Abstract
Prestressed concrete sleepers are the most common type of the sleepers used on the railroad. They serve as rail supports and absorb loads induced by trains. Sleepers are important for the durability and safety of the railroad and are exposed to various loads and an agressive environment during exploitation. Therefore, different types of appearing damage can determine their reliability. The article briefly discusses possible causes of damage and the deterioration of prestressed concrete sleepers. End cracking and damage at the rail seat was determined during the inspection of used sleepers. Therefore, the strain state and cracking of the rail seat of the sleeper was analysed under static and dynamic loads. The paper provides the obtained results of experimental research of used and new sleepers.
Highlights
Concrete sleepers are a part of the layered railroad track structure consisting of rails that transfer train loads through an elastic pad to the sleeper that distributes it further to ballast and subgrade (TCRP Report 155 2012)
Prestressed concrete sleepers are the most vulnerable part of the railroad track. Their behaviour is very complex due to severe environmental impacts and various mechanical loads that induce damage of concrete and the deterioration of the sleeper. This was confirmed by damages found in used sleepers during the observation and the results of experimental research of used and new sleepers
The sleepers used on the railroad track for three years had a crack at the bottom of the rail seat section, and some of those had major cracking and concrete spalling off at the ends
Summary
Concrete sleepers are a part of the layered railroad track structure consisting of rails that transfer train loads through an elastic pad to the sleeper that distributes it further to ballast and subgrade (TCRP Report 155 2012). The durability of the sleeper depends on environmental conditions during service They are affected by various atmospheric impacts such as rain water, sun, the freezing and thawing of water, variation in temperature, various chemical compounds in soil and air and can damage concrete structure and reinforcement as well as accelerate sleeper deterioration. One or several of the introduced environmental impacts can cause delayed ettringite formation (DEF) (Collepardi 1999; Sahu, Thaulow 2004; Pawluk 2014), alkali aggregate reaction (AAR) (Shayan, Quick 1992), alcali silica reaction (ASR) (Quinhua, Weiqing 1997), reinforcement corrosion (Mohammadzadeh, Vahabi 2011) and concrete cracking due to freezing and thawing of water (Zi et al 2012) All of these effects have a negative impact on sleeper durability. The main object of this article is to analyse cracking and the strain state of prestressed concrete sleepers as well as to determine whether the stiffness and durability of the used sleeper is sufficient comparing with the new ones
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