e there is always a preset malntenance threshold value
(horizontal purple Iine) whlch, when reached, triggers certain M&R actlvlty
Based on this concept, measurement data within the normal (linear) part of the track behaviour are
analysed. By doing this the track geometry behavlour is "captured" by calculating the trend llne
through the measured polnts and extrapolating it. Provided that the malntenance threshold has been
set (purple horizontal Iine), the moment (or the tonnage) when t h ~ sextrapolated line will reach the
threshold IS calculated, markrng the moment when certarn M&R activity, e.g tamplng, should be performed.
However, this is just one aspect of the analysis. After tamplng has been performed, the parameter
value (normally standard devlatlon) drops abruptly, I e the qualrty Increases. In Figure 18.4 thls is
represented by the vertrcal distance marked wlth red (real parameter drops), or the blue vertical distance and vertical drops marked by the thlck blue saw-tooth llne (simulated parameter drops).
After the quallty has been improved by tamping, the deterloratron process will start again However,
several things will change over trme as the track grows older The flrst thlng that changes is the efficiency of tamping, i.e. the intensity of the "vertical drop" This can be observed by looklng at the 11ne
showing the "real behaviour" of the track (red vertical d~mensloningIlne) or by looking at the simulated linear 11ne(thlck blue saw-tooth-like one) But ~tbecomes even more clear from the dashed red
line whlch shows thls change over t ~ m e
Another thrng that changes is the "deterioration rate", i.e. the slope of the line defined by measured
polnts (represented by green angle marked with a, & a,) Both of these two events have their impact
on the requlred tamping frequency whlch becomes higher and higher, 1.e. the time period between
two tamping works (tamping cycle) becomes shorter and shorter Eventually, the tamping frequency
becomes so hrgh that rt no longer makes sense to tamp. However, actron definitely needs to be taken,
e g some other M&R activrty 11keballast renewal
Thls klnd of logic was also adopted by the ECOTRACK system which determines the optimal work to
be done on a certain track section, 1.e for the decision-making process incorporated In ECOTRACK.
The global idea is to analyse the track elements' condition from as many aspects as possible. This is
why a track condition database should be quite extensive as explained earlier. The goal IS to enable
the track manager to see the "big picture", i.e. to s~multaneouslydisplay all kinds of rnformation that
can influence the condition of the track, In order to search for the real cause of certain track problems
and reach decisions about the best posslble remedlal actions. Thls decision making can be performed erther manually, displaying and overlaying all sorts of ~nformation,or automatically uslng the
predefined decis~onrules.
Unfortunately, despite the wish to see all of these data displayed In one place in a user-fr~endlymanner, track managers, In fact, usually do not possess most of the data. A good computer-aided declsion support system should therefore be able to work with as little data as provided. Luckily,
nowadays, there 1s hardly any rallway organlsatron that does not at least possess geometry measure.
$"
LL
fl
r"L1
m
m
!
bbi;
wl
Id
8
k
I
Z
I
Id
I
18 TRACK MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
I '
ments data Even wlth only this data computer-a~dedDSS should already be able to reach very sound
I - b e c ~ s i o n s Knowledge
.
about the other data and rules that process them could then help the track
managers to see what kind of analyses could be performed w ~ t hthem and what klnd of decisions
could be made. Ultimately, thls could then serve as a motive for the track managers to start collecting
and using this data in order to reach even better dec~sionsin future.
~ '1
4 8.6
Data transfer to a
,en,ra,c,,puter
pla
d
rn
Li
ui
1-1
"
"
-~
J
7 bays (wheel c~rcumference)
,-i
EMS
Software peak.
IJ
'*;
18.7
Over the years the rall managers (tramway and rallway companles) showed a growing need to perform rall management more rationally and more effic~entlyfor the following reasons.
- To be less dependent on the individual know-how of co-workers;
"1
I
d
fl
d
rn
I
Therefore a platform of experts from rail companles In the Netherlands and the TU Delft was created
to look at the feas~bllityof an Integral rat~onalr a ~management
l
system (in analogy to the earlier development of the rat~onalroad pavlng system).
The following d e f ~ n ~ t ~was
o n formulated:
Rational rail management is aimed at the objective assessment of the qualitative and quantitative
state of the rail infrastructure, after which, based on a system of objective rules and standards, decis ~ o n smay be taken regarding the maintenance and the renewal of rail infrastructure.
lYiYi
I
'
7
I
18.8
ECOTRACM
18.8.1
Introduction
A major development in the field of rational track management was the ECOTRACK project. The UIC
(Un~onlnternatlonal des Chemlns de Fer) gave ERR1 (European R a ~Research
l
Institute) the task to
develop a decislon support system in order to manage track ma~ntenanceand renewal (M&R) In an
optimal way Its goal was to increase the productivity of permanent way The system was supposed to
be based on modern d~agnosticmethods Including expert systems for eng~neering(analys~sof track
- '
.--.A--+Y"Y
Y.,.~..
.A_---
_-
I
m
r
Modein Railway Track
sections, geometry. and equipment) and for medium and long-term management (plannlng and optlmrzat~onof avarlable resources allocation).
The development of the ECOTRACK system took place wrthin ERRl's D l 8 7 Committee between
1991 and 1998, and some 24 European Railways took part in various phases of its development, see
Figure 18.6.
18.8.2
Overview
The costs of permanent way and its maintenance are very substantial and form a large
part of the total infrastructure expenditure
Any reduction of these costs has a significant impact on the overall efficiency of rnfrastructure management. It is, therefore, of
primary importance to those responsible for
the state of the permanent way and its maintenance that it is kept at a given quality level
for the perrod required at as low cost as possible
The process of determrning whether, when,
where, and how to intervene, deciding on an
optimum allocation of resources, and minimizing costs IS very complex because different track sectrons tend to behave differently
under the effects of loading It is also complex because decrs~onprocesses for M&R
works are closely interrelated technically
and economically, and decision making for
M&R plans is based on a large quantity of
technical and economic informatron, extenslve knowledge, and, above all, expenence.
Ii
rri
ri
F"
L
8
{?LJ
F
k!L
/+-
ECOTRACK sofiware enables the decision makers of railway operators to plan expend~tureand the
financial consequences of M&R policies.
The general idea of ECOTRACK development was to solve the most complex link in the track management sequence of operations - making decisions about the M8R Work Plan (see Figure 18.7). In
order to achieve that, complex rnterrelationships between the in-situ condition to which the track is
subjected (e.g annual tonnage. axle loads. speeds), the state of the track geometry and track material, and varlous M&R works input had to be resolved and formulated (Figure 18.8). These interrelationships are referred to as "rules". Some of these rules represent the deterioration process, some
represent the restoration process as a consequence of the M8R works. and some represent expenence rules based on the decades of M&R practice on various European railways.[l41].
P
Ffgure 18 7 E c o T R A c K - General concept
F"
y!
p
w
i?"
d
F~gure16 16 Track Quabty Display
sr(
This ~nformation,for example when coupled wlth the informat~onon the work h~storyor the budget
F i ~ s t o r ycould
,
show the Infrastructure manager the effect of budget cutbacks made in the past on the
A v e r a l l track quality He could then, for example, easily see to what extent these cutbacks caused the
drop In the overall track quallty, or by how much the certain increase In the M&R work input d ~ d
prove the overall track quallty He could then use these findings for future budget adjustments and
gotiatlons.
$nother useful optlon is the Track Quallty D~splay(Figure 18.16) which offers the user the ability to
,ee the quallty of each track segment (usually 200 m, but could be of any length) according to any of
he defined track qualrty parameters. The user can choose whrch parameters will be displayed and rn
which order, so that he can overlay different interrelated parameters in order to get a "complete picFrure". For example, the obvious increase in the parameters' values observed in the r ~ g h part
t
of the
N r s p l a y (marked wrth the box) was not caused by some unexpected and unexpla~nabletrack deterloration, but was rather due to the fact that a set of switches located on this track segment (marked wlth
circle) caused the higher measurement values on that track sectlon. Thls, however, could have
urckly been rnferred if only the measured parameters had been superimposed on the track layout
display, which would have allowed the set of swltches to be clearly seen. W~thoutthe Track Quality
?Display, the infrastructure manager could have lost a lot of tlme figuring out thls sudden Increase in
, kdhe measurement values.
'd
m
LJ
P'
I
fl//odern R a i h a v Track
Finally, perhaps the most useful option IS the Track Qualrty Evolution Display (Figure 18.17). Thrs feature serves as a basrs for future M&R works planning. Basically, the parameter measurements performed over a certaln amount of time at regcrlar trme rntervais are used to "capture" the track
behavro~ir Except for the short period followrng the performance of M&R works and the period of
extreme track detsrioration at the end of the track elements' llfe when rapid and non-llnear deterioratlon can be observed, the track usually takes up a linear deterioration rate.
Thrs rate, or behaviour, IS deduced from the consequent measurements and, thus, the future condition can be foreseen, i.e. extrapolated. If the allowable threshold is already defined for this particular
parameter, the moment can be calculated when thls parameter will cross the threshold. Thls will be
the moment when certaln corresponding MStR work shou!d be performed. This process is used as the
main basis for scheduling the M&R works. The process of captur~ngbehavrour, defin~ngthe threshold,
and determlnlng whlch work type(s) should be performed In which c~rcumstancesIS referred to as
"Rules" in ECOTRACK [142].
These "Rules" represent the core of ECOTRACK's inference engine, or its knowledge base Durlng
the development of ECOTRACK some 173 rules were gathered from the marntenance pract~cesof
the aforementioned 24 European Rallways After an extensive and thorough selection process, 54
rules were adopted and included as standard rules in the ECOTRACK knowledge base. However,
these rules can always be turned off and on, mod~fied,and added to so that ECOTRACK can fit any
specific Rarlway policy.
Moreover, these rules can only be used if the data, which they are supposed to analyse, are avarlable Thls IS why, very often, ECOTRACK users only utlllse a certarn portion of the available rules On
the other hand, the ex~stingrules which are not used at the moment may form an Incentive for Railways to start collecting the data for them, so that even more rellable diagnoses and decisions may be
had
F~nally,ECOTRACK possesses also an extremely beneficial option to simulate the future conditions
that might occur on a certatn track network. Here, the user can change the future speeds, annual tonnage and axle loads (Figure 18.18) and see the resultrng impact on the future marntenance and
renewal costs and track quallty
7---
M o d e ~ nRailway nack
19
The last two decades of the twentieth century have seen the emergence of computer-aided track
marntenance and renewal systems based ever-increasing amount of data. Problems of inaccessrbilrty
regardrng the requtred data, especially the data in the digital format sultable for the automatic analyses, which were present during the eighties, were largely overcome during the nineties. This has enabled much better and rel~abletrack condition analyses, and prompted the development of comprehenslve conditron-based decrsion support systems for track marntenance and renewal, such as
ECOTRACK.
