Experimental Investigations of Dynamic Buckling of CWR Tracks

PDFTech ReportDOT-TSC-FRA-85-03FRA/ORD-86/07PB87-163473Railroad tracksContinuous welded railBucklingAlignmentMaintenanceRailroadsStatic and dynamic testsDynamic testsLoad testsUnited StatesUnited States. Federal Railroad AdministrationSamavedam, GopalKish, AndrewJeong, David Y.John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, (U.S.)United States. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and DevelopmentNTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-RAIL TRANSPORTATIONNTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-Rail SafetyNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Rail SafetyNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-SAFETY AND SECURITYVolpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference CenterThermal buckling of railroad tracks in the lateral plane is an important problem in the design and maintenance of continuous welded rail (CWR) tracks. The severity of the problem is manifested through the large number of derailments which are attributable to track buckling, indicating a need for developing better control on the allowable safe temperature increase for CWR tracks.The work reported here is a part of a major investigation conducted by the Transortation Systems Center for the Federal Railroad Administration on the thermal buckling of CWR tracks in the lateral plane with the objective of developing guidelines and recommendations for buckling prevention.This report presents the results of a series of track dynamic buckling tests investigating the influences of vehicle induced loads on the thermal buckling behavior of tangent and curved tracks. Comparisons between theroretical predictions and experimental results are given, and conclusions of practical significance regarding the buckling safety of CWR tracks under dynamic conditions are presented