Abstract
Tension clamps play an important role in maintaining the track gauge by fixing the rails to the sleepers. Damage to the tension clamps was observed on an urban railway. The cause of the fracturing of the tension clamps was identified and reliability analyses on the fatigue failure of the tension clamps were performed. The stress ranges were estimated by measuring the strain at the locations where most of the fractures occurred during train operation. Afterward, a statistical model of the stress ranges was developed using the measured data. The statistical parameters of the stress ranges for the reliability analysis were estimated based on the field measurement data. The reliability indexes were calculated for the inner and outer rails and for the inside and outside track gauges of each rail. The variations of the reliability index for the years in service and the number of cycles were investigated. The results of the reliability analyses showed a consistency with the field observations.
Highlights
Based on Field Measurement Data.The rail fastening system firmly connects the rails to the sleepers and its performance affects the structural safety of rails, ride safety and quality, and railway noise
The reliability indexes for the inner rail (ML4) were much smaller than those for the outer rail (ML3). These results indicate that the tension clamp on the inner rail has a higher probability of failure than that on the outer rail, which is consistent with the field observations of fatigue damage in the tension clamps
This study identified the cause of the fracturing of tension clamps used in rail fastening This study identified of the fracturing of tension used based in rail fassystems for urban railways the and cause performed reliability analyses on their clamps fatigue failure tening systems for urban railways and performed reliability analyses on their fatigue on actual measurement data
Summary
The reliability levels of rail fastening systems and the reasons for the of fatigue cracksclamps in the inner and outer rails were in fracture surfaces of tendency the by damaged tension showed the typical need to be estimated accurately field measurement data to provide a foundation in the char tigated. The fracture surfaces of the damaged tension clamps showed the typical characteristics of a fatigue crack, which has an elliptical shape and a smooth surface. 79.1% of the damage occurred on the railroad with a curve radius of 800 m, and 94.5% of the cracked tension clamps were installed on the inner rail. Since the failure of the tension clamps(b) is caused by fatigue, a fatigue reliability analysis was performed where most of the cracks occurred and the Figurefor
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