Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis of Continuous Welded Rail–bridge Interaction: Monitoring-Based Calibration

Abstract

Continuous welded rail is of high interest to operators of railway infrastructure facilities because of the reduced maintenance work and better train driving dynamics it offers. However, the application of continuous welded rail, in particular associated with its interaction with the superstructures of e.g. bridges, requires special caution with regard to the rail stresses in the transition area between the structure and the free field. These stresses are not only influenced by thermal deformations of the bridges but also by the clamp systems between the rails and e.g. the bridge. In general, these connectors are represented by spring elements during modelling, which: (a) causes singularities in the stress distributions in the rails, and (b) cannot capture all the mechanical system changes occurring due to loading, thermal effects, etc. The target of this paper is to present an alternative way of modelling the connection between rails and bridge superstructure based on composite materials which can overcome the disadvantages of the spring model. In particular, a nonlinear model of the whole system was developed for ballasted and non-ballasted track. Special attention was paid to the calibration of rail–bridge interaction and boundary conditions using measured data and code specifications. The aim of this study was to use the results of in-situ measurements to analyse the admissible stress in rails due to their interaction with a bridge caused by temperature loading.

Zusätzliche Schienenspannungen aus Langzeitverformungen von Eisenbahnbrücken mit Fester Fahrbahn – Modell und Realität

“…Technisch ist es möglich, auch solche Arbeitslinien für den Stützpunkt im Modell abzubilden. Dies kann entweder über eine nichtlineare Feder mit frei definierter Arbeitslinie erfolgen oder es können, wie in , FEM‐Modelle, die auf Verbundwerkstoffen basieren, verwendet werden. Angesichts der guten Übereinstimmung von gemessenen und berechneten zusätzlichen Schienenspannungen und Schienenverschiebungen sowohl an diesem Bauwerk (Abschn.…”

“…Diese Arbeiten basieren auf den seit den 1980er‐Jahren bestehenden Modellen des Längsverschiebewiderstands und wurden wegen des damit zusammenhängenden finanziellen und technischen Aufwands in den seltensten Fällen durch Messungen kalibriert und belegt. In der jüngsten Vergangenheit wurden bereits in Österreich umfangreichere Messungen an einer 60 m langen Brücke mit Fester Fahrbahn durchgeführt . Durch die Überwachung von mehreren langen Brücken mit hohen Auslastungen der Nachweise der zusätzlichen Schienenspannungen entsprechend den aktuellen Regelwerken ermöglichen die hier vorgestellten Ergebnisse weiterführende Präzisierungen.…”

Mechanical analysis of prestressed sleepers under various operational loads in railways

“…Bu nedenle her bir alt bileşen dikkatli seçilmeli ve ilgili standartlar, direktifler ve prosedürler takip edilerek doğru kalitede uygun malzemelerin seçilmesi sürdürülebilir ve güvenli demiryolu işletmeciliği açısından oldukça önemlidir. [3,4], demiryolu araç dinamiğinden [5,6], titreşim, gürültü ve yolcu konforuna [7] kadar pek çok konu teorik ve pratik olarak araştırılmış ve araştırılmaya devam etmektedir. Ön germeli beton traverslerdeki hasarın sonlu elemanlar yöntemi ve deneysel yöntem ile mekanik analizinin yapıldığı çalışmada [8] Brezilya (ABNT NBR 11709) ve AREMA standartlarına göre tasarlanmış traverslerin yük taşıma kapasiteleri incelenmiştir.…”

Buckling Analysis of Interspersed Railway Tracks

“…Moreover, for ballastless tracks, extreme temperatures may cause problems in the rail-structure interface by adding longitudinal stress in the rail and structure. It is noted that the additional stress on a structure should be controlled and not exceed the admissible stress capacity [33][34][35]. Although track buckling has been widely investigated [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43], interspersed tracks and their inconsistency have never been taken into account.…”