Prevention of derailments due to concrete tie rail seat deterioration

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Proceedings of the JRCICE2007 ASME/IEEE Joint Rail Conference & Internal Combustion Engine Spring Technical Conference
• Creators:
  Choros, John ; Marquis, Brian ; Coltman, Michael
• Corporate Creators:
  John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Abrasion Car Wheels (Railroads) Concrete Ties Curved Track Derailments Maintenance Of Way Cars Railroad Ties Railroad Tracks Rail Seat Abrasion/Deterioration Rolling Contact Track Geometry

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  JRCICE2007-40096
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  American Society of Mechanical Engineers ; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Abstract:
  Concrete tie rail seat abrasion/deterioration (RSA) has
  
  been an issue since the inception of concrete ties. As a
  
  result of recent derailments involving abraded concrete
  
  ties on curved track, the Federal Railroad Administration
  
  set up a task force to study abrasion/deterioration
  
  mechanisms and develop automated detection methods
  
  using existing research vehicles. A portion of this study
  
  reviews historical development of concrete abrasion due
  
  to moisture or foreign materials incorporated under the
  
  rail seat that tend to abrade concrete ties evenly across
  
  the rail seat area. This report discusses a newly
  
  identified concrete tie deterioration mechanism
  
  characterized by material loss in a triangle toward the
  
  field side of the rail seat, resulting from wheel rail
  
  interaction involving track geometry variations.
  
  The NUCARS™ model was used to evaluate the vertical
  
  and lateral loading at one of the recent derailment sites
  
  using the track geometry measured approximately one
  
  month before the derailment. Wheel loads predicted
  
  from the model, based on P-42 Amtrak Locomotive,
  
  were used to evaluate the pressure distribution at the rail
  
  concrete tie interface and were compared with allowable
  
  design bearing pressure for concrete used in the
  
  manufacture of concrete ties. The results indicate that
  
  applied stress on the field side of a concrete tie due to
  
  outward rail roll can exceed the design values. Applied
  
  pressure distribution exceeding the design strength on
  
  the field side tends to abrade concrete ties in a triangular
  
  wear pattern that produces wide gage. Charts were
  
  developed to convert measured field side
  
  abrasion/deterioration to additional gage widening under
  
  an applied vertical load for identifying critical locations
  
  with wide gage defects. Further, techniques for field
  
  inspectors to detect, measure, and evaluate rail seat
  
  abrasion/deterioration (RSA) based on commonly used inspection technology are discussed.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  Volpe Center
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:c7754bf083b9279c25a746dbf7d29a23da2284008afb33a6da39cde4886f78d6
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/12053/dot_12053_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 181.89 KB ]