Abstract
Continuous welded rail (CWR) track has great advantages of low-cost maintenance, environmental influence, and ride comfort. However, the CWR track is subjected to the longitudinal stresses in rails due to temperature influence as well the inhomogeneous stress accumulation due to train loadings. The stresses cause the accelerated track lateral irregularity accumulation that without timely maintenance can cause track buckling. The present paper present a method of the CWR track lateral stability estimation during its lifecycle using the track geometry monitoring information from the track measurement cars. The methods proposes a systematic approach of track stability evaluation based on multiple criteria of track stability evaluation. It takes into account the lateral resistance of the track, actual temperatures, and the lateral geometry condition of the track. The presented case study of a half-year track geometry monitoring and the track stability evaluation in a track curve shows the practical possibility of the recent detection of the track sections with low lateral stability and buckling prevention.
Highlights
The construction of a joint-free Continuous welded rail (CWR) track is currently predominant on the world’s railway network
The results show that in compacted ballast conditions the peak lateral resistance due to USPs can increase up to 20% -depending on the material used
It can be seen that the most reliable and accurate indicator of places that have a weakening of the transverse stability of a CWR track is the coefficient Ku (R4), which symbolizes the process of changing the local radius of the curve obtained from the curvature measured and averaged over a length of 4 m
Summary
The construction of a joint-free CWR track is currently predominant on the world’s railway network. Violations committed during the construction of a CWR track, as well as in the process of current maintenance, together with the impact of train load and natural and climatic factors, create conditions for the growth of temperature stresses in rails and changes in the temperature regime of their operation. The combination of these factors, in the end, can lead to an imbalance of the forces holding the rail-sleeper grid and shifting it, i.e., the shift of the track that can cause track buckling and derailment
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