| Title | Effect of Track Parameters on Rail Joint Bar Stresses and Crack Growth |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 44820 |
| Personal Name Creator |
Akhtar, Muhammad; Davis, David; Maal, Luis; Gordon, Jeff; Jeong, David Y. |
| Corporate Creator | Transportation Technology Center, Inc.; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration; John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) |
| Corporate Contributor |
United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research, Development and Technology |
| Publisher | John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) |
| Publication Date | 20110203 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | By their very nature, rail joints create discontinuities in the running surface of the rails. In addition to bending, thermal, and residual stresses, rail joints are also subjected to dynamic loads due to these discontinuities. Under normal track and load conditions, joint bars fail due to high cycle fatigue, which is evident from fatigue striations observed on broken bars. Accelerated track degradation increases deflections, which further increase joint bar stresses, possibly changing the failure from high cycle fatigue to low cycle fatigue and in some cases even yielding. The current joint bar design is meant to support only the railhead and base. This feature is of limited value in continuous welded rail (CWR) where resistance to longitudinal force loads is also desired. Rail joint bar failures are a safety and reliability concern for railroads. Because of their redundancy (i.e. two bars in each joint), a failed joint bar is almost always found and replaced before an accident occurs. Rail joints are typically not one of the five leading track causes of accidents in the FRA accident database. However, the industry is experiencing some joint caused accidents. |
| Rosap ID | dot:36486 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/36486 |
| TRT Terms | Rail joints; Freight trains; Freight transportation; Railroad tracks; Jointed track; Continuous welded rail; Track components; Railroad engineering; Stress cracking; Load factor; Residual stress; Thermal stresses; Bending stress |
| General Subjects | rail joint stress; railroad track parameters; crack growth; Bending Stress Failure; American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association; AREMA; Research Hub |
| Geographical Coverage |
United States |
| Resource type | Tech Report |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/44000/44800/44820/Effects_of_Track_Parameters_on_Rail_Joint_Bar_Stresses_and_Crack_Growth20180815.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |