Lateral Stability of a Ballasted Curved Track
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 146, Issue 11
Abstract
This paper investigates the status of lateral stability of a ballasted curved track, which is carried out under four loading scenarios in terms of the factor of safety against displacement as the indicator. Then, the Prud’homme limit is introduced to analyze the equilibrium between the lateral load on a track and the lateral resistance by a track. Finally, a tie spacing formula for sharp curves is recommended to ensure lateral stability. The work has the potential to estimate the critical temperature differential for buckling of a curved track by using a factor of safety of unity in the formula derived for an unloaded track, as a factor of safety of unity represents a unstable equilibrium.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
References
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 146 • Issue 11 • November 2020
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 1, 2020
Accepted: Jun 23, 2020
Published online: Sep 7, 2020
Published in print: Nov 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Feb 7, 2021
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