Railway track elements and the calculation of forces and stresses in the superstructure

In the first part of thesis, based on Pravilnik o zgornjem ustroju železniških prog published in UL RS 92/2010, elements and their characteristic of the railway superstructure, which decisive impact on the state of railway tracks are in detail described. These elements are rail, sleeper, ballast bed and railway fastening. \ud In the second part of this thesis the main and regional lines in the Slovenian rail network are introduced. Slovenian railway network is ranked into nine categories based on the allowable length and axle load. In this section Winkler's, Zimmermann's and Eisenmann's methods for calculating forces and stresses in the superstructure calculation are listed and described in detail. Based on superstructure elements characteristics, which valid for three sections on the X corridor, dynamic bending moments, dynamic bending stress, pressure and bending have been calculated separately for Zimmermann's and Eisenmann's method and for 2 different locomotives, namely Siemens locomotive SŽ 541 and locomotive SŽ 363 running at different speeds. Based on this calculation I found out that locomotive SŽ 541 cause for 36% higher dynamic bending stress than locomotive SŽ 363 but the results are still within the permissible stresses. In the end of this thesis a comparison of bending moments and stress for those two locomotives calculated according to Zimmermann's method has been made. I found out that those two locomotives have the same bending moments and bending stress in case when locomotive SŽ 541 runs alt speed 10 km/h and locomotive SŽ 363 runs at speed 115 km /h. \u