On the other hand, the development of systems lrke ECOTRACK necessitated further development of
,
wlth the constantly rrsrng
more sophisticated and more reliable track deterioration models. T h ~ salong
amount of hrgh-qualrty track conditron data available, made it clear that track condrtron and related
marntenance and renewal management could no longer be considered separately from other railway
rnfrastructure elements. Instead, rt became obvious that track management had to be coupled to substructure management, track structure management, overhead lrnes management, etc.
The reasons for that were numerous Frrstly, rt was long known that the other rarlway infrastructure
elements, l ~ k esubstructure for example, had very significant influence on the track superstructure
behavlour T h ~ swas especially true at the locatrons where persistent and recurring problems with
track geometry were observed However, untrl the high-quality data were made sufficiently avarlable
and untrl systems like ECOTRACK emerged, thrs could never be suff~cientlyquant~f~ed.
The reason
for that was that only by using these systems it would become possible to overlay many different
kinds of track condition information at the same time, thereby enabling the condrtlon evaluations to be
made for many aspects
The lack of reliable, efficient, and cost-effectrve methods for continous and repetrtlve substructure
monrtoring additionally hampered the problem Secondly, ever Increasing need and strict regulations
regarding track availabrlrty, both of which becoming increasrngly pronounced during the nrneties,
made the joint management of all rallway infrastructure absolutely necessary These two reasons,
along wrth the always present strrve for h~gherefficiency and cost reduction, have inrtiated the
appearance of a new management concept, which was usually referred to as Asset Management or
Asset Management System (AMS)
Preventwe
Maintenance
"1
_J
1
g R,4/Lbl/Ar/ASSET il/iAfilAGEME111T S Y S T E I ~ I S
~Nithina so defined Railway AMS. previously described (computer aided) track maintenance mand g e m e n t system (TMMS) would represent only one of the integrated modules However. this new
position did not Ilmt the abilities of a TMMS On the contrary, it allowed even broader and more accu-Tale consideration of the problem.
Ld
ly9.l
d
1I
AMS has gained its importance during the second half of the nineties. In an attempt to achieve a bet?er and more efficient railway system, it was soon discovered that the complexity of interrelations
&&ween the management of infrastructure. track availability, roll~ngstock, work force. maintenance
machinery, material, and. above all, budget could not be efficiently resolved without the comprehenMsive AMS
rui
At the i a m e time, ~tshould not be forgotten that, for example, European railway networks have a
ncombined length of more than 200.000 km, with a book value estimated at more than EUR 350 billion,
b a n d figures of similar significance can also be found in North-Amer~caand elsewhere.
p,,Thi~ IS why a significant rlse of ~nterestfor such systems worldwide was not surprising at all. Perhaps
Ithe best and most recent example comes from the United Kingdom where Railtrack has Initiated the
*.development of a large AMS called MIMS, which should serve and be served by not only Railtrack,
but also by other maintenance contractors and traffic operating companies. The core elements of
Rll
AMS are shown in Figure 19.1 [12].
Other b a s ~ cconst~tutiveparts of an AMS are:
d-
9.2
Development of an AMS
The development of the Railway Infrastructure related part of an AMS is usually divided into two
hases. The first phase represents the design and population of the AMS database and definition of
the data collection procedures. This, in other words, means the provision of Asset Information. This is
n extremely important phase as lt serves as a basis for all the other phases and future upgrades. If
ny flaws are left at this stage. it w ~ lhave
l
consequences for all following phases.
The second phase represents the formalisation of the deter~orationlrestorationprocess(es); I e. ~t
comprises the actual processing of the data gathered in the first phase. This means the creation of
various "rules" that will govern the decision-making process based on the collected data These processes are characterised by certain parameters, which necessarily have to have certain thresholds
such as maintenance, operation, or safety thresholds.
19.3
Taking a look at the first phase of an AM development in respect to the ra~lwayinfrastructure, ~tcan be
seen that the frrst Important aspect of provlding detailed asset Informatron IS finding out what the
assets are and where they are located. Although ~tsounds really basic, this has not proven to be an
easy task on many rarlways Asset documentation was usually paper based, rather old, not regularly
updated, inconsrstent, and, consequently, unreliable.
The rarlway lnfrastructure on many of the world's rallways IS more than a hundred years old. Dur~ng
these hundred years there have been numerous reconstructions and changes performed both in
track layout and track structure and other Infrastructure elements. Unfortunately, these changes,
especially those performed further In the past, most often escaped berng recorded or were poorly
documented.
Assets were also usually referred to using mrlestones whlch often proved to be wrong or Imprecise.
These thlngs, along with the retirement of the most experrenced engineers who were perhaps the
only ones left who knew anythlng about those changes, necessitated the creatlon of a consistent and
accurate Infrastructure location and data collect~onsystem. Thrs system had as ~ t saim not only to
establrsh the accurate rnfrastructure location, but also to capture the ex~stingknowledge and Information present among the most experienced engineers whlle it was st111available.
However, since rallway networks are often of very large length, rangrng from several thousand kilometres up to several tens of thousands of k~lometres,surveying of such networks and especrally data
collectron was far from simple. Therefore, new, faster, and more accurate methods were needed
Untll now, there have been several methods at different sophisticat~onlevels that were able to handle
this problem.
19.3.1
F-
L
19 RAILWAY ASSET MANAGEMENT S Y S T E ~ / ~ S
r\i
'
The essence of this database IS the dual referenclng system that locates each ~nfrastructure asset along the r~ght-of-way The ;
system's first frame of reference uses Track !
Number, M ~ l epost, and Footage locators,
.- -based on the mile post system, while the
second frame of reference uses Latrtude, 1
Longitude, and Elevat~on(N, E, Z) co-ordi,.
nates This dual system allows the presenta- I
\
tlon of maintenance management
- .matlon in both track chart and geographical
:... .. -format as seen In Flgure 19.4.
a
a-
Tra*
,-"
Law,
J7
82
--
?.
\--+..
.-
> : L a l ----_---..-.+.-
<' .-.
--
.,-
- /"
.
--,
370
..z
1
-- - ---- -- --.----
--
%>-\
.-
..
.,5m
--1 /
--._ .
..
.. -,
,*,
---- .
.
. .
--. . - A-.
.....
- --'/-
.---
--
>\:\-
hi
A new vldeo surveying system [I991emerged in England in the late nineties. This system was called
OMNISuweyor3D and was developed by Omnlcom Engineering to be used by one of the largest UK
contracting companies, namely Balfour Beatty Rail. OMNISurveyor3D provldes a unique method for
the high-speed surveying and analysis of complex infrastructures, such as those found on rallway
networks. It produces a comprehensive relational picture of all viable llneside infrastructure and permanent way geometry which can be maintained in a safe and cost-effectwe manner It also enables a
3-d~mensionalmodel of the surveyed network and its assets to be created
Differential GPS;
Inertial Positioning System;
- Digital Imaging.
-7
_J
IS
Fast
surveys
co
"1 undertaken at
operating speed,
A c c u r a t e all track and lnfr
mo
accurately surveyed than +
m 2 meters,
"m
jstructure could be
lrsri
Using
the
recor
m
I I
d
I:
9 K~nernat~c
envelope fool
19.3.4
Another emerglng and prom~singtechnology to be used for the purpose of locating railway infrastructure elements and data collection is satellite technology [140]. Satellite images (Figure 19.10) have
recently not only become more available and lnexpenslve for civilian purposes, but have also become
~ncreas~ngly
accurate T h ~ saccuracy is st111constantly being improved. Perhaps the maximal capab~lrt ~ e sof this technology regarding positronal accuracy, currently ranging 1-2 m, are st111l~mltedto use in
s~gnif~cantly
Improve, which will most certainly hapthe rallway domain. However, as ~ t scapab~lit~es
pen, thls method may soon emerge as the most convenient and cost-effective technology to be used
19.4
As ment~onedpreviously, a Railway AMS should Include and comb~neall kinds of speclalised monitoring, data collection, and decision support systems. Thrs should be the case for track, but also for all
other railway Infrastructure elements like bridges, switches and crossings, overhead lines, level
crossings, tunnels, culverts, etc. Some of these systems will be given special consideration later on In
the text. AMS should also incorporate Issues like environmental and hazard management and emergency response systems.
Once integrated, an AMS
should serve the needs of all the
part~es which are rn anyway
connected to the railway system, s ~ i c has the infrastructure
owners, railway contract~ng or
traff~c operat~ng companies, or
any other. They all should make
use of the AMS, extract the data
needed for their everyday or
long-term strategic purposes,
and also feed the appropriate
data back to the system
The final "look" of the system
and some of rts features could
be slmilar to those presented in
the Figure 19 11, Figure 19 12,
and Figure 19.13. Thls last Figure presents its overall structure The final "look" should
allow for seamless Integration
between geographical map- Flg~ire19 11 G I s backgro~lndlayout of an AMS [62]
ping, database management,
and mult~medlatechnologies in order to effic~entlymanage data in today's railway env~ronment.It
should also ~nvolvesuch technologies as the Internet to provide worldwide access to all rarlway informatlon, and enable centralised data management to be performed quickly and easily It should handle
Issues like passing informat~onback and forth between various users and their departments, updating
data bases, and integrating digrtal information among the users
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
79 RAILI,V,~VASSET ~,?AIVAGEII/IENT
SYSTEMS
.,
Cor?sui:ing
Engineer~ng
Best
I
I"=%
d
l
19.5
AM s u b s y s t e m s
ad
I
3
tud
An ~ntegratedAMS should incorporate several subsystems. All of those subsystems must communicate to each other, exchange input and output data. AMS should serve as a cohesion factor between
the subsystems, enabling their proper communication, data exchange and synchronising their work
and output. With their perhaps the most important output being M&R work plans. AMS should further
optimise those plans in terms of resource allocation, especially regarding track availabiity. and take
care of budgeting and work ordering. Some of the subsystems are stated below, and their position
within an AMS presented on the Figure 19.15 [13].
-9
d
m
(ASq
I
I
- S~gnallingEqu~pmentManagement System.
T"
lul
Equ~prnentLists. Manuals
'7
'""1
b
I
""I
L~fe
Moc'ern Ra~lwayTrack
28
20.1
20 LIFE CYCLE
COST ANALYSlS
In the 1990s the settrng for Infrastructure management changed for many railways, especially In
Europe EU d~rective911440 requires that a separate organisatron has to prov~dethe rarlway infrastructure In order to create profit-driven transport operators and transparent cost accounting of rnfrastructure maintenance and operatlons [94]. The ra~lwayrestructurrng leads to the introductron of user
charging and performance regimes. The operators have to pay access charges for usrng the ra~lway
assets, w h ~ l ethe infrastructure manager has to pay penalt~esIn case of unplanned disruption. Decisions In design and maintenance have to be based on estimates of availability, relrabil~tvand maintenance costs In order to mlnimise the total (long-term) costs of ownership for the infrastricture owner
In the Dutch rallway sector three 'change programmes' are initiated since the mid 90s In order to deal
with the changed management cond~tions:
hl
Ld
1. 'Llfe cycle management' (LCM) alms at the realisation of a systematic approach to underprn and
o p t ~ m ~ zInvestments
e
in new construct~on,ma~ntenanceand renewal. Costs of ownership, ~ncludIng penalt~esfor track possessions, have to be analysed for a period of 50 years Since last year
the reglonal maintenance planning staff is obl~gedto identify the feasible investment and Ilfelengthenrng ma~ntenancesolutrons and to quantify thelr assumptions on investment and maintenance costs usrng a special computer application [ I 981.
2. 'Performance-based contracts' are being introduced for the maintenance and incident management. Contractors with approved quality control systems can acqurre this type of contract for periods of 5 years. Their efforts will ~ncreasingly be monitored based on agreed performance
indicators [254].
3 'Ma~ntenancewindow scheduling' IS triggered by more str~ngentsafety demands for ma~ntenance
works Ma~ntenanceand renewals will be clustered ~nperiodic maintenance w~ndows(sometrmes
called slots). the Ministry of Transport w ~ lnot
l allow maintenance during operatlons [I101
m
!
&
The necessity of an Asset Management System (AMS) as described In Chapter 19 for supporting the
track ma~ntenanceseems to be obvrous. For adequate planning lnslght In the relat~onshipsbetween
transport volumes, Infrastructure qualrty, maintenance efforts and availab~lityand reliability In the long
term 1s a prerequ~s~te
A L ~ f eCycle Costing approach is presented In t h ~ schapter that is able to help
develop the AMS concept. Since the lrnplementat~onof the AMS is In many railways only partly realised, the way to deal wrth lacking and unrel~abledata IS covered as well in the examples belng
- Appraisal of track designs for the HSL South for an internatronal consortium;
E
9
Modeni Ra~lwayTtack
1
1
1
i
Consider the following example an investment in a track component IS being made. whlch will
cost 2,000 Euros and will be maintenance-free durlng the f~rstyear. In the following four years the
maintenance will cost 100 Euros; from the fifth year on the costs will increase annually with 20%. i
After eleven years the asset w ~ l lbe replaced and a new cycle starts. which is not considered
29 LIFE CYCLE C O S T H I \ I A L ~ S / S
~~ m
(Operational
,
f
i-
$"
*
r/)
C
0
I
4 7
.c
d
I
i
1
s
Rehabllltat~on
I
$"
,'
i'!/'
L_
30
60
'
Replacement
90
Traff~c( M G T )
--
120
Upgrade --150
180
The most uncertainty in the life cycle cost analysis is the forecasting of track quality decline. A typical
decline pattern is depicted in Figure 20.1 The decllne depends on all kinds of factors, such as the i n tial quality of construction, the quality of the substructure (e.g settlements and crushing of the ballast
bed). and the loads on the track. Generally the effectiveness of maintenance works diminishes after a
couple of times and larger overhaul or complete renewal is required. Data from an Asset Management System, like ECOTRACK and TOSMA, provide insight in the actual decline rates and the effectiveness of maintenance actlvlties on specific lines [223], [56].
Due to the unavailability of historlc data and ~ndisputablerenewal thresholds. uncertainty should be
well dealt with in any life cycle cost analysis. Two methods to include uncertainty are 1971:
P
iy
- Sensihvity analysis In a sensit~vityanalysis systematically the input values are varied, for Instance
with percentages of 10%. 20% and 30%. in order to test the robustness of the outcomes With the
sensitlvity analysis the most sensitive input parameters can easily be identified by the deviation in
the annutty It is important to get a sound estimation on the likely value for these parameters
I*
- Monte Car10 s~mulahon.The disadvantage of a sensitivity analysis is that usually only one param-
eter at a time can be varied. A Monte Carlo simulation is a more advanced method. in which all
factors at the same time can be varied. It requires more detailed input: not only a most llkely value
but also a minimum and a maximum value for an input parameter has to be provided. With the
help of a random generator a statistical (normal) distribution of the annuity can be calculated.
which gives an insight in the chances on a specific annuity. For a life cycle cost analysis this
method requires too much effort, except if large amounts of money are lnvolved (construction
projects).
In the next paragraph the structure of a Decision Support System is described. which supports the llfe
cycle cost analysis of track designs and maintenance and renewal (MBR) strategies. The DSS Provides a format for systematic data collection and has the ability to perform scenarlo and sensitivity
analyses.
- - -
fl
M
20.2
-1
7
U-'
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
Many factors influence the costs of railway track. In the first place the quality of the track asset (lifetime expectancy and failure chances) and the maintenance strategy applied (such as the amount of
preventive maintenance, the stock policy for spare parts and the number of incident repair teams).
Further, a number of external factors influence the cost level [301]:
- Construction and maintenance condit,ons, e.g. market prices for labour, materials and machines,
safety and noise regulations, the performance quality, and the duration of maintenance windows;
- The financial environmenf, e.g. budget limits, budget allocation between investments and maintenance, the (performance) payment regime, and interest rates;
- The physical environment, e . g quality of the substructure, alignment, climate, and site accessibility;
-
The transpoitation concept, e.g. lay-out of the tracks, distribution of train speeds and axle-loads,
quality of the rolling stock, traffic intensities, and braking and acceleration capabilities.
To deal with the variety of cost factors an MS Excel based Decision Support System (DSS) has been
developed at TU Delft, which has been applied in five studies since 1997 [302]. [303]. [304]. [305].
[306].It has an interface with screens for input, sensitivity analysis and output and a hidden modelbase; a DSS chauffeur operates the system.
The mosi important feature of the DSS model-base is the relationship established between track use
and maintenance (see Figure 20.2). The infrastructure use determines to a large extent the maintenance need (e.g. traffic intensities, train weights, axle loads), while it also determines the impact of
track failures (e.g. cumulative train delays and cancellations) and the slots available for maintenance.
The output delivered by the DSS is the annualpeiiormance fee, which is the annuity to be paid by the
infrastructure owner for the construction and maintenance of the tracks and switches. T h ~ sannual
performance fee is one of the most decisive indicators for the decision-makers. However. also intermediate output, such as asset availability and number of work shifts. is shown. The calculation takes
place in a number of steps, which are described below. The figures are only meant to illustrate the
calculat~onsteps.
"
&
1. Timetable analys,s
The starting point of the estimation is an analysis of the transportation forecasts. the so-called 'reference timetable' Thls timetable contains the expected number of trains detailed to different train types
It Includes a growth scenario and data on train weights and number of train sets. A (not~onal)tonnage
can be calculated and, besides, the annual scheduled journey time is determined. In some performance regimes, such as for the HSL South, the penalty rates are based on an availability level. The
annual scheduled journey time is used as a basis for the calculation of the availability level. The infrastructure manager of the Dutch conventional network uses in its analyses a penalty rate simply
depending on the number of hours of planned or unplanned track possession. Other information to be
extracted from the reference timetable is the regime for maintenance windows and speed restrictions
for track failures and maintenance.
r M & R product~v~ty
features
~ A r n o ~ l of
n t small ma~ntenance
and fallures
4. Financial data
expected penalt~es
iConstruction and annual
management costs
I
I
~WodernRailway Track
II
Depending on the details of the Performance Regime between the infrastructure manager, transpofl
operators and infrastructure owner, i e the central government, a final stb-step is the conversion of
speed restriction and possession hours to expected train delay minutes and cancellations. In the DSS
a simple est~mat~on
model 1s included, based on the acceleration and deceleration performance of the
rolling stock and a number of assumptions on the impact of a speed restriction and full track blockage. A more advanced analysis of the knock-on impacts on later scheduled trains and the use of
cross-over switches should be done with a simulation model uslng for instance Simple++ or RailSys
[240].
4. F~nanclaldata
P
f-
Fn
f
The financial data first concerns the construction cost estimate for the track design analysed (in case
of new construction) and. eventually, an annual overhead cost for the maintenance organisation Further, a cho~cewhether to include or exclude the specific risks in the estimation and the interest rate
and per~odof deprec~ationcan be set.
An ~mportantpart of the financ~aldata is the performance regtme, which IS the penalty allocation algorithm and penalty rates applied for the infrastructure management. The penalties are used to reflect
the extra costs or revenue loss caused for the transport operators in case of failing assets
Rr
-Cumulat~ve
600000
1-%$;m~:;tve;ash
m
o
P/
4.1
flow,1
a,
0
0.
-c
3 400000
F"
cash flow1
(undiscounted)
500000
/
l
F
I'
+Cumulative
costs of
M&R (undiscountedi
*Cumulative
costs of
track possessions
200000
---+s-te-=-
"
"
,"
--
,-
"
,-
"
,-.
, ,*
I - - w V
"
(undtscounted)
.-
*Cumulative
costs of
traffic disruptton
: :: :<.
(undiscounted)
.A.vw."w
,"
-
."
blodern Ra~lwayTrack
In Table 20 2 the baslc formulas are shown needed to schedule maintenance and overhaul over the
years and to estlmate the renewal cost Impact for a track or swltch component excluding the costs of
traffrc dlsruptlon
1
Nr.
(20 5)
Explanation
Formula
RQ,
P,, ,( T, 2 THa)
Q,
I
I
(20.6)
'
S,,, = roundup(
( R Q , ,)/(PS,Y
TPP, - La
&
m
Y
'
11
iT
' ,
iur
~1
pq
c y a=
fT
S C , ( T P P ~ ~ ~ S , , ~ R Q , , ~ ( M C , - R VThe
~ ~ costs for asset renewal are calculated
by multiplying the number of shifts wrth the
costs per shift SC for the grven duratlon of
the track possession and by addlng the
costs of materials (usrng the unrt costs MC
and the residual value RV if a re-use site IS
avallable for the replaced materials)
(20 8) 8
9
brri
I
"R/
j
q
I
nra
I
dI
1
i'
i
1
F7
P4
(20 7) 7
vuri
IS
determrned
a y=o
Table 20 2
The formulas from Table 20 2 are srmplified; In realrty thresholds for renewals can be interdependent:
renewals can be harmonised in time and place (clustering of renewals) and components (partial or full
track renewal). Besrdes, it IS well posslble that a certarn renewal actlvity consists of different subactivltles, such as loading and unloading of rails, sleepers, replacement of old ralls, tamping. etc. The production speed and preparation trme varies for the subactivities, whlch can impact the total
performance for different duratrons of the track possession. Finally, also the renewal can be spread
over a couple of year's depending on the renewal length, track possession regime and available work
capacrty. In the DSS an opt~maldegree of detall IS used depending on the requirements of the life
cycle cost study.
