Effect of bending and compressive modulus of elasticity on the behaviour of timber-alternative railway sleepers supported by ballast
Article
Article Title | Effect of bending and compressive modulus of elasticity on the behaviour of timber-alternative railway sleepers supported |
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ERA Journal ID | 212014 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Salih, Choman (Author), Manalo, Allan (Author), Ferdous, Wahid (Author), Yu, Peng (Author), Abousnina, Rajab (Author), Heyer, Tom (Author) and Schubel, Peter (Author) |
Journal Title | Case Studies in Construction Materials |
Journal Citation | 15, pp. 1-14 |
Article Number | e00597 |
Number of Pages | 14 |
Year | 2021 |
Publisher | Elsevier BV |
Place of Publication | Netherlands |
ISSN | 2214-5095 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2021.e00597 |
Web Address (URL) | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214509521001121 |
Abstract | Alternative railway sleeper technologies for replacement of timber are made of materials possessing a wide range of bending and compressive moduli. This poses a great challenge to railway authorities and engineers in designing a railway track supported by different sleeper technologies. This study evaluates the static behaviour of a railway track supported by different alternative railway sleeper technologies, i.e. recycled plastics (1.0 GPa), synthetic composites (7.4 GPa), timber (13.0 GPa), and low profile prestressed concrete sleepers (38.0 GPa), using a ballast box test representing a single sleeper section of a track. The deflection profiles along the length of the sleepers under a full service load was captured using Digital Image Correlation technique combined with the strain measurements at the top-centre of the sleepers. Three-dimensional Finite Element simulation of the sleepers’ behaviour based on the Beam on Elastic Foundation theory was implemented and validated by the experimental results. The results show that sleepers with bending modulus of less than 13.0 GPa will have W-shape deflection profile and a high rail seat deflection while sleepers with a bending modulus of 38.0 GPa will show nearly flat behaviour. Local deformation at the rail seat region accounts for almost 6 % of the total deflection of sleepers on a low subgrade modulus and as high as 10 % for high subgrade modulus. The results of this study provide a better insight into the in-track behaviour of alternative sleeper technologies having distinctive material properties. |
Keywords | Ballast box test; Beam on elastic foundation (BOEF); Composite sleeper; Compressive modulus; Modulus of elasticity; Timber-alternative sleeper |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 400510. Structural engineering |
Byline Affiliations | Centre for Future Materials |
Austrak, Australia | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q6yv9/effect-of-bending-and-compressive-modulus-of-elasticity-on-the-behaviour-of-timber-alternative-railway-sleepers-supported-by-ballast
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