Mechanical behaviour of a new type of fibre composite railway sleeper

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the flexural and shear behaviour of a new type of fibre composite sleeper for railway turnout application. The building block of this innovative railway sleeper is a new generation composite sandwich structure made up of glass fibre composite skins and modified phenolic core material that has been specifically developed for civil engineering applications. Three different section configurations for railway sleepers were produced by gluing layers of fibre composite sandwich structure together in flatwise (horizontal) and in edgewise (vertical) orientations and tested under 4-point static bending and asymmetrical beam shear tests. The effects of the orientation of sandwich lamination on the mechanical behavior of sleepers were investigated. The capacity of the fibre composite sleepers in holding spike-screws was also evaluated. The results showed that the orientation of sandwich laminations has a significant effect on the mechanical behavior of fibre composite railway sleepers. The sleeper section with glued sandwich structures in the edgewise position presented appropriate strength and stiffness for railway sleeper application and has high resistance to hold screw spikes. The mechanical properties of the fibre composite sleeper are far better than most of the available composite railway sleepers and are comparable with the existing timber turnout sleepers demonstrating that the new fibre composite sleeper is a viable alternative sleeper material for railway turnouts