In the DSS it IS possible to analyse a track composed of assets with various l~fetimeexpectancies - to
a manageable level, since the intention is not to replace systems llke ECOTRACK.
%I
1
i
j
ii
1
hdi
I
11
irrj
I ,
A41
&
The DSS assrsis the decision maker by showing the total cost implicat~onsof changing deslgn and
malntenance parameters. It is not an expert system, such as ECOTRACK. which means that a team
of design and lnainienance experts has to provlde judgements A standard data checklist and a process of workshops for data validatron support the analysis. The strength of the DSS Itself 1s especially
the possibility to investigate a range of scenarios of future conditions rn order to test the robustness of
the life cycle cost est~mates:the impact of different transport and financial condit~onscan easily be
shown. In this way it not only supports the dec~sionmaking on deslgn and malntenance strategres,
but also the negotrations on rrsk allocatron and performance regrmes.
.-
"______
2-.
_.
_ - - - -.
1
1
-
.*
--
1-1
Modern Railway Track
Especially, in case of lacking or unreliable maintenance data. this can help decision makers in making
the best possible choice under the given uncertainty. Besides, the analysis can be performed quickly
Expert systems alone are usually not fitted to a setting where strategic cholces have to be made rapidly and a lot of maintenance data is unavailable.
r
L
20.3
Recent studies
In this paragraph two life cycle cost studies in respectively des~gnand maintenance of railway track
are presented for illustration. In the first study the DSS has been used for an evaluation of different
high-speed track designs for an international consortium (1999) [304] In the second study the DSS is
used to support the revision of the maintenance and renewal policy on the Dutch conventional network (2000 and 2001) [306].The precise results of the first case are confidential, while the second
case 1s still in a finishing phase. However, the cases illustrate very well the appl~cabil~ty
of LCC.
20.3.1
r"
L)-
kl
F
C.
The construction of the Dutch h~gh-speedline, HSL South, which is planned to be in service in 2005,
i'
1
i
i
is tendered in seven contracts. The most challenging contract is the so-called Infrastructure Provider
(IP) Contract. The IP is to construct the rail system: the power supply, signalling and track systems as
well as auxiliary (safety) equ~pmentand some sound barriers
During a period of 25 years the IP has to maintain the assets. after which a guarantee perlad of 5
years is applicable for backlogs in maintenance. Other contractors will produce the 'settlement-free'
concrete substructure. One of the important issues during the Consultation Phase in 1999, has Seen
the selection of a railway track structure, especially since the Dutch State put forward that slab track
systems should senously be considered in the tender [127].
RYk
Ph
In the engineering team of the Consortium several promising track structures were selected, such as
ballasted track, the Rheda system, Shinkansen slab track, a direct fastening system and the Embedded Rails Structure (ERS).
Except for the ballasted track, data on most of the track structures had to be collected through an
international investigation and expert judgements. For this reason a Failure Mode Effect Analysis was
organ~sedfor all the track structures using the ballasted track as a reference. In the FMEA all probable fallure causes, modes, measures for prevention and monitoring, and thelr effects were identified
For an identification of the effects a dist~nct~on
was made between immediate failures and loss of
quality, which could be restored during the nightly maintenance windows Failing equipment causes a
speed restriction or full track possession; some maintenance activities also require more restoration
time than the available maintenance window or require speed restr~ctionsfor a number of days
Finally, an expectation on the frequencies of incidents for the given M&R strategy resulted.
Dur~ngthe FMEA the DSS was modified in order to include the Performance Payment Mathematical
Algorithm of the HSL South. In the second part of the Consultation Phase the DSS was applied in
order to analyse the expected performance and the conse~uencesof for instance different interest
rates, construction methods and (longer) maintenance wind;ws
The outcomes were used to support
discussions with the State.
An important finding was the sensitivity of the outcomes caused by the penalty regime If in a specified 'performance period' the traln delay mlnutes increase, the penalty rates lncrease as well. which
causes a progressive trend (see Figure 20.6). This made it also necessary to get insight ~ n t othe influence of the signalling and power supply systems on the total system availability
P
k
Pb
p
h
!I@
ki
,
I
I
I
1
1I
---
.-..-
--
"
250
I
.J
"'i
L
IT
li
11
90%
91%
@
'[Y!I
92%
93%
94%
95%
96%
97%
98%
A v a ~ l a b ~ llevel
~ t y (delay m~nutes1 scheduled journey t ~ m e )
ri111J
99%
11
' 11
I
I
IrkM
Further, the randomness of farlures can rmpact the total amount of penalties. lns~ghtIn the distrrbutlon
over the years of the fa~lureswas needed, but thls proved to be very hard to get a grip on. The performance reglme remalned therefore an Important issue dur~ngthe tender.
hru'
I1
rn
The output In Frgure 20.7 and Figure 20.8 gives an indication for a scenario wrth ballasted track w ~ t h out a ballast mat and a rather h ~ g hrnterest rate. The low construct~oncosts and the large amount of
marntenance In the last years of the IP contract prove to have a benefic~alrmpact on the annu~tybased performance fee The absence of a ballast mat was however not assumed to be reallstrc,
whrch changes the p~cturea lot Besrdes, In a later phase of the tender it was chosen to develop a
performance fee, whlch reflected the actual cost level Instead of a 'flat fee' over the years
inn:
bu
rrl
!
brq
1 kd
"!
II*'
500
A*
iri
300
a*r
$100
3
W
, W
2 100
3C0
rcaj
500
4
"
I
I
hlodern
Ra~lwayfiack
1
'1
The measures for cost-saving which are considered most promlslng are [306]
1 Track design based on required funct~onalltyIn some regional tracks an upgrade to the standard
track structure is probably not needed, can be postponed or can be realised with a less expensive
des~gn
3. Pailia1 renewal of tracks and switches. Another measure to improve the asset ut~lisationIn a controlled way IS partla1 renewal: instead of full track renewals partial renewal of sleepers, ballast and
rails can be advantageous
il'Q
&
i"l
U
F"i
4. Instant re-use of tracks and switches in side-tracks. Especially in construction and renewal
projects on the main tracks switches and track components become available for re-use on less
loaded side-tracks. This should be realised through a smart, t~meiyplanning of the projects in relation to the maintenance needs on the s~de-tracksand terminals.
5 Smait combination of renewals. in case of larger renewal lengths large savings can be real~sed,
especially In combination with the sixth measure
bi
PI
6 Smarf scheduling of renewals and overhaul. A longer duration of track possessions (40 to 100
hours) can lead to a drop in renewal costs. State-of-the-art renewal methods can perform the track
replacement whlle on the other track bi-directional traffic services can be provided.
As an example the indicative results for one of the pilots is shown in Figure 20 9. It concerns a switch
at a railway yard near Amsterdam.
m
I
- -
..
--
.. .
- ..
-I
mi
1
bd
n*l
w~tchrenewal 201 1
P""i
k@
'
Y
I
I
New swltch w ~ t h
wooden sleepers
Re-used UIC
sw~tchesfrom
m a r track in
2000120140
Re-used
swltch from
m a r track ~n
2000 + var 1
Renewal of
sw~tchcomponenls + var 1
M&R strategy
F~gure20 9 Example of an I C M + 11fecycle cost analys~s(ind~catlveo ~ ~ t p u t )
compomnts &
ballast + var 1
t
C
Thanks to the early consideration of the maintenance needs on the railway yard. rt has been possible
to re-use a switch on the main tracks, which was replaced due to an upgrading project. The advantage of the instant re-use is that all resources are available for the project and the costs of replacernent are therefore very low. The prerequ~siteis, however, that the re-use has to be included in the
plans several years in advance Re-use is not a common policy in the Netherlands any more, since
the restructuring of the ra~lwaysand the transfer of maintenance staffs to the contractors.
20.3.3
Concfusion
Both for design and maintenance of ra~lwaytrack there is a lot of potential to reduce the costs of ownership and the traffic disruption caused by failures. In order to analyse and optim~zesystematically
des~gnand maintenance strategies a life cycle cost analysis with the help of a DSS such as described
In Section 20.2 is needed. The principal advantage of the DSS IS that the impact of maintenance data
I
hr _
^
C
L
1"'L
P
and assumptions can be tested systematically. It is very well fltted for supporting a track policy revision with the use of the expertise from the regional maintenance offices.
However, for the further realisation of Life Cycle Cost based management the development of an
Asset Management System (AMS) is essential. Maintenance data has long been a neglected area in
track maintenance: usually a lot of raw data on track quality is collected, but the data is barely usable
due to a number of reasons:
P"A
bra
P
&
l"i
k
m
h
\
---~--__u-
.. ---
-- ._ _ --2-
.-.,.i_
.=-.z-z--
A--
'
--
--
i J
I 1
REFEPEI\ICES
REFERENCES
[I]
Achenbach J.D : 'Wave propagation in Elastic Solids', Elsevier Science Publishers b.v , Amsterdam,
1973
[2]
[3]
[4]
Ando K and Miura S.: 'Twenty years' experience on Slab Track'. RTRI voi. 35 No. I,2, 1994
[5]
ASTM Standard E 399 74. 'Standard method of test for plane strain fracture toughness of metallic
materials'
[6]
ASTM Standard E 647 81. 'Standard method for constant load amplitude fatlgue crack growth rates
above 1o - mlcycle'.
~
[7]
Bachmann H and Ammann W 'Vlbrat~onsin structures induced by man and machine'. Structural
Engineering Documents 3e, IABSE AlPC -1VBH. ETH Hoeggerberg. Zurich, Switzerland.
[8]
Bachmann H and Foege T.. 'Rheda 2000 - Erfahrungen aus Einbau und Verarbeitung', Esenbahn
Ingen~eur,9, 2000.
[9]
Baluch H.. 'Evaluat~onsof the durability of rail fastenings to sleepers using a model of extremes', Rail
InternationallSchienen der Welt, December 1979
[lo]
Barthelemy J.-F M. and Haftka, R.T. 'Approximation Concept for Optimum Structural Design - a
Review', Structural Opt~mization,Volume 5, pp 129-144. 1993
[Ill
Baus A and L~euradeH P.. 'Endurance en torsion et resistance a la fissuration par fatlgue de trois
nuances d'aciers a rails', Revue de Metallurgie May 1975
[I21
[I31
Baxter P.. 'Using New Technologies to Improve Asset Management'. Asset Management For
Railway Infrastructure Conference - Workshop A - London. UK, 1 December 2000.
[I41
Becker S and Lier K. H . 'Bewertung und Varianten-vergleich von Bauarten der Festen Fahrbahn',
Eisenbahn Ingen~eur,2, 1999
1151
Bendat J S and Piersol A G . 'Random Data. Analysis and Measurement Procedures'. WileyInterscience, New York, 1971
[I61
Bendat J.S : 'Statistical Errors In Measurements of Coherence Functions and InpuVOutput Quantitles'.
Journal of Sound and Vibration, Vo1.59, No 3, pp. 405, 1978
[I71
[I81
Bienzelsler H., Schmedders H and Wick K.: 'Moderne Schlenenerzeugung bei der Thyssen Stahl AG'.
Thyssen Technische Berichte, Volume 1, 1988.
[I91
Bijl F . 'Buckling force in gapless track calculated in a non h e a r manner'. De lngenieur. September
1964.
[20]
Boer H de, et al . 'Naturharte bainltlsche Schienen mit hoher Zugfestigkeit'. Stahl und E s e n 115. Nr.
2, pp 93-98.
[21]
Bos T.J . 'Fracture resistance of rails', Internal NS report CT013lLl10.1101126. February 1986
(221
I
I
REFERENCES
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
[23]
Bos J.A: 'Deck Track Foundatron for the railways of the Future', Holland Railconsult.
[24]
Bosch R A. van den 'Strategies for permanent way maintenance by NS', Proceedrngs of OVG
Conference, Salzburg, Austria, 26-28 September 2000.
[25]
Box G E.P and Draper N R: 'Emperrcal Model-Building and Response Surfaces', John Wiley &
Sons, New York, 1987.
[26]
1271
Bucholz K.H , Lrpius J.M and Schwendt L.: 'Anforderungen des Hochgeschwindrgke~tsverkehrsder
ICE als geeignetes Zugsystem', Thyssen Technische Berrchte, Volume 1, 1988.
[281
CTT. 'Kan het nog strller?', ICES-project, erndrapport Stiller Treinverkeer, 1999
[29]
CEN European Committee for Standardization 'Railway applicatrons - Track - Testing methods for
fastenrng systems prEN 13146', Draft version, 1998
f1-
1"'
.I
TL
I
&Ad
-----
1301
CEN. European Commrttee for Standardrzatlon 'Railway applrcatrons - Track - Concrete sleepers
and bearers prEN 132301,Draft versron, 1998
[31]
[32]
CEN. European Committee for Standardization 'Railway applicatrons - Track - Rail prEN13674',
Draft version, 1999
[33]
Clark R.A , Dean P.A., Elkins J.A. and Newton S.G.. 'An rnvestrgation rnto the dynamic effects of
railway vehrcles running on corrugated rarls', Journal of Engrneerlng Mechanrcs. 24, 1982.
[34]
Clark M., McCann D M. and Forde M C , 'Infra-red inspection of trackbed ballast', Railway
Engrneering 2000 Conference, London, UK, July 2000.
[35]
[36]
[37]
Cope G H. 'Br~trshrarlway track, Desrgn, constructron and malntenance', The Permanent Way
Instrtut~on,Echo Press, England, 1993.
[38]
Cost and R ~ s kOptimrsatron of Track Maintenance and Renewal, Track MR 2001 Conference, London,
UK, 11-13 July 2001.
[39]
Cox S.J and Grassie S.L.: 'Understanding Dynamics as an Ard to Developing Track', Pandrol
lnternat~onalLtd, 1985
[40]
Darr E.: 'lnstandhaltung der Festen Fahrbahn', Feste Fahrbahn, Edit~onETR, Hestra Verlag,
Germany, 1997.
[41]
[42]
Darr E. and Fiebig W . 'Feste Fahrbahn', Edrtron VDEI, Tetzlaff Verlag, Germany, 1999.
[43]
Dean F.E., Ahlbeck D R., Harrrson H.D. and Tuten J.M.: 'Effect of the Tie Pad Stiffness on the Impact
Loadrng of Concrete Ties', Heavy Haul Conference, 1982
[44]
Deroche R Y , Bourdon Y and Faessel A,: 'Stralghtenlng and stress relievrng of ra~lsby stretching',
Rarlway Gazette International, March 1983
hi
f
,
F
h
PA
1"1U
i\
__----..
--
--
1 7
'1
[45]
Desvallees J , Faessel A , Gouth G and Mennel G.. 'Universal rolllng of rails - state of the art',
Unimetal, March 1987
[46]
[47]
[48]
[49]
Devanathan R. and Clayton P. 'Rolling-sliding wear behavlour of three bainite steels', International
Conference of the ASME, Orlando, USA, pp. 91-100, 1991
[50]
[51]
DIN. Deutsches lnstitut fur Normung 'DIN4150 Erschutterungen Im Bauwesen, Tell 1-3', 1999.
[52]
Dorr J . 'Der unendliche, federende gebettete Balken unter dem Elnfluss elner glelchformrg
bewegente Last', lngen~eurArchlv, Volume 14, pp 167-192, 1943
[53]
Dubourg and Kalker J.J : 'Crack behavlour under rolling contact fatigue', In: Kalker, Cannon und
Orrlnger (Hrsg.), Rail quality and maintenance for modern railway operation, Kluwer Academic
Publ., Dordrecht, pp. 373-384, 1993
[54]
DuSkov M 'EPS as a Llght-weight Sub-base Materlal In Pavement Structures', Ph.D Thes~s,TUDelft, ISBN 90-901 0660-X, June 1997
[55]
Dutch Mlnlstry of Housing, Land-uses Planning and the Environment (VROM). 'Calculation of rallborne nolse', ISBN 90-346-06880, 1985.
[56]
[57]
[58]
Edilon b.v 'Product specifications embedded rails wlth UIC54 for Netherlands Railways'.
[59]
E~senmannJ. and Mattner L. 'Auswlrkung der Oberbaukonstruktion auf die Schotter- und
Untergrundbeanspruchung', Der Elsenbahningenieur, pp 99-107, 1984
_$
-T
REFERENCES
' 1
m
I
I
&
I7@4
id
I
I
r"lI
1
I
i.a
I
7
is*i
W
I
sol
*
I
@T
1
hid
1
Eisenmann J and Mattner L.. 'Gleisverwerfung', Techn~calUniversity Munlch, Heft 52, 1988
[62]
-1631.
ERR1 D l 8 2 rp3. 'Unlfied Assessment criteria for Ballast Qual~tyand Methods for Assess~ngthe
Ballast Condit~onin the Track, Determining the crlterla for ballast durability uslng triaxlal
tests', Utrecht, September 1994.
[64]
ERR1 D l 8 7 dt299: 'Decision Support System for Track Maintenance and Renewal - ECOTRACK',
Utrecht, Aprll 1994.
[65]
ERR1 D202: 'Lateral Res~stanceTest', European Rail Research Instltute Utrecht, ERR1 D 202lWG3,
Draft Report BR research Limited, report RR-TCE-81, November 1996
[66]
ERR1 D229 rp2 'Rall Defect Management, State-of-the-Art Report', UIC WEC Jolnt Research
Project, Utrecht, 24 February 1999
1
1
f-l
,I
I
rPsah
__
- ---
_-_-------
1
1
REFERENCES
1
I
__I
7
I
12
[89] Esveld C and van Hengstum L . 'Track Stability in Tight Curves', Rail lnternational/Schienen der Welt,
Janciary 1989.
[go] Esveld C. 'Computer-Aided Maintenance and Renewal of Track', 4th International Heavy Haul
Conference, Brisbane, Australia, September 1989.
[91] Esveld C. and Kok, A.W.M . 'Interaction between Moving Vehicles and Railway Track at High Speed',
Rail Engineering International, Volume 27, 3,pp. 14-16,1998.
[92] Esveld C.: 'Innovation for the control of infrastructure maintenance', Rail lnternationallSchienen der
Welt, February 1997.
[93] Euronorm: 'Rallway applications - Rlde comfort for passengers - Measurement and evaluation,
1999.
NVN-ENV 12299',
[94] European Commission DG VII, 'A strategy for revitalising the community's railways', (White Paper),
Brussels, 1997.
[95] Fastenrath F . 'Die Eisenbahnschiene', Chapter 2: J. Eisenmann. 'Die Schiene als Trager und
Fahrbahn', Verlag W. Ernst, Berlin, 1977.
1961 F~llipovA.P 'Steady State vibrations of an infinite beam on an elastic half space subjected to a
moving load', lzvestija Akadem~iNauk SSSR Mehanika I Mashinostroenle, Volume 6,pp. 97105,1961.
1971 Flanagan R and Norman G. 'Life cycle costing for construction', Reading, 1983
[98] Frederick C.O.. 'Vibrations in ground. Railway induced ground vibrations', Rail Internat~onalISchienen
der Welt, October 1987
[99] Fryba L 'Vibration of solids and structures under moving loads', Noordhoff lnternatronal Publrshrng,
Groningen, 1972.
[I001 Fung Y.C : 'Foundations of solid mechanics', Prentrce-Hall ,lnc, Englewood Clrffs, New Jersey, 1965.
[I011 Garg K.and Dukkipati R.V.: 'Dynamics of Railway Vehicle Systems', Academic Press, 1984
[I021 Gobel C , Leiberenz K and Richter F.: 'The Railway Formation', DB-Fachbuch Band 8120
[I031 Grassie S.L , Gregory R.W , Harrison D. and Johnson K L.: 'The dynamic response of railway track to
high frequency vertlcal excitation', Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 24, 1982.
[I041 Grassie S.L and Kalousek J.. 'Rolling contact fatigue of rails: charactenst~cs,causes and treatments',
\
In. Proceedings 6th International Heavy Haul Conference, Cape Town, South Africa, pp 351-
404,1997
[I051 Groenhuysen F J.:'Construction, marntenance and renewal of tracks', lecture notes e61,TU-Delft,
February 1987.
[I061 Hald J. and Madsen K.. 'Combined LP and Quasl-Newton Methods for Nonlinear L1 Optimization',
SlAM J. Numer Anal., Vol. 20,pp. 68-80,
1985.
[I071 Halvorson W G. and Bendat J.S : 'Noise Source Identification Us~ngCoherent Output Power Spectra',
Sound and Vibrating, Vol. 9,No. 8, pp.15, 1975.
[I081 Harmsen E J M 'Developments in track technology', special Issue of the Dutch Permanent Way
Institution, 1974.
[I091 Haupt H J : 'An integrated System for Rail Track Inspection, Monitoring and Maintenance Control',
European Rallway Review, Volume 6,lssue 4,2000.
[I101 Hazelaar A.H M et al . 'Vellig Werken aan de Infra', NS-Railinfrabeheer, 1997.
rREFERENCES
[ill] ~ e l l e w
r
erstel el lung Egenschaften
und& Betnebsverhalten
von Schlenenstahlen1,In- 'Die
Eisenbahnschiene'.
Wilhelm Ernst
Sohn, 1977.
