Mechanisms of Railway Track

2019. 07.
 Contents

1. Forces on railway track

2. Static design of track

Mechanisms of Railway Track 2

1. Forces on railway track
 Vertical forces
 Lateral forces
 Longitudinal forces

Mechanisms of Railway Track 3

 Forces on railway track

Q
Internal force N
(temperature etc.)

Y T

N
<Forces on railway track>

Mechanisms of Railway Track 4

 Forces on railway track

 Vertical forces
Qtot = Qstat + Qcentr + Qwind + Qdyn
Quasi-static force Dynamic force
⋅ sprung mass 0-20Hz
⋅ unsprung mass 20-125Hz
⋅ corrugation, welds, wheel flats 0-2000Hz

- Quasi-static force :
⋅ Self-weight( Qstat ) = half the static axle load
⋅ Vertical component of non-compensated centrifugal force( Qcentr )
⋅ Vertical component of wind force( Qwind )

Mechanisms of Railway Track 5

 Forces on railway track

 Vertical forces
Qtot = Qstat + Qcentr + Qwind + Qdyn
Quasi-static force Dynamic force
⋅ sprung mass 0-20Hz
⋅ unsprung mass 20-125Hz
⋅ corrugation, welds, wheel flats 0-2000Hz

- Dynamic force( Qdyn ) :

⋅ Track geometry errors (short and long wavelengths)
⋅ Unevenness of track support stiffness
⋅ Corrugation, welds, rail joints, turnouts and other rail surface irregularities
⋅ Wheel flatness
⋅ Hunting motion of train

Mechanisms of Railway Track 6

 Forces on railway track

 Vertical forces

- Quasi-static force :

p hd s
Qcentr + Qwind = G + H w
s2 q
sV 2 hd
hd = −h where : Cant deficiency
gR h : Cant

G p hd s
Qe max ≈ + G 2 + Hw
2 s q
10~25% of static wheel load

Mechanisms of Railway Track 7

 Forces on railway track

 Vertical forces

- Design vertical force considering dynamic effect ( Qtot = iQe max )

i : dynamic amplification factor (DAF) Track compendium (Lichtberger, 2005)

i=
1+ 3 s =
1 + 3n V ≤ 60 km/h,

 V − 60 
• Passenger train i=
1+ 3 s =
1 + 3n 1 + 0.5  60 km/h ≤ V ≤ 300 km/h
 190 

 V − 60 
• Freight train i=
1+ 3 s =
1 + 3n 1 + 0.5  60 km/h ≤ V ≤ 140 km/h
 80 

n : track geometry quality index Very-good n = 0.1

Good n = 0.2
Poor n = 0.3

Mechanisms of Railway Track

8
 Forces on railway track

 Vertical forces

Mechanisms of Railway Track 9

 Forces on railway track

 Lateral forces

Ytot = Y flange + Ycentr + Ywind + Ydyn

Quasi-static force Dynamic force

Y flange : forces due to wheel flange-rail contact in curves

Ycentr : lateral component of non-compensated centrifugal force
Ywind : lateral component of wind force
Ydyn : dynamic forces(due to hunting motion of train)

hd
Ye max ≈ G + Hw
s

Mechanisms of Railway Track 10

 Forces on railway track

 Lateral forces

- Design lateral force

 h 
=
Ytot i  G d + H w  i : dynamic amplification factor
 s 

- Prud’homme limit for lateral force

P
Ytrack > 10 + P : axle load
3

 P
Yvehicle < 0.85 10 + 
 3

Mechanisms of Railway Track 11

 Forces on railway track

 Lateral forces

Mechanisms of Railway Track 12

 Forces on railway track

 Lateral forces
- Check for derailment : derailment coefficient

Y sin β − tan φ cos β β : contact angle (=wheel flange angle)

≤ = tan(β − φ)
Q tan φ sin β + cos β φ : wheel-rail friction angle

fN ≤ S

Y / Q > 1.2 (Derailment may occur)

Y / Q ≤ 0.8 (For design purpose)
Mechanisms of Railway Track 13
 Forces on railway track

 Longitudinal forces
- Traction(acceleration) and braking
- Forces on rail due to temperature differences

∆L = α ∆T L
∆L : longitudinal movement of rail with length of L
α coefficient of thermal expansion (1/°C)
∆T : temperature difference (°C)

If the longitudinal deformation due to temperature difference is fully restraint(∆L = 0 ),

F = E A α ∆T

Mechanisms of Railway Track 14

2. Static design of track
 Beam on elastic foundation model
 Check for stresses on track components

Mechanisms of Railway Track 15

 Static design of track

 Winkler foundation
- Compressive stress is proportional to deflection at each support point

σ=C w
σ : compressive stress
C : Winkler coefficient (Foundation modulus) (N/m³)
w : deflection (m)

Mechanisms of Railway Track 16

 Static design of track

 Track support stiffness

( xi ) σ=
F= Ars CArs w=
( xi ) kd w( xi )

k d = C Ars : discrete track support stiffness (N/m)

Ars : bearing area at each rail support (m²)

Mechanisms of Railway Track 17

 Static design of track

 Beam on elastic foundation model

Q

-∞ x EIx ∞
x
k
w(x)

y
EI z : flexural rigidity of rail with respect to local x-axis
k : track modulus, where is defined as
kd
k=
z

a
a : support spacing

Mechanisms of Railway Track 18

 Static design of track

 Beam on elastic foundation model

Q

-∞ x EIx ∞
x
k
w(x)

y
4
d w
G.E.: EI z 4
+ kw = 0
dx
B.C.: w(∞) = 0 Q
w′′′(0) =
2 EI z
w′(0) = 0

Slope = 0

Mechanisms of Railway Track 19

 Static design of track

 Beam on elastic foundation model

Solutions:

w( x) = w0 e −βx (cos βx + sin βx) A deflection curve satisfying w(∞) = 0 and w′(0) = 0

The G.E. is rewritten as

k 1 4 EI z
(−4 EI z β + k ) w0 e
4 − βx
(cos βx + sin βx) = 0 ∴ β=4 ≡ or L≡ 4
4 EI z L k
where L is a characteristic length.

[
w′′′(0) = 4 w0 β 3e − βx cos βx ] x =0
= 4 w0 β 3 =
Q
2 EI z
Q QL3 Q
w0 = = =
8 EI z β3 8 EI z 2kL

Mechanisms of Railway Track 20

 Static design of track

 Beam on elastic foundation model

Solutions:

Q QL3 Q
∴ w( x) = η( x ) = η( x ) = η( x) Rail deflection
8 EI zβ3 8 EI z 2kL

Q QL
M ( x) = − EI x w′′ = µ( x ) = µ( x ) Bending moment of rail
4β 4

where
 x
x
− x
η( x) = e  cos + sin 
L
: relative deflection
 L L
−  x
x
x
µ( x) = e  cos − sin 
L : relative moment
 L L

Mechanisms of Railway Track 21

 Static design of track

 Beam on elastic foundation model

 x
x
− x
η( x) = e  cos + sin  4 EI z
L
: relative deflection L≡ 4 : Characteristic length
 L L k
−  x
x
x
µ( x) = e  cos − sin 
L : relative moment
 L L

Relative deflection

Relative moment
Wave length = 2πL

Mechanisms of Railway Track 22

 Static design of track

 Beam on elastic foundation model

- Solution for multiple wheel load case by superposition

1
w0 = ∑ Qi η(li )
2kL i

p0 = k w0

L
M0 = ∑ Qi µ(li )
4 i li=

li=

Mechanisms of Railway Track 23

 Static design of track

 Beam on elastic foundation model

- Lift-off

Q Q −π
w=
min ( x π=
w= L) η=
( x π=
L) e
2kL 2kL

∴ Minimum weight of track to prevent uplift

1 Q Q
q0 ≥ = =
pmin kwmin π
≈ 0.022
2e L L

Mechanisms of Railway Track 24

 Static design of track

 Track modulus

Foundation characteristics
Parameters Unit
Poor Good

Foundation modulus, C N/mm³ 0.02 0.20

Discrete spring constant, kd

kN/mm 5.5 55
(track support stiffness)

Track modulus, k N/mm 9 90

Characteristic length, L m 1.30 0.70

Mechanisms of Railway Track 25

 Static design of track

 Track modulus

Q 8 EI z
- Apparent track rigidity K ≡ = 3 4 EI z
w0 L L= 4
k

- Relationship between apparent track rigidity and track modulus

8 EI z
K= 3/ 4
 4 EI z 
 
 k 

(8 EI z ) 4 k 3
K =
4
3
= 64 EI z k 3
(4 EI z )

