Service Condition of Railroad Corridors around the Insulated Rail Joints
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 6
Abstract
Railroad corridors contain a large number of insulated rail joints (IRJs) that act as elements (critical to safety) in the circuitries of signaling and broken rail identification systems. IRJs are regarded as sources of excitation for the passage of loaded wheels that lead to high-impact forces. These forces in turn cause dips, cross levels, and twists to the railroad geometry in close proximity to the sections that contain IRJs, in addition to local damage to the railhead of the IRJs. Therefore, a systematic monitoring of IRJs in railroads is prudent to mitigate the potential risk of their sudden failure (e.g., broken tie plates) as a consequence of rail traffic. This paper presents a simple method of periodic recording of images using time-lapse photography and total station surveying measurements to understand the ongoing deterioration of IRJs and their surroundings. Over a 500-day period, data were collected to examine the trends in narrowing of the joint gap that is attributable to plastic deformation of the railhead edges. Data was also collected with respect to the dips, cross levels, and twists that were imparted to the railroad geometry, which is attributable to the settlement of ties (sleepers) around the IRJs. The results reflect that the average progressive settlement beneath the IRJs is larger than that under the continuously welded rail, which leads to excessive deviation of the railroad profile, cross levels, and twists.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writers thank Rail CRC, the Cooperative Research Center for Railway Engineering and Technologies, which funded the research. The project was conducted as part of the R3.100 project that was awarded to the fourth author. This research was possible because of collaboration between the Queensland University of Technology, the Center for Railway Engineering, and Queensland Rail, especially Dr. Enda Crossin and Mr. Russell Nugent. The writers also thank the railroad engineers and technical staff provided by Queensland Rail.
References
Arnold, D. K., and Joel, E. C. (1999). “Analysis and test of bonded insulated rail joints subjected to vertical wheel loads.” Int. J. Mech. Sci., 41(10), 1253–1272.
Askarinejad, H., Dhanasekar, M., and Cole, C. (2013). “Assessing the effects of track input on the response of insulated rail joints field experiments.” Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part F J. Rail Rapid Transit, 227(2), 176–187.
Askarinejad, H., Dhanasekar, M., and Simson, S. (2010). “Effect of vertical misalignment of adjacent sleepers on the increase in dynamic loads around rail joints.” Proc., Conf. on Railway Engineering, RTSA, Wellington, New Zealand, 169–179.
AutoCAD 2010 [Computer software]. Autodesk, San Rafael, CA.
Cai, W., Wen, Z., Jin, X., and Zhai, W. (2007). “Dynamic stress analysis of rail joint with height difference defect using finite element method.” Eng. Fail. Anal., 14(8), 1488–1499.
Chen, Y. C. (2003). “The effect of proximity of a rail end in elastic-plastic contact between a wheel and a rail.” Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part F J. Rail Rapid Transit, 217(3), 189–201.
Chen, Y. C., and Kuang, J. H. (2002). “Contact stress variations near the insulated rail joints.” Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part F J. Rail Rapid Transit, 216(4), 265–274.
Davis, D. D., and Akhtar, M. N. (2005). “Improving the performance of bonded insulated joints.” Railway Track Struct., 101(1), 14–17.
Davis, D. D., and Akhtar, M. N. (2006). “Reduced impact bonded insulated joint designs.” Railway Track Struct., 102(8), 17–19.
Dhanasekar, M., and Bayissa, W. (2011). “Performance of square and inclined insulated rail joints based on field strain measurements.” Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part F J. Rail Rapid Transit, 226(2), 140–154.
Heinsch, M. (2004). “Improving rail durability and life.” Int. Railway J. Rapid Transit Rev., 44(2), 13–15.
Igwemezie, J., and Nguyen, A. T. (2009). “Anatomy of joint bar failures: Taking a close look at the how and why of joint bar failure—And how to prevent the problem.” Railway Track Struct., 11(7), 31–37.
Igwemezie, J., and Nguyen, A. T. (2010). “Anatomy of joint bar failures IV: Fourth in a series: A look at temporary joint systems and what cause them stress.” Railway Track Struct., 12(10), 37–41.
Kataoka, H., Abe, N., and Wakatsuki, O. (2002). “Evaluation of service life of jointed rails.” Q. Rep. RTRI, 43(3), 101–106.
Pang, T. (2007). “Studies on wheel/rail contact—Impact forces at insulated rail joints.” M.Eng. thesis, Central Queensland Univ., North Rockhampton, Australia.
Reid, L. (1992). “Beneficial residual stresses at bolt boles by cold expansion.” Proc., Int. Conf. on Rail Quality and Maintenance for Modern Railway Operation, Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 337–347.
Sandström, J., and Ekberg, A. (2008). “Numerical study of the mechanical deterioration of insulated rail joints.” Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part F J. Rail Rapid Transit, 223(3), 265–273.
Standards Australia. (2002). “Railway track material part 12: Insulated joint assemblies.”, Standards Australia International, Sydney, Australia.
Suzuki, T., Ishida, M., Abe, K., and Koro, K. (2005). “Measurement on dynamic behaviour of track near rail joints and prediction of track settlement.” Q. Rep. RTRI, 46(2), 124–129.
Wen, Z., Jin, X., and Zhang, W. (2005). “Contact-impact stress analysis of rail joint region using the dynamic finite element method.” Wear, 258(7–8), 1301–1309.
Zong, N., Dhanasekar, M., Bayissa, W., and Boyd, P. (2010). “Study of wheel-rail impact at insulated rail joint through experimental and numerical methods.“ Key technologies of railway engineering-high-speed railway, heavy haul railway and urban rail transit, Beijing Jiao Tong Univ., Beijing, 356–360.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 6 • June 2013
Pages: 643 - 650
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 17, 2012
Accepted: Jan 17, 2013
Published online: Jan 19, 2013
Published in print: Jun 1, 2013
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.