[I121 Heller W.. Korfer E. and Schmedders H.: 'Ra~iTechnology and ?all Debelopmnt in Germany (FRG).,
Krupp, Klockner, Thyssen.
iI
r
r
1-
i
d
I
I
-1
REFERENCES
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
[I341 ISO. lnternatronal Organizatron for Standardization 'IS02631Mechanical vlbratlon and shock - ISO2631-1Mechanical vibratlgi7 and shock - Evaluation of human exposure to whole-body
vibration, Part 1-2',
1997.
I
,-I
-1
[I351 Jackson P.D., Northmore K.J., Meldrum P.I., Gunn D.A. and Hallam J R.: 'Non-invasrve morsture
monttoring wlthrn an earth embankment - a precursor to failure', Rallway Engrneerlng 2000
Conference, London, UK, July 2000.
1,-4
id
[I361 Janin G : 'Malntalning track geometry decision making for levelling and lining', French Railway Review,
Voi. 1 , No. 1 , 1983.
[I371 Janssens, M.H.A.: 'ICES-STV Effect van de spoorstaafvorm op de geluldproduct~evan
betonplatenspoor', TNO-TPD report 97-0108,1997.
11383 Jarmulak J and Gillng J.M.: 'CBR systems for interpretations of eddy-current and ultrasonic NDT
data', In: Appl~catlonsand Innovations In Intelligent Systems VII, Proceedtngs of the 19th
lnternat~onalConference on Knowledge Based Systems and Appl~edArtlfic~alIntelligence,
1999.
Springer, Cambrrdge, England, UK, pp 102-118,
I
I
I
'"l
kd
1 974.
elements', First Symposium on Condition Assessment, Maintenance and Remedy of the Ctvil
Englneerlng Objects, Tara, Yugoslavia, December 1999.
iuii
m
vehrcle parameters on wheel/rarl vertrcal dynamlc forces', Railway Engineering Journal, January
[I401 Jovanovic S. and Nestorov I.. 'System for location and data-collection about rallway ~nfrastructure
J
I
[I391 Jenklns H.H., Stephenson J.E., Clayton G.A., Morland G.W. and Lyon D.: 'The effect of track and
bJ
[I411 Jovanov~cS and Korpanec I.: 'Ecotrack Proves Its Worth', lnternatlonal Railway Journal and Raptd
Translt Review (official web srte), August 2000
[I421 Jovanov~cS and Zaalberg H.. 'ECOTRACK. Two years of experrence', Rail InternatlonallSchienen
der Welt, Aprll 2000.
mf
I
'
"*i
L:
1kd
irul
[I441 Jovanovtc S. and Korpanec I.. 'ECOTRACK: The Implementation Phase', R a ~Technology
l
Magazine,
ISSN 1471 0668,pp 19-22,
February-March 2001.
[I451 Jovanov~cS. and Esveld C.: 'ECOTRACK: An objective condltron-based Decis~onSupport System for
long-term track M&R Plannlng directed towards reduction of Llfe Cycle Costs', 7th International
Heavy Haul Conference, Brrsbane, Australia, 10-15June 2001
I
@I
F"1
[I461 Kaess G.:'Die Langsstabilltaet von Wetchen ln geschwers sten Gleisen', ETR, March 1982
[I471 Kaess G and Ebersbach D.. 'Schnelle Zuge, schwere Lasten, was sagt der Oberbau dazu?', ETR,
January 1986
'uuu"
[I481 Kaess G: 'Erfahrungen und Ergebnisse aus dem Einsatz des dynamlschen Gle~sstabilisators',ETR,
October 1987.
rWrni
[I491 Kalker J.J 'Three-D~mensionalElastlc Bod~esIn Rolling Contact', Volume 2 of 'Solid Mechan~csand
its Applicat~ons',Kluwer Acaedemrc Publishers, Dordrecht, 1990.
hd
i
R
b
r"ll
[I501 Kaynla A.M , Madshus C. and Zackrisson P.: 'Ground vibratton from htgh-speed trains' predictton and
cou~termeasure',Journal for Geotechnical and Geo-environmental Englneerlng, Volume 126,
pp 531-537,
2000.
[I511 Kerr A.D . 'On the stress Analyses of Rails and Ties', AREA Bulletln 659,1976
REFEREWCES
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
t
i
'p
[ I 521 Kerr A.D and Bathurst L.A . 'Pads ease track transitions', Railway Track & Structures, ISSN 00339016, Vol 96 No.8, pp. 57-64, 2000.
1_
[I531 Knorhe K. and Yu M.: 'Ansatze zur Modellbildung der Festen Fahrbahn und Unterschiede zur
Modellbildung des Schotteroberbaus', IFV symposium 'Feste Fahrbahn - Mechanisierte
Modellierung, Betriebserfahrung und Akustik', Berlin, November 1999.
%,
f"
I
$"
[I541 Knote K : 'Gleisdynamik', Ernst & Sohn, Berlin, ISBN 3-433-01760-3, 2001
[ I 551 Kruger F: 'Erprobung einer einfachen kontinuierlich elastichen Schienenlagerung auf einer
Tunnelstrecke', Verkehr und Techniek, No. 7, pp. 306-312, 1999.
1
p9
kd
[I561 Labra J.J.: 'An axially-stressed railroad track on an elastic continuum subjected to a moving load',
Acta Mechanica, Volume 22, pp 113-129, 1975.
[ I 571 Lamson S.T.. 'A-symmetrical grinding challenges heavy-haul punishment', Railway Track and
Structures, February 1984.
[ I 581 Lewis R.B.. 'High Speed Track Recording Coach', Journal of Engineering Mechanics, September
1975.
[I591 Lewis R.B. and Richards A.N.: 'A new method for the routine measurement of rail head corrugations',
Rail InternationaliSchienen der Welt, February 1986
r"A9
Clrfi
F
w
F"i
b
[I601 Leykauf G and Mattner L.: 'Feste Fahrbahn mit Asphalttragschicht', Feste Fahrbahn, Edition ETR,
Hestra Verlag, Germany, 1997.
[I611 Leykauf G. and Maleki N: 'Feste Fahrbahn - Entwicklungen im Ausland', Feste Fahrbahn, Edition
ETR, Hestra Verlag, Germany, 1997
[ I 621 Leykauf G. and Mattner L.: 'Moderne Fahrweg-systeme', ETR, 2-3, 1998.
[I 631 Lichtberger B.. 'Rechnergestutzte Systeme zur Gleislageber~chtigung',Vortrag Oslo, March 1990
[I641 Lichtberger B.: 'State of chord measuring using EM-SAT or GPS', ElIDer Eisenbahningenieur, 46, 8,
pp 560-ff, 1995
[I651 Lieb M. and Sudret B.: 'A fast algorithm for soil dynamics calculations by wavelet decomposition',
Archive of Applied Mechanics, Volume 68, pp. 147-1 57, 1998.
[I661 Madshus C. and Kayn~aA.M.: 'High-speed railway lines on soft ground: dynamic behaviour at critical
train speed', Journal of Sound and Vibration, Volume 231, pp. 689-701, 2000
[I 671 Man A.P. de: 'Determination of dynamic track propert~esby means of excitation hammer testing', Rail
Engineering International, 4, pp. 8-9, 1996
[ I 681 Man A.P. de and Moraal J : 'Mechanical testing of the definite SA42-rail structure in behalf of ICES',
Railway Engineering, TU-Delft, report 7-98-1 11-7, 1998.
[ I 691 Man A.P. de: 'Interim Report Dynatrack: 2 years of research on the dynamic behaviour of railway track
structures', Railway Engineering, TU-Delft, report 7-99-1 11-1 0, 1999.
[I701 Man A.P. de and Moraal J.. 'Behaviour of rail fastenings: Laboratory testing of D~rectFastenings',
Railway Engineering, TU-Delft, report 7-00-120-9, 2000.
[I711 Maree J S and Grabe P J . 'Use of a Dynamic Track Stabiliser to Improve track maintenance and
optimisation of track tamping', Proceedings of 6th International Heavy Haul Conference,
Capetown, South Africa, June 1979.
[I721 Markine V.L., de Man A.P. and Esveld C 'A procedure for design and optim~zationof a railway track
structure', Proc Interactive Conference. Cost Effectiveness and Safety Aspects of Railway
Track. Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer, Paris, France, 8-9 December 1998
!@I
A
iy
--7
J
-7
I
I
'
LJ
[I731 Markine V L 'Opt~mzationof the Dynamic Behaviour of Mechanical Systems', Ph.D.Thesis, TU-Delft,
Shaker Pciblishing B V., ISBN 90-423-0069-8,
1999
[I741 Marklne V L and Esveld C . 'Analysis of Lateral Behaviour of a Railway Track Structure Using an
Optimization Technique', Railway Engineering, TU-Delft. report 7-99-124-1,
1999.
[I751 Markine V.L., de Man A.P. Jovanovic, S. and Esveld C.: 'Modelling and Optimization of an Embedded
1Q-
-J
Rail Structure', Proceed~ngsof Innovations In the design and assessment of railway track,
International Conference, Trade Show and Workshops, TU-Delft, The Netherlands, 2-3
December 1999.
[I761 Markine V L and Esveld C : 'Determ~nationOf Track Lateral Resistance And Train Speed Limits Using
Tamping Machine And Numerical Optimisation', In. M. Forde (ed.) The 3rd International
London, UK,
Conference Railway Engineering - 2000 (CD Proceedings), ISBN 0-947644-43-1,
5-6July 2000
[I771 Markine V.L., de Man A.P. Jovanovic, S and Esveld, C.: 'Multicr~teriaOptimisation Of Railway Track
For High-Speed Lines', In J Sienz (ed.) Proceedings of the 2nd ASMO UK 1 ISSMO
Conference on Engineering Design And Optim~zation,ISBN 0-86076-168-1,
Swansea, Wales,
UK, pp 149-156,10-11July 2000
11781 Markine V L , Toropov V.V. and Esveld C : Optimization of Ballastless Railway Track Using Multipoint
Approximations: Issue of Domain-Dependent Calculab~lity'.Proceedings of the 8th AIAAIUSAFI
F"I
d
A4
$url
PW
I
""I
[I791 Massarsch K R 'Isolation of vibrations In soils', Report FIT Franki, Liege. Belgium
[I801 Masiimoto H , Sugino K. and Hayashida H : 'Development of wear resistant and anti-shelling hlgh
strength rails in Japan', Paper H . l , Rarl Steel Symposium, 1978.
[I811 Matten D and Langhagen K . 'Feste Fahrbahn im Spannungsfeld von Innovation und Bewahrung'.
Feste Fahrbahn, Edition ETR, Hestra Verlag, Germany, 1997.
[I821 McMichael P L.: 'Stone blowing from rheory to practice', Third Internatlonal Heavy Haul Conference,
Vancouver, Canada, October 1986.
la
aa
I
'ril
[I831 McMichael P.L . 'Implementing the Stoneblower', Permanent Way Institution Technical Seminr,
lnstution of Mechanical Engineers, Lodon, October 1995.
