Effects of maintenance operations on track buckling potential

PDFProceedingsBucklingDeformationRailroad tracksTemperatureMaintenance of wayContinuous welded railUnited StatesKish, AndrewSussmann, TheodoreTrosino, MichaelJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)AmtrakAGR-SAFETY AND SECURITY-SAFETY AND SECURITYNTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-RAIL TRANSPORTATIONNTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-Rail SafetyNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Rail SafetyVolpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference CenterThis paper presents the results of buckling analyses based on data from recent tests determining the influence of track maintenance and consolidation on track lateral resistance. The buckling analyses were performed using the USDOT/Volpe "CWR-SAFE" model to determine the critical temperatures and probability of buckling risk envelopes for several track conditions and parameters. The results of the analyses are presented in buckling advisory tables indicating track buckling potential at elevated temperatures for pre-maintenance, post-maintenance, and post-stabilization lateral resistance conditions for various alignment defects, neutral temperatures, and track curvatures