2019 Volume 75 Issue 2 Pages I_635-I_646
Unsupported sleepers which are found sporadically at railway ballasted tracks, cause various problems in track geometry management, one of which is track buckling in the section of continuous welded rail (CWR). Unsupported sleepers reduce lateral ballast resistance force as the buckling resistance and reduce the buckling stability of the track. However, sufficient research of unsupported sleepers has not been executed, and the definite influence was not clear.
In this study, we grasped the actual condition of unsupported sleepers in the section of CWR in commercial lines. Based on the results, we clarified the influence on the track buckling temperature due to the support state of sleepers using a track buckling analysis program. In addition, by focusing on the relationship between the distribution of lateral ballast resistance force and the track buckling temperature, we showed the possibility that the buckling temperature can be estimated from the strain energy value of the lateral ballast resistance force.