[I841 Megyeri J . 'Bewegungsgeometr~scheUeberlegungen bei der Entwicklung von Eisenbahnwe~chen',
AET-Archiv fuer Eisenbahntechnik, Vol. 40,pp 59-63,
1985
[I 851 Merkblatt Stahl 241: 'Aluminothermic welding of rails', Beratungsstelle fur Stahlvelwendung.
Dusseldorf, 1983
I
I
[I861 Montagne S 'Five years experience with French high speed track. achievements and future
prospects', Rall lnternational1Schienen der Welt, October 1988.
[I871 Moraal J : 'Test~ngof Pandrol Rail Fastening Systems', Railway Engineering. TU-Delft. report 7-9711 8-2,
1997.
rq
bui
7
brl
d
I
[I881 Moraal J, and Blentjes J . W . Pulling force testing of rail fastenings'. Railway Engineering. TU-Delft.
report 7-97-1
03-6,
1997
[I891 hlloraal J . 'Laboratory testing on Spanish rail fastening systems'. Railway Engineering. TU-Delft,
report 7-99-11
8-7,
1999.
[I901 Morscher J 'Anforderungskatalog zum Bau der Feste Fahrbahn', Feste Fahrbahn Edit~onETR.
Hestra Verlag, Germany, 1997
[I911 Moubray J . 'Reliability-centred maintenance', Butterworth-He~nemann,Oxford, UK, 1997
--a
&&
-- --- -
--
- .
-.
-.
-.
.
--
--
--
-- -
.--- -
_-__-_
-3
1,
REFERENCES
[217] ORE D l 56 rp4: 'Studies concerning the measurement and improvement of the level of residual
stresses', Utrecht, September 1987.
-I
[218] ORE D l 6 1 r p l . 'General conditions for the study of the evolution of track geometry based on historical
~nformat~on',
Utrecht, Aprll 1987
'"7
[219] ORE D l 61 rp2: 'Assessment of the service life of rails from their defect occurrence', Utrecht, April
1983
LA
j
R?
I1
klode~nRa~iwayTrack
[220] ORE D l 6 1 rp4: 'Dynamlc vehicle/track interaction phenomena from the point of view of track
maintenance', Final report. conclusions and recommendat~ons,Utrecht, September 1988.
' M i
[221] ORE D161.1 rp3 : 'The influence of wheel flats on the track wlth 20 and 22.5 t axle loads', Utrecht,
September 1986.
,T
[222] ORE D l 61 . I rp4 . 'The dynamic effects due to increasing axle loads from 20 to 22.5 t and the
est~matedincrease in maintenance costs', Utrecht, September 1987.
db!
nT
iivui
I
"*I
kw
7
&ti
I
[223] Ohtake T et al.: 'Practical use of TOSMA on track maintenance work', In: Cost effectiveness and
safety aspects of railway track, ERR1 and UIC, Paris 1998
[224] Pahnke U.. 'Konstruktive Geschichtspunkte be1 der Gestaltung von Fahrbahnplatten aus Beton fur
Schienenbahnen', ETR, 4, 1992.
[225] Peterson F.J , Wolf G.P. and Bachinsky G.S., 'The Relationship Among Operating Procedures,
Track Geometry, Rail Profile, and Rall Wear Rates', ARM 1999 RallIWheel Interface Semlnar
5 May 1999
[226] Pflelderer AG: 'Rheda 2000 - Dle monol~tischeFeste Fahrbahn mit Direktafbau auf HGT'.
[227] Phoenix AG. 'Subballast mats for track technology'
Em
bpi
1
Y
3
12
rl
3
7
[228] Pichler D 'Noise and V~bratlonattenuating measures for modern railway superstructures', In: P.Sas
(Ed.) 'Proceedlngs ISR/iA25', KU Leuven, ISBN 90-73802-72-5, pp. 755-762, 2000.
[229] Powell M J D . 'A Fast Algorithm for Nonlinearly Constrained Optlmlzation Calculations', In:
Proceedrngs of the 1977 Dundee Conference on Numerical Analysis, Lectures Notes In
Mathematics, Springer-Verlag, 630, pp 144-157, 1978
[230] Proceedings of the International Conference on Wheellrall Load and Displacement Measurement
Techniques, DOT-TSC-UMTA-82-3, September 1981.
[231] Prud'homme A 'Les problemes que pose, pour la vole, la circulation des rames a grande vitesse',
Revue General des Chemins de Fer, November 1976
[232] Rasmussen, S and de Man, A.P. 'The High Speed Deflectograph and the Hammer Excitation Test:
two measurement techniques for determining track performance', Rall Engineering
International, Vo1.29, N r . l , pp. 13-1 6, 2000.
[233] Redi : 'Cedlas - Rallway Llnes Diagnostic System', By' Slsteml Energetici lntegrati srl, Prato, Italy.
3
7
'euu
12
9
I I
[234] REMAIN. 'Modular System for Rellablllty and Maintainablllty Management In European Rarl Transport,
Final Report, 1998.
[235] Richart F.E., Woods F?.D and Hall J
Cliffs, New Jersey, 1970.
12361 Rlessberger K . 'New Transition Geometry', In 'High Speed Track Course', By P A 0 Delft, the
Netherlands, 10-11 June 1997.
[237] Rlessberger K 'Frame sleeper upgrade ballast track', WCRR Cologne, 2001
_.LL
REFERENCES
[238] Rivier R.E and Salchli B..'Management information system for track maintenance and renewal',
Computers in Railway Management, Computer Mechanics PublicationsISpringer Verlag. 1987.
Ik_-
[239] Roney M D 'Maintaining Optimal Wheel and Rail Performance'. In 'Guidelines To Best Practices for
Heavy Haul Railway Operations. Wheel and Rarl Interface Issues'. International Heavy Haul
Association, Virginia Beach, USA, Part 5, pp. 5-1 13, May 2001.
[240] Rudolph R: 'Operational simulation of light rail systems', European Transport Conference,
Cambridge, UK, 2000
[241] Ruiter
B de 'Noise abatement in metro tunnels, part 1 and 2'. Weg en Water. Ed 1985. N o 5, pp.
9-11, NO 6, pp. 12-14, 1985
I2421 Rump R. v o n Warum Feste Fahrbahn?', Feste Fahrbahn, Edition ETR. Hestra Verlag. Germany
1997
I
[243] Sato Y , Fujimori S and Yoshimura A,. 'Real time digital processing of track irregularities in time of
speed-up on Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen', ORE Colloquium on experience with the
introduction and operation of high and very high speed lines, Arrezo, September 1987.
dl
p
dL
r@
[244] Sato Y , Morimura T and Watanabe S . 'Theoretical analysis and expertmental results on track
moduli with use of wheel-set drop test', Vehicle System Dynamics. Vol. 24 (supplement),
1995
[245] Schmit L.A. Jr and Farshi B..'Some Approximation Concepts for Structural Synthesis'. AlAA Journal,
Volume 12, pp. 692-699, 1974
!
[246] Schilder R. and Piereder F.. 'Formation rehabilitation on Austrian Federal Railways - five years of
operation experience with the AHM 800 R', Rail Engineering International, April 2000.
[247] Schooleman R.B.: Transition between embankments and bridges for High-Speed Lines'. Railway
Engineering, TU-Delft, report 7-96-1 10-10, October 1996
[248] Schreiner H - 'Feste Fahrbahn - Hohengenaue Asphalt-Tragschchten', Eisenbahn lngenieur. 3, 1992
[249] Schweitzer R. and Heller W . 'Zum Abbrennstumpfschweissen von naturharten Schienen aus
Sondergutte Chrom-Mangan-stahl', ETR, 23, 1974.
[250] Schweitzer R. and Huber 0 . . 'Feinperlitisieren von Wechen', Technische Mitteilungen Krupp 3713,
October 1979
[251] Seiig E T and Waters J.M.: 'Track Geotechnology and Substructure Management', Thomas Telford
Serivices Ltd, London, 1994
F
M
[252] Shenton M.J. 'Track standards for high speed trains', ORE Colloquium on experience with the
introduction and operation of high and very high speed Iines, Arezzo, Italy, September 1987.
[253] Siderius R M. Feasibility of EPS as a lightweight sub-base material in rail structures'. Railway
Engineering, TU-Delft, report 7-98-211-8, August 1998
[254] Snippert G.: 'Dealing with Process Contracting', NS-Rarlinfrabeheer, Utrecht, 1999.
[255] Stadler W.: 'Multicriteria Optimization in Engineering and in the Science'. Plenum Press. New York.
London, 1988
[256] Stephen K.J. and Dellisola A 'Life cycle costing for design professionals', McGraw-Hill. USA, 1995
[257] Suiker A S J and Esveld C 'Stiffness transition subjected to an instantaneous movlng load passage',
In Proceedings of the Sixth International Heavy Haul Railway Conference, Capetown, South
Africa, pp 1194-1 205, 1997.
F
b\
[258] Suiker A S J and Esveld C.. 'Instantaneo~isload passage on stratified media'. I n Proceedings of the
Sixth International Heavy Haul Railway Conference, Capetown, South Africa, April 1997
REFERENCES
I
I
17801 1 JlC leaflet 703 R 'Design of alrgnment for tracks run by fast passenger trains', 1988.
[281] Van M A and van Dam A.J.P 'A finite element model for the calculation of axial track forces', TUDelft, 1988
1L
,
[282] Van M A . 'Stability of Continuous Welded Rail Track', Ph.D.Thesis. Delft University Press, ISBN 90407-1 485-1, 1997.
f-
Y1
[283] Vermeil. D.J.. 'Vehicle dynamics and passenger comfort related to track geometry in high speed
track', Railway Engineering. TU-Delft, report 7-98-1 21-1. 1998.
r"
k
F"
L
[285] Vossloh GmbH 'Product Specifications Feste Fahrbahn System 300'. 1997
[286] Vossloh GmbH 'Product Spec~frcationsSchallabsorber System'. 1997.
[287] Watanabe K.: 'Sh~nkansentrack maintenance by closed-loop control'. Rarlway Gazette International,
March 1982
pbA
[2881 Waters J M : 'The FROG track measuring system', International Railway Journal. December 1984.
[289] Waters J.M : 'Pneumatic Stone Injection - A means of adjusting track level'. Fourth International Rail
Track and Sleeper Conference, Adelaide. Australia, September 1981.
I2901 Weigend M 'On-line evaluation of track geometry w ~ t hthe aid of electronic computers in the DB's
track recording cars', ETR 31, November 1982.
[291] Wergend M . 'Gestaltung von Geleiseverbindungen, Elsner's Taschenbuch der Eisenbahntechnik',
Tetzlaff Verlag, Darmstadt, 1983.
[292] Wenty R 'Basic consideratrons for mechanical ballast cleaning'. Rail Engineering International,
February 1990
[293] Widmann H 'Feste Fahrbahn Bauan Zublin, Feste Fahrbahn. Edition ETR, Hestra Verlag. Germany,
1997.
