Investigation of damping in the polymer concrete sleeper for use in reduction of rolling noise from railway

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to measure damping of various polymer concretes to be used as sleepers for railway. The polymer concretes consisted of epoxy monomer, hardener and aggregates. Various polymer concrete specimens were made by changing epoxy resin weight ratio and curing temperature. The dynamic properties of the polymer concrete specimens were measured by using beam-transfer function method. To predict reduction performance of the polymer concrete sleepers, an infinite Timoshenko beam model was investigated after applying measured concrete properties. The moving loads from rotating wheels on railway due to different roughness were utilized in railway vibration analysis. The vibration response was predicted from which the effects of supporting stiffness and loss factor of sleeper were investigated. The radiated sound power was predicted using calculated rail vibration response. Consequently, the sound power levels were compared for rails supported by different polymer concrete sleepers. The result of this study assists constructing low noise railway.