Continuously welded rail (CWR) has become more popular than bolted joints because of the advantages of continuous geometry and stiffness and the resulting maintenance savings. Due to a variety of reasons, a considerable number of bolted joints are still in service in rail transit systems. With the high frequency of impact loads, rail at bolted joints are vulnerable to defects, such as cracking and head-web separation that could lead to more drastic failures and consequences (i.e. derailments, etc.). To prolong the service life of joint bars and rails, rail-end easements in the center of the bar were proposed and became standard in some freight rail companies. However, the effectiveness of a joint bar easement largely depends on the geometry of the easement. Therefore, the easement designed for freight track may not be effective for rail transit infrastructure. Further, the effect of easement geometry has not been thoroughly investigated and documented. Therefore, this study investigates the stress distribution at the rail end bolt-hole and upper fillet areas for joint bars with different easement geometries through a parametric analysis performed with Finite Element (FE) modeling. The FE model used in this study was developed specifically to study rail joints and was validated through full-scale laboratory testing. Results from this study show that a deeper easement yields lower contact stresses, while a longer easement does not necessarily reduce the contact stresses with the studied combination of rails and bolted joints for transit track. An easement may reduce the service life of the joint if the geometry of the easement is not properly engineered.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Effect of easement geometry on rail end fillet stress at bolted rail joints for transit track


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2021-08-01


    Size :

    8 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




    Finite Element Analysis of Rail-End Bolt Hole and Fillet Stress on Bolted Rail Joints

    Zhu, Kaijun / Qian, Yu / Edwards, J. Riley et al. | Transportation Research Record | 2017


    Bolted rail joint in paved track

    Legare, B.P. | Engineering Index Backfile | 1928


    Rail Track Geometry Measurement

    MOELLER RICHARD B | European Patent Office | 2017

    Free access

    Rail track geometry measurement

    MOELLER RICHARD B | European Patent Office | 2018

    Free access

    Improved rail joints make better track

    Williams, A.G. | Engineering Index Backfile | 1935