Summary
The current paper aims to investigate the effects of tire‐derived aggregate (TDA) layer as a novel impact absorber in railway bridges. In the first step, a concrete short slab bridge was selected at Tehran‐Qom old railway line at 168 + 100 km of Tehran. In continue, for measuring field data, the nominated bridge was evaluated under moving train dynamic loads in both presence and absence of TDA layer as a damper material, which was located between the deck slab and ballast layer. In the second step, a 3D finite element model of selected railway bridge was developed, and corresponding results were compared with those obtained from the field and consequently, the numerical model validity was approved. Afterwards, basing on the verified model, a comprehensive parametric study was conducted on train wheel load, train moving speed, and TDA layer thickness to investigate their effects on track–bridge dynamic behavior.
Rubber concrete (RC) has been confirmed to be suitable for concrete sleeper production. This paper studies the cracking behaviour of conventional and rubber-reinforced concrete sleepers based on the results of an experimental program. The cracking behaviour in the pure bending zone was analysed up to a load of 140 kN. The crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) was accordingly measured using a digital image correlation (DIC) method. The DIC results show that the rubber prestressed concrete sleeper (RPCS) has a resistance against crack initiation that is 20% greater than that of the conventional prestressed concrete sleeper (CPCS) under the same loading condition; however, due to the higher crack growth rate of the RPCS, the first crack detected by the operator forms at 60 kN, which corresponds to a strength approximately 9% lower compared with the 65 kN load at which the first crack is detected in the CPCS. Before the first crack (60 kN), the RPCS has a deflection 35% lower than that of the CPCS, but after cracking, at loads of 80 kN, 100 kN and 140 kN, the RPCS has a deflection 15%, 4% and 24% higher than that of the CPCS, respectively.
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