A law for the temperature-induced stress distribution in continuously welded rail. (July 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: He, Hongbin; Ling, Yongchun
• Is Part Of: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Volume 229:Number 5(2015:Jul.)
• Page Start: 500
• Page End: 506
• Publication Date: 2015-07
• Subjects: Model -- friction due to fastenings (resistance) -- continuously welded rail -- temperature-induced stress in a rail; Railroads -- Periodicals; Personal rapid transit -- Periodicals; 625.1
• DOI: 10.1177/0954409713516612
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0954-4097

Abstract

A new model is presented for the calculation of the rail extension, the friction created by sleeper fastenings and the temperature-induced stress for continuously welded rail (CWR) under free conditions and the calculation and analysis of temperature-induced stress when the temperature is changing and the rail is anchored. The mechanism for generating friction and the phenomenon of rail creep (extension) on site are used to establish a law that states that the friction force of the fasteners is distributed from the center of the CWR section towards the two ends in increasing scale; this observation is used to derive a formula for calculation of the distribution of the friction force in CWR fastenings. Formulas for calculating the temperature-induced stress and its distribution are also derived. The presented results show that the distribution of temperature-induced stress is cone-shaped in the absence of rail creep (extension), and with creep it presents a tangent and a cone shape in anchored sections. A comparison with the traditional temperature-induced stress distribution pattern in a rail of a tangent constitutes an argument against the established methods. The results reported in this paper should play an important role in guiding site maintenance activities.