Thermal Insulation Performance: Change of Thermal Insulation Paint Applied to CWR Exposed to Vibration

Abstract

Because railroads are specialized means of mass transportation, safety is extremely important because accidents can lead to major disasters. However, every summer, owing to the deformation of the rail caused by the increase in the temperature of the rail, safety problems occur, and there is no fundamental solution to this problem. To address this situation, research has been conducted in which a thermal insulation paint is applied to the continuous welded rail (CWR), and excellent effectiveness has been demonstrated. However, long-term performance impact analysis of vibrations caused by train operation in actual field applications is insufficient. Therefore, in this study, the effect of the change in thermal insulation performance caused by rail vibration was evaluated. A vibration test was conducted by simulating the vibration environment of the railway site, and the changes in thermal insulation performance and uniformity were observed at specific intervals. The thermal insulation paint showed excellent vibration durability by maintaining the level of performance and uniformity, even after prolonged exposure to vibration.