[294] Zaalberg H.: 'Economising Track Renewal and Maintenance with ECOTACK'. Proceedings Interactive
Conference on Cost effectiveness and safety aspects of railway track. ERR1 and UIC. Pails,
France, 1998
[295] Zand J.van 't : 'Track technology', lecture notes e61. TU-Delft, February 1987
[296] Zand J.van 't . 'Experimental evaluat~onof dynamic properties of r a ~pads
l
at lower temperatures', TUDelft, December 1988.
F!&
(2971 Zand J.van 't: 'Ballast mats'. Railway Engineering, TU-Delft, report 7-91-105-11, 1991
[298] Zand J van 't and Moraal J 'Ballast Resistance under Three D~mensronalLoading'. Railway
Engineering. TU-Delft. report 7-97-1 03-4, February 1997.
'lrpi;
[299] Zeevenhooven N . 'Railway Vehicle Technology', lecture notes 170b. TU-Delft. 1987.
[3001 23rmermann H . 'Dre Berechnung des Eisenbahnoberbaues'. 3rd edition. Wilhelm Ernst und Sohn,
Berlin, 1941
[301] Zoeteman A.: 'Planning the infrastructure performance of railways? Decision suppolt for track design
of a Dutch high-speed link'. European Transport Coference, Cambridge. UK. ZOO0
[302] Zoeteman A 'A financral comparison of track structures: applicat~onof life cycle cost~ngfor metro
track construction in Madrid' (confidential). Comunidad de Madrid, Spain. 1998.
Fm
i
--
- - - - -- .- - -
--
--- - -
-.----..
-.-.
--
- . . _ _
__
."__
---
--
r
Modern Ra~iwayTrack
INDEX
!-k
3NDEX
1
Numerics
3-po~ntllnrng prlnc~ple365
3-po~ntmeasurement 364
4-point l ~ n ~ npr~nclple
g
364
4-po~ntsystem 364
A
AASHO Road Test 93
Acceleratron, non-compensated lateral 42
Acceptance 286
ADAM 494
Adhes~onforce 32
Adjacent curves 43
A-filter 459
AHM 800 R 380
Air res~stance30
ALC 366,368
Al~gnment 13.364
~nmountalno~lsareas 46
Al~gnrnentportal 241
AMS 591,603
Annoyance, class~flcat~on
of 465
ANSYS 102,104
Arald~te220
Argon flushrng 279
Asphalt-concrete roadbed 245
Asset locatlon 608,605
Asset Management System 475,591,603
Asymmetr~cgrlndlng 353
ATON 517
Audlbilrty llrnlt 464
Austen~trcmanganese steel 336
AUTOGRAPH 351,375,553
A-welghtlng 460
Axle box acceleration 69,514, 526
Axle loads 55,62,63
6
I
Bad welds 68
Ballast bed 92,205
Ballast cleaner 377
Ballast mats 223,469
dynarn~cstiffness 224
foam 223
granular 223
stat~c224
Ballast monltorlng and management 551
Ballast profll~ng375
Ballast regulator 375
Ballasted track 203,231,232,240
Barkan formula 463
Bartscherer roll pass design 281
Baseplates 220
Baslc Oxygen Furnace 275,277
Beam on an elast~cfoundat~on
dynamic 114
movlng load 11 7
statlc 71,74,80
Bend~ngstress 85
Blas errors 142
Blanketing machlne 380
Blast furnace 275
Blooms 281
BMS 525
BMS-1 528
BMS-2 123,405
Body trlt 38
Bousslnesq 87
Braklng load 62
Br~dgernonltorlng 476
Br~dgetransition 210
Br~dges470
Brlnell 299
Broad gauge 18
BSI standard 6472 465
Butterworth filter 527
LL
CAD 102,591
California Bearlng Ratlo 96,204
Cant 529
def~c~ency
37,58
des~gnstandards 43
excess 39
Castlng
continuous 279
lnyot 279
Catenary systems 7
CBR 96,204
CDM-B~str~p
262
CEDIAS 494
Cementite 292
Character~st~c
length 75,118
Chord measurement 508
Clamp~ngforce 222
Clearances I0
Closure rarl 337
Clothold 40
CoconTrack system 261
Coherence 598
Coke 277
Cologne Egg 470
Concrete sleeper 214
Cond~t~on
monltor~ng491
Con~c~ty
18,21
Construct~onfrom the side 396
Contaminat~on205
Cont~nuousact~ontamp~ng360
Cont~nuouscastlng 279
Contrnuous method 388
Cool~ngrates 314
Cornu splral 40
Corrugation 58,319,514,563
development of 407
Cost-effect~veness 595
Crack propagation 301,304
Crane track 230
Creep 27,29
Cr~t~cal
speed 118,120
Crit~calstress 301,305
Cross level - gyroscopes 507
Crossing 333
Cross~ngangle
In switches 337,344
Cross-overs 341
Crushed gravel 205
Crushed stone 205
Cumulative probab~l~ty
of fa~lure331
Curve 35,540
d~splacernent41
dynam~cQ-force 64
horizontal 35
lateral track load 64
res~stance31,43
CWR 83,384
R
iuF-
L,
P"
bb
C:
I@
h
I
I
Modern Ra~lwayTrack
/\\IDEX
\1
Damage 329
Declbel (dB) 459
DeckTrack 257
Derailment risk 59
Deslgn overlift 351,374
Design tamping 514
Deter~orat~on
causes 400
geometry 401,402,593
h ~ g hrate of 403
level 406
mean rate of 404
rate 401,599
track quality 403
Developing countr~es 9
Diagnosis 494.598
DIN standard 4150 465
Dlrect rail fastening 253
Discrete rall support 71,121
,,
1
A
I7
1,
principle 482
shlft 482
Double beam model 116
Double sleepers 209
DRIVER 366
Drop weight test 287
DTS 375,407,467
DTS 62 N 376
Duornat~cmachine 359
DVMF 287,288
Dynamlc
amplification 163,166,170
elasticity modulus 260
models 157
principles 108
response of ballast 167
signals 527
track deslgn 107
track stabilization 375
~'
'7
d
T
E
I
2
I
I
I
1
m
I
ECOTRACK 595,596,603
Eddy current testing 284
Efficiency 591
Eisenmann 91,92
Eisenrnann track 247
Elastic fastenings 221
Elast~cline 75
Electr~carc weld 211
Electrical heatlng 256
Electrification 6
EM 130 512
Embankments 162
Embedded rarl 104,159,253,255,472
EM-SAT 367,368,552
EM-SAT 120 367
EN 13674 297
EPS 265
Equal perception value 469
Equivalent conicity 21
Equivalent foundation coefficient 80
ERR1
D l 8 2 206,551
D l 8 7 597
D229 550
EURAILSCOUT 496,515
European Standard EN 13674 297
EV2 204
Expansion coefficient 90
F
Failure progression 493
Fa~lurerate 331
Fa~lureMode Analysis 476
Fastenings 219
baseplates 220
direct 220
elastic 221
lnd~rect220
Nabla 221
Pandrol 221
spring charactenstics 222
Vossloh 221,252
Fatigue strength 85,300
Finishing shop 282
Fishplated ]o~nts208
Flange gauge 18
Flangeway clearance 18
Flanging 20
Flash butt weld 211
Flash butt welding 306,309
Flat-bottom rail 206
Flexibility functlon 110
Flexural stiff slabs 258
FLI-MAP 606
Force-speed diagram 32
Formation 204
protective layer 379
rehabilitation 379,381
stresses 92,93
Foundat~on
coefficient 115
modulus 71,260
Fourier transform 122
FRA's Hlgh Speed Research Car 547
Fracture mechan~cs300
Frame-sleeper 218
Frequency domain 112,122
Frequency response functlon 109
Frequency smoothing 143
Fresnel ~ntegrals40
+!
G
Gantry cranes 386,387,398
Gauge tolerances 542
Geometrical elements 35
Geometry
of turnouts 337
vertical rail 286
Geotextlle 381
GEOTRACK 100
GeoView 523
Glued insulated joints 210
GPS 368,606
Gradlent 35,44
magnitude 44
resistance 31,44
Granulat~on379
Gravel 205
Grinding facets 353
Grinding facility STS 220 309
Grinding unit with oscillating stones 352
Gr~ndingunlt with rotat~ngstones 353
Grooved rall 206
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) 478,479,552
Ground vibrat~ons 460
a:-.
---
--
---------.--.--
GVA 366
I
Impact force 112
Impact test 287
Incident detector 497
Incident processor 501
Inertial measurement 507,526
Infrared thermograph~cinspectron 484
Ingot casting 279
In-l~nehardening 295
Inside gauge 18
lnspect~on286
Installing switches 393
Instrumented wheels 548
Integrated locking 335
Interlamellar spacrng 292
Intersection point 337
Irregularities
in alrgnment 129
in cant 129
in level 125
I S 0 standard 2631 465
I S 0 weighting 132
J
Jerk 338
Jointed track 78
K
Kalker coefficients 29
KIC 300
Kinematrc envelope 609
Kinematic gauge optrmizat~on338
Klingel movement 19
L
Laser 606
alignment system 365
-.
INDEX
Doppler 481
induced fluorescence 484
sattlllld 367
system 529
Lateral
movement 19
track resistance 406,407
LCC 490
Level crossings 226
Levelling 350
Life cycle cost 490
Lift settlement characteristic 369
Limestone 277
Line class~ficat~on
55
Lrne sectlon speeds 56
L~nearvehicle model 124
Load
dynamrc 57
fatigue 58
qiiasl-static 57
Load-bearing funct~on 14
Local defects 542
Low Vibration Track 235
LVDT 528
M
Mach waves 166
MAINS 537
Maintenance
costs 64
management systems (MMS) 591
of the track structure 383
section 536,542
Manual track renewal 385
Martensrte 315
Mass sprlng system 116
Mathematical point 337
MDZ 2000 377
Mean gauge per section of 200 m 542
bleasuring
accuracy for track geometry 515
v~brations466
wheelsets 150
Mechan~caltrack renewal 386
Mechan~sedtrack marntenance train 377
Metallurgical fundamentals 292
Microstructure of pearl~te292
MlMS 604
Minimum cooling times 315
MINIPROF 287,549
MINIPROF switch devrce 549
M I S 0 140
Mixed traffic 45
Mobile flash butt welding 307,308
Mobile weld correctron 357
Modulus of elasticity 90
Moisture content 485
Moisture monrtorrng 485
r'i
i,
P
I
L
P
I
7
Ia
E
P
irr,
Z
F
Monitorrng 475
Monolithic slabs 252
Movable point frog 336
Moving vehrcle 157
E
r
IMD EX
/LID EX
Small wheels 88
SMD-80 392