Comparative experimental investigation of the vibration mitigation characteristics of ballasted track using the rubber composite sleeper and concrete sleeper under various interaction forces

Abstract

The vibrations of railway track occur because of extreme impact load conditions due to the train operations with either wheel or rail irregularity. The vibrations result in track deterioration and severe environmental influences. Therefore, an urgent need exists to manufacture a sleeper/tie to mitigate these effects. This paper used a full-scale model with different kinds of sleepers to measure the vibration mitigation attributes and dynamic characteristics of recently recycled rubber composite sleepers (RCSs) when applied to ballasted railway tracks and compared them with concrete sleepers (CSs). A high-capacity drop hammer weight impact test was used to achieve this purpose, and the vibration effects on the track structural elements were analyzed. Two cases and a series of interaction force height (IFHs) impacts for both sleepers were applied. The results show that RCSs under the various impacts of the IFHs can reduce the peak acceleration of ground-borne vibration between 38.35%∼66.23%, and can decrease vertical vibration by 63.12%∼96.09%. The time and frequency domain investigations over the lateral and vertical directions of the track showed that the track with RCSs had lower vibration acceleration peaks, fewer frequency peaks, decreased velocity, and shorter vibration cycles than the track with CSs. RCSs significantly reduced vibration levels by −5.04 dB, 1.71 dB, and −2.46 dB (and 11.77 dB in case two) for the rails, sleepers, and ballast, respectively. Moreover, the RCSs decreased the VAL of ground-borne vibration between 10.6 dB ∼ 18.6 dB. Thus, in this study RCSs have shown the advantageous ability to minimize environmental issues, track deterioration, and noise.