1 K4
∴ k= 3
4 EI z

Mechanisms of Railway Track 26

 Static design of track

 Rail bending stress

- due to the combination of vertical loads(Q) and lateral loads(Y)

Mechanisms of Railway Track 27

 Static design of track

 Rail bending stress

σ
𝜎𝜎𝑎𝑎a
- Allowable stress to prevent fatigue failure zul𝜎𝜎𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

𝜎𝜎𝑚𝑚
Smith Diagram
𝜎𝜎𝑖𝑖 Initial stress

: Ultimate tensile strength line

Tensile yield line

𝜎𝜎𝑎𝑎 Allowable fatigue bending stress due to wheel load erfσF,0=147MPa

Bridge/Track interaction stress σB=92MPa
𝜎𝜎𝑚𝑚 (σBT due to bridge expansion, σBV due to braking and acceleration)
Fatigue limit
𝜎𝜎𝑖𝑖
Thermal stress σT=100MPa
Residual stress σE=80MPa

Mechanisms of Railway Track 28

 Static design of track

 Stress in rail head

Mechanisms of Railway Track 29

 Static design of track

 Stress on rail top

πE Q Q σ mean = 1374
Q
σ mean = = C
64(1 − ν 2 ) rb r r

For E = 210,000 MPa

ν = 0 .3
b = 6mm

Mechanisms of Railway Track 30

 Static design of track

 Stress on rail top

- Maximum shear stress by Boussinesq half space theory

Q
τmax = 0.3σ mean = 412
r

occurs at 4~6mm below rail top surface (2~4mm in tight curves).

Mechanisms of Railway Track 31

 Static design of track

 Stress on rail top

- Shelling

Mechanisms of Railway Track 32

 Static design of track

 Stress on rail top

- Allowable shear stress (by Von Mises Criteria)

σ 0.5σ u
τ = ≈ ≈ 0.3σ u
3 3

- Allowable wheel load considering allowable shear stress on rail top

For preventing shelling Q ≈ 4.9 ×10−7 r σ u 2

σy 0.65σ u
For preventing plastic deformation τ
= = ≈ 0.38σ u
3 3

Q ≈ 8.3 ×10−7 r σ u 2

Mechanisms of Railway Track 33

 Static design of track

 Beam on elastic foundation model

- Pressure under rail

Q
p ( x) = k w( x) = η( x)
2L
βa ) 1β e cos βa
∴ Force on single support
1.0

a 2 a 2
Q
Prs = ∫ p( x) dx =
−a 2
∫
−a 2
2 L
η( x) dx 0.8
f (βa ) = βa

0.6
f (βa)

 −
a
 a 
= Q 1 − e 2L
cos   f (βa ) = 1 − e −βa cos βa
  2L  0.4

aQ
Prs ,max ≈ 0.2
2L
0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
βa = a/L

Mechanisms of Railway Track 34

 Static design of track

 Design of sleeper

aQ
Prs max = i
2L

1
M s max = Prs max u
4

Mechanisms of Railway Track 35

 Static design of track

 Pressure on ballast

Pressure on ballast at each sleeper can be obtained as follows.

σ 0 = σ b max
σ1 ' = σ1 σ1
σ2 ' = σ2 σ2
σ i = σ b max η ( xi )
x
 xi  σ z max
xi
− xi ballast Eballast
η( xi ) = e cos L
+ sin xi ≥ 0
L L 
aQ
σ b max= ≤σ = 0.5 N/mm2
2 LAb

Ab : Half sleeper- ballast contact area subsoil E formation

Mechanisms of Railway Track 36

 Static design of track

 Pressure on ballast

- Ballast pressure vs track geometry degradation

Track geometry degradation ∝ ( vertical stress on ballst) m

In general, m = 3~4

 When pressure on ballast increases 10%, the track geometry error

increases approx. 1.2~1.5 times.

Mechanisms of Railway Track 37

 Static design of track

 Principles of load transfer

Mechanisms of Railway Track 38

Thank You for Your Attention!!

Mechanisms of Railway Track 39