Laboratory and Field Investigation of the Rail Pad Assembly Mechanistic Behavior

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiago B. do Carmo ◽  
J. Riley Edwards ◽  
Ryan G. Kernes ◽  
Bassem O. Andrawes ◽  
Chris P. L. Barkan
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
Lateral Displacement ◽  
Relative Displacement ◽  
Field Investigation ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Component Design ◽  
Scientific Principles ◽  
Heavy Haul ◽  
And Performance

To achieve the performance demands due to growing heavy-haul freight operations and increased high-speed rail service worldwide, advancements in concrete crosstie fastening systems are required. A mechanistic design approach based on scientific principles and derived from extensive laboratory and field investigation has the potential to improve the current best practices in fastening system design. The understanding of failure modes and effects on each component, associated with an improved understanding of load distribution and mechanical behavior, will ultimately increase production and operational efficiency while reducing unscheduled maintenance, track outages, and unplanned additional costs. Improvements on the rail pad assemblies, the components responsible for attenuating loads and protecting the concrete crosstie rail seat, will enhance the safety and efficiency of the track infrastructure. Understanding the mechanistic behavior of rail pad assemblies is critical to improving the performance and life cycle of the infrastructure and its components, which will ultimately reduce the occurrence of potential failure modes. Lateral, longitudinal, and shear forces exerted on the components of the fastening system may result in displacements and deformations of the rail pad with respect to the rail seat and rail base. The high stresses and relative movements are expected to contribute to multiple failure mechanisms and result in an increased need for costly maintenance activities. Therefore, the analysis of the mechanics of pad assemblies is important for the improvement of railroad superstructure component design and performance. In this study, the lateral displacement of this component with respect to the rail base and rail seat is analyzed. The research ultimately aims to investigate the hypothesis that relative displacement between the rail pad and rail seat occurs under realistic loading environments and that the magnitude of the displacement is directly related to the increase in wheel loads.

Channel Modeling and Performance Analysis of Massively Distributed MIMO in High-Speed Rail Tunnels

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haopeng Lu ◽  
Yu Liu ◽  
Dongming Wang ◽  
Tiecheng Song ◽  
Jianping Chen
Keyword(s):  
Performance Analysis ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Channel Modeling ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
And Performance

scholarly journals Application of IoT for the Maintaining Rolling Stocks

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang Chan Park ◽  
Yoo Jung Kim ◽  
Jong Un Won
Keyword(s):  
Internet Of Things ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Service Level ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Failure Data ◽  
Reliability Centered Maintenance ◽  
Quality Costs ◽  
And Performance

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> This paper presents a framework for simulation on IoT based CBM (condition based monitoring) for rolling stocks. This enables to allocate maintenance resources effectively while satisfying preventive maintenance requirements.</p><p><strong>Methodology/Approach:</strong> We exploits Reliability centered maintenance (RCM) based on KTX (Korea Tran eXpress, Korea’s high-speed rail system) motor reduction unit failure data for three years by utilising the internet of things (IoT) and RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Safety) methods.</p><p><strong>Findings:</strong> We come up with the predictive maintenance indicator; reliability functions as to the desired service level; and the failure and defect prediction indicator takes the form of cumulative failure function in the form of probability distribution function, which aim to realise the real-time condition monitoring and maintaining technical support services. Internet of Things (IoT) has been an important apparatus to improve the maintenance efficiency.</p><p><strong>Research Limitation/implication:</strong> This paper has limitations that the data are collected from references, not actual data; the detailed descriptions of IoT application to the railway rolling stocks are omitted, and it is not dealt in depth how maintenance efforts and performance are improved through the suggested reliability centered maintenance.</p><strong>Originality/Value of paper:</strong> This study has the academic importance in a sense that it integrates RAMS based maintenance methods and IoT. RAMS centered maintenance provides powerful rules for deciding a failure management policy; when it is technically appropriate; and for providing precise criteria for deciding how often routine tasks should be carried out. It will lead to the improved cost efficiency, sustainability and maintainability of railway maintenance system since the staff do not have to visit installation sites frequently. Lately, there is general agreement that prevention was better than inspection and that an increase in preventive cost was the means of reducing total quality costs. In connection with this issue, we will address the way of reducing failure costs and prevention costs with IoT: new appraisal method.

Maintaining and Improving Amtrak’s Acela Fleet With Intelligent Data

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lamont B. Ward ◽  
David P. Byrne
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
Senior Management ◽  
Rolling Stock ◽  
Executive Management ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Raw Data ◽  
Time Performance ◽  
Intelligent Software ◽  
Reliability And Availability

Amtrak’s High Speed Rail Maintenance Engineering group uses intelligent data to increase the reliability and availability of the Acela fleet. Amtrak has invested in business intelligent software to organize, filter and present raw data obtained from its rolling stock on-board systems and on-time performance database. Using this software to create visuals and dashboards enables the same data to be presented effectively to both shop employees and executive management. The information contained in these presentation devices focuses shop maintenance on specific equipment that is not meeting reliability criteria, on fleet wide issues that have not yet begun to impact the reliability or availability of equipment and on historically seasonal or time sensitive failure modes. Similarly, by altering the focus of these dashboards, visuals and graphs, senior management can determine where to focus resources and funding in order to have the greatest impact on improving performance and service for the customer.

Analysis of the Lateral Load Path in Concrete Crosstie Fastening Systems

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent Williams ◽  
J. Riley Edwards ◽  
Ryan G. Kernes ◽  
Christopher P. L. Barkan
Keyword(s):  
Failure Modes ◽  
Lateral Load ◽  
Rolling Stock ◽  
Vertical Load ◽  
Load Path ◽  
Lateral Forces ◽  
System Components ◽  
Heavy Haul ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Component Failures

Increasing axle loads of today’s North American heavy haul freight trains have presented numerous engineering challenges for the design and performance of concrete crossties and fastening systems. Several research studies have been conducted to understand the path of the vertical load from the wheel/rail interface through the fastening system and into the crosstie with successful results. However, problems arise due to the failure of fastening system components caused by high lateral and longitudinal loads in addition to vertical loads. Failed components are often seen in demanding track environments such as sharp curves or steep grades. It is hypothesized these component failures are caused by high lateral and longitudinal loads, respectively. Until now, attempts to measure lateral forces in the fastening system have been relatively unsuccessful. This study focuses on gaining a better understanding of the lateral load path in concrete crosstie fastening systems through the use of novel instrumentation techniques to quantify the magnitude of lateral forces induced from various types of rolling stock. A thorough understanding of the lateral load path, lateral load magnitudes, and their impact on failure modes will aid in the future mechanistic design of fastening systems. Ultimately, mechanistic design will lead to fastening system components that are able to withstand heavy axle freight train loads with longer service lives. Preliminary results show that the type of rolling stock and resulting wheel loads greatly affect the magnitude of lateral forces in the fastening system.

Top of Rail Friction Control as a Means to Mitigate Damaging Lateral Loads Due to Overbalanced Operation of Heavy Axle Load Freight Traffic in Shared High Speed Rail Corridors

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin D. Oldknow ◽  
Donald T. Eadie
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Traffic Data ◽  
Lateral Loads ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Friction Control ◽  
Lateral Forces ◽  
Freight Traffic ◽  
High Speed Trains ◽  
Heavy Haul

The use of Top of Rail friction management (TORFM) to reduce lateral forces has been well established in both freight and passenger systems. In this paper the authors discuss how TORFM provides an important tool to track designers who need to balance the super-elevation requirements for both high speed trains and slower freight traffic. Data from full scale heavy haul revenue service case studies are presented and discussed with a particular emphasis on the mitigating role that can be played by appropriate TOR friction management strategies in shared High Speed Rail corridors.

Improved Performance Track Components for Heavy Axle Loads and High Speed Rail

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
David D. Davis ◽  
Joseph LoPresti ◽  
Semih Kalay
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Dynamic Performance ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Traffic Demand ◽  
Passenger Traffic ◽  
Traffic Growth ◽  
Heavy Haul ◽  
Axle Loads ◽  
Improved Performance

North American railways have experienced significant traffic growth over the past 20 years to the point where many lines are at or near capacity. While the current worldwide recession has eased capacity constraints momentarily, the long-term trends are for continued traffic growth. Faced with the prospects of perhaps doubling freight traffic demand in the next 20 years and adding significant passenger traffic, the railroads are developing cost effective ways to increase capacity. Besides constructing additional tracks, improving the performance (i.e., safety, reliability, and service lives) of key track components is expected. Both heavy axle loads (HAL) and high speed rail (HSR) passenger traffic require high quality, durable track. The paper will describe recent work done to improve the dynamic performance and durability of these track components: • Special trackwork. • Rail joints. • Crossties. • Track transitions. For example, turnouts are being developed that can accommodate freight shippers served from mainline track that also carry high speed traffic. These continuous mainline rail switches and frogs allow slow speed diverging operations that will not affect mainline track performance. The paper will also discuss further heavy haul infrastructure research and development needs.

Emerging Condition Monitoring Technologies for Railway Track Components and Special Trackwork

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Fernando Molina Camargo ◽  
J. Riley Edwards ◽  
Christopher P. L. Barkan
Keyword(s):  
Condition Monitoring ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Railway Track ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Structure Degradation ◽  
Heavy Haul ◽  
Inspection Tasks ◽  
Monitoring Technologies

North American Railroads and the United States Department of Transportation (US DOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) require periodic inspection of railway infrastructure to ensure the safety of railway operation. Tracks that are subjected to heavy haul or high-speed traffic necessitate frequent inspection and more stringent maintenance requirements, but present railroads with less time to accomplish it. The international railroad community has undertaken significant research to develop innovative applications for advanced technologies with the objective of improving the process of visual track inspection. Some of these technologies are currently in use or under development for a variety of railroad inspection tasks, both wayside and mobile. This paper presents an overview of different systems for condition monitoring applications for inspection of railway components. These technologies, in conjunction with defect analysis and comparison with historical data, will enhance the ability for longer-term predictive assessment of the health of the track system and its components, more informed and proactive maintenance strategies, and improved understanding of track structure degradation and failure modes.

Field Testing of Concrete Crossties and Fastening Systems for the Understanding of Mechanistic Behavior

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Grassé ◽  
D. Lange
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Field Testing ◽  
Element Model ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Load Path ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Railway Infrastructure ◽  
Field Experimentation ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The University

To adequately satisfy the demands placed on North America’s railway infrastructure through ever increasing freight tonnages and development of its high speed rail program, the design and performance of concrete ties and elastic fastening systems must be improved. As a part of a study funded by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) aimed at improving concrete crossties and fastening systems, field experimentation was performed at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo, CO by researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). This paper details the extensive instrumentation program which includes strain gages and linear potentiometers. Testing was conducted over seven adjacent concrete crossties in tangent and curve track utilizing TTC’s Track Loading Vehicle (TLV) as well as passenger and freight train consists. Measurements taken consisted of the wheel-rail input loads, component stresses (e.g. insulator post compression), concrete tie strains, and displacements of the rail and concrete tie. The data was collected synchronously to provide a means to capture the load path, target areas of uncertainty, and provide comprehensive data for the validation of a multi-tie, 3-D finite element model being developed by UIUC. Varying train speeds, track curvature, and loading types provided a means to assess the loading variability that can be expected within the fastening system and lead to more purposeful and efficient instrumentation strategies. Furthermore, this data can be used to guide future research in further quantifying the field loading demands on system components, ultimately leading to the mechanistic design of the concrete crosstie and fastening system.

Railroad R&D 1970-2017: Key Events and Lessons Learned

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Kesler ◽  
Alan Bing
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Rolling Stock ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Changing Roles ◽  
Inspection Systems ◽  
Supply Industry ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Key Events

This paper provides a review of me of the main themes in North American R&D and technology innovation from the 1970s through 2017. A chronological description identifies some of the principal developments in safety and performance over the years, including the introduction of new technologies, the changes in government and industry priorities and funding for R&D. This includes investments in tank car/hazmat research, maglev, and high speed rail). Key technology introductions such as automated track and rolling stock inspection systems are discussed. The evolving and changing roles of the Federal government, the AAR, individual railroads, the supply industry are described. The paper offers a timeline of key events in railroad R&D and technology introductions, with brief discussions each came to pass, the conditions in the industry which drove or enabled them and the impacts each introduction have had. The paper closes with some thoughts about current trends in technology and railroad R&D and their likely trajectory into the future.

Simulation of traction and curving for passive steering hauling locomotives

2008 ◽  
Vol 222 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
S A Simson ◽  
C Cole
Keyword(s):  
Friction Coefficient ◽  
High Speed ◽  
General Motors ◽  
Light Rail ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Commuter Rail ◽  
Heavy Haul Train ◽  
Heavy Haul ◽  
Curving Performance ◽  
Better Than

In a heavy haul train operations the ruling grades that set the tractive power requirements for train consists are often associated with tight curvatures. Past studies of passive or active bogie steering developments have been mostly directed towards high-speed rail applications or light rail and commuter rail applications and hence studies have focused on two axle bogies. Linked passive steering three axle locomotive bogies such as produced by General Motors Electric Motor Division for the SD70 class locomotive are in widespread use however, there are few publications on traction and curving, and few papers on linked passive steering bogies. This paper presents a simulation study three axle bogie locomotives on various curve radii with traction and variable rail friction conditions. Curving performance is assessed showing body linked radial bogies to have considerable advantages over axle linked bogies that are significantly better than yaw relaxation bogies at improving steering under traction. As traction adhesion approaches the rail friction coefficient steering performance of all bogies without forced steering deteriorates to the same levels as a rigid bogie.

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