A Review of Behaviour of Prestressed Concrete Sleepers

Abstract

Prestressed concrete sleepers (PCSs) are the most commonly used type of sleepers. They play an essential role in track performance, behaviour and safety. The focus of the published literature on PCSs has primarily been on quantification of dynamic load and resulting structural behaviour of sleepers, interaction with other components of track and failure mechanisms. While structural performance of PCSs is very important and researched as reflected by the large volume of published literature, concrete sleepers also need to meet the durability requirements. It is known that only a small percentage of concrete sleepers remain in service when reaching their intended design life, resulting in heavy maintenance and replacement costs. This paper reports a summary of the review of literature conducted as part of a broader investigation undertaken at the University of Melbourne. The aim of the investigation is to establish the material requirements of the concrete sleepers in order to meet the structural and durability requirements. A summary of the latest works on dynamic responses (including natural frequencies and mode shapes, damping, bending moments and strain rates), failure modes, fatigue and durability aspects of PCSs are presented. Moreover, design approach and dynamic loads are discussed briefly. It is established that a comprehensive research with a focus on material characterisation for concrete sleepers is currently lacking.

Recent advancements in the applications of fiber‐reinforced polymer structures in railway industry—A review

“…The now-in-use sleepers are often made of timber, 75 concrete, 76,77 steel, 78,79 and more recently, FRP composite material. [80][81][82][83] In a review study, Manalo et al 84 compared the alternative materials for replacing timber in rail sleepers.…”

Optimization of the mechanical and vibrational damping properties of a hybrid rubber particle and glass fibre railway sleeper composite

“…A railway sleeper is a critical structural component of the railway track system [1]. The railway sleeper is a supporting, and damping beam located beneath the railway track and can be made up of various materials such as timber, steel, concrete, and composite materials [2]. The durability of concrete and steel sleepers over wooden sleepers made them popular in the late 1990s [3].…”

Analysis of cracking evolution mode of the monobloc sleeper

“…The phenomenon of cracking of prestressed concrete sleepers (PSCs)' monobloc under static loading has interested several researchers. In this study, we are interested in the case raised by the following researchers (Jok ubaitis et al, 2016(Jok ubaitis et al, , 2020Abadi et al, 2019;You et al, 2019;Li et al, 2018;Koh et al, 2016;Taherinezhad et al, 2013;Esmaeili and Yousefi Mojir, 2011;Remennikov and Kaewunruen, 2008;Kaewunruen and Remennikov, 2007;Sadeghi, 2008;Alias, 2004;Xe et al, 1994). Koh et al (2016) have studied the damage mode of monobloc type PSCs under positive tests at the level of the rail seat.…”