The use of elastic elements in railway tracks: A state of the art review

Sol-Sánchez, M.; Moreno-Navarro, Fernando; Rubio-Gámez, M.C.

doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.11.027

Cited by 143 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…Research from Greek railways found that the use of stiff rail pads increased stresses on the sleepers, causing them to crack. Their results also show that replacing stiff rail pads (250 kN/mm) with more flexible ones (40 kN/mm) reduced the stresses transmitted to the sleepers by up to 20% with a ballasted track (Miguel Sol-Sánchez, 2015).…”

Section: Rail Padsmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…In addition, the elastic rail pad provides electrical and signaling insulation (between track circuits) and is a good source of damping that reduces transmission of rail vibrations to sleepers. This also reduces cracking and wear rates of concrete sleepers and abutments (Miguel Sol-Sánchez, 2015).…”

Section: Rail Padsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In specific areas such as tunnels, bridges, elevated stations, deep cuttings, and switches, the UBM is essential because its elasticity is required to reduce the track stiffness. This technique can reduce stresses on component materials from dynamic loads, noise emissions, and structural vibrations (Miguel Sol-Sánchez, 2015). The various types of UBMs usually have thicknesses of 15-30 mm and horizontal dimensions that depend on the technique developed during construction.…”

Section: Under Ballast Matsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first layer distributes loads uniformly, and the second (elastic) layer dampens dynamic loads. Alternative composites are being developed from waste tires to reduce the cost of UBM manufacturing (Miguel Sol-Sánchez, 2015).…”

Section: Under Ballast Matsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lifecycle Assessments of Railway Bridge Transitions Exposed to Extreme Climate Events

Setsobhonkul

Kaewunruen

Sussman

2017

Front. Built Environ.

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Railway track components located at bridge transition zones or approach areas suffer from impact load and vibrations caused by abrupt changes in track stiffness on the bridge and the subgrade. The numerous strategies that can be used to mitigate these abrupt track stiffness changes rely on one of two concepts. The first concept is that of providing a gradual stiffness change, and the second is that of equalizing the track stiffness. A number of such mitigation methods have been developed and implemented over recent decades. Construction activities associated with these methods require various materials, processes, and uses of time, costs, and carbon emissions. In this study, eight of the most common techniques for railway bridge transition mitigation, including under ballast mats (UBMs), soft baseplates, under sleeper pads (USPs), rail pads, embankment treatments, transition slabs, ballast bonding, and wide sleepers, are compared. This study benchmarks the costs and carbon emissions of these eight mitigation techniques over the 50-year lifespan of a railway system subject to identical probabilities of four environmental scenarios: a control case, extremely high temperatures, extremely low temperatures, and flash flooding. This unprecedented study systemically investigates the effectiveness of the mitigation methods while considering the effects of 30 and 100 m bridge span lengths. Our results indicate that railway engineers should adopt different mitigation methods for different scenarios. The soft baseplate is the most appropriate method for a short-span bridge in the control case and the case of flash flooding, while ballast bonding is better for long-span railway bridges. Embankment treatment is recommended for both high-and low-extreme temperatures. However, its applicability is limited when the differential track stiffness is extremely high. Hence, alternatives that are 5-25% more expensive are proposed in parallel. The alternative methods include ballast bonding, and the USP and UMB methods, the latter two of which are designed for different climate scenarios. These recommendations translate novel insights from the systems thinking approach into practice and will benefit the railway industry significantly over the long term, enhancing both economic and environmental sustainability.

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Section: Rail Padsmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Rail Padsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Under Ballast Matsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Under Ballast Matsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lifecycle Assessments of Railway Bridge Transitions Exposed to Extreme Climate Events

Setsobhonkul

Kaewunruen

Sussman

2017

Front. Built Environ.

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“…Currently, high-speed railways are based on the use of concrete sleepers and complex fastening systems between the sleeper and the rails. Aiming at relieving the excessive stiffness of concrete sleepers (which can be up to five times higher than those made of wood [1]), elastic pads are placed between the rails and the sleepers. Rail pads play an indispensable role within the fastening systems since they cushion the shocks and vibrations caused by the train wheels transit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of Metal Rubber Pads for High Speed Railways

Carrascal

Pérez²,

Casado

et al. 2018

WIT Transactions on the Built Environment

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Polymeric materials (such as thermoplastics, rubbers, polyurethanes, etc.) have been extensively used to manufacture resilient rail pads; plastics, however, suffer from a series of intrinsic limitations since the environmental agents (UV rays, temperature, air humidity, etc.) as well as the compressive fatigue loads negatively affect their mechanical properties. This study proposes the use of a novel solution, the so-called "metal-rubber" pads, as a reliable alternative to polymer pads. They are made of stainless steel wire, knitted, embossed and cold-pressed down into a mould to achieve the required shape and size. The thorough experimental campaign carried out to validate the metal rubber pads includes the following tests: (i) Static and dynamic stiffness as indicated in EN 13146-9+A1 and EN 13481-2 guidelines respectively. Furthermore, by changing design factors like wire diameter, mesh density and geometrical shape variations, the evolution of stiffness characterization results is analysed. (ii) Corrosion resistance under UNE-EN 13416-5 and UNE-EN ISO 9227 guidelines. Metal rubber performance under these guidelines was compared with six polymeric materials. Four of them are employed in numerous railway lines. Results reveal a good fulfilment of requirements. Despite resulting in relatively higher values than recommended, both static and dynamic stiffness reach a close range to traditionally employed EVA and TPE-M. In the case of fatigue aging, the foremost wearing suffered by metal cushion occurs mainly in the early cycling stages, although the total cumulate damage is also comparable to traditional. Finally, it is found that design factors have a great influence over static and dynamic stiffness. Porosity reduction reveals to be a key factor to improve stiffness towards lower values as recommended in literature.

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Tire‐derived aggregate layer performance in railway bridges as a novel impact absorber: Numerical and field study

Esmaeili

Siahkouhi

2019

Struct Control Health Monit

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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.

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The use of elastic elements in railway tracks: A state of the art review

Cited by 143 publications

References 32 publications

Lifecycle Assessments of Railway Bridge Transitions Exposed to Extreme Climate Events

Lifecycle Assessments of Railway Bridge Transitions Exposed to Extreme Climate Events

Development of Metal Rubber Pads for High Speed Railways

Tire‐derived aggregate layer performance in railway bridges as a novel impact absorber: Numerical and field study

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