Interaction Analysis of Sliding Slab Track on Railway Bridge Considering Behavior of End-Supporting Anchors

Abstract

Railway bridges with a continuously welded rails are subject to track-bridge interactions due to temperature changes and train load, which cause an additional axial force on the rail. The recently developed sliding slab track can significantly reduce the axial force on the rail caused by such interactions by placing a low frictional sliding layer between the track slab and the bridge deck and separating the longitudinal movement of the bridge from that of the track. In this study, the anchor in the fixed support region, which is an important component of the sliding slab track, was analytically evaluated to derive the load–displacement relationship, and the track-bridge interaction of the continuous bridge with the sliding slab track was analyzed considering the derived relationship. The anchor was examined for the cases of infinite stiffness, consistent stiffness, and damaged state; the stiffness of the anchor reached 10% of the original. There were no significant differences in the rail stress, track slab axial force, and rail displacement when the stiffness of the anchor was interpreted as infinite. Although the displacement of the rail increased when the anchor was damaged, there was no significant increase in the rail stress or the track slab axial force. It was confirmed, however, that the damaged anchor must be repaired as early as possible because the damage can develop rapidly as the displacement of the damaged anchor significantly increases.