Fatigue Performance of Ballastless Track Slabs Reinforced with BFRP and SFCB

Abstract

AbstractThe main objective of this research was to evaluate the behavior of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bar-reinforced ballastless track slab subjected to a fatigue loading. Five ballastless track slabs were experimentally tested, which were reinforced with steel fiber–reinforced polymer composite bars (SFCBs), basalt fiber–reinforced polymer (BFRP) bars, and traditional steel bars, respectively. All slabs were loaded in three-point loading and designed to have the same initial stiffness of cross section. To simulate the wheel cyclic load, different maximum loads were selected, but the minimum load was the same for all slabs. At the same maximum load of 1.76 static wheel loads, the stiffness degradation and crack width in the SFCB slab were similar to those of the traditional RC slab and survived 3,000,000 fatigue cycles, showing good fatigue performance and a residual strength reduction of only approximately 3%. At the maximum load level of 60% of the ultimate load static capacity, both the SFCB slab ...