PREDICTING THE LOAD ENVIRONMENT ON RAILROAD TRACK

A key factor in all aspects of rail vehicle and track performance, particularly the reliability of the rail and wheel, is the characterization of the wheel/rail load environment. In the context of flaw growth and component fatigue, this characterization is best defined in a statistical sense. Extensive measurements of loads from both wayside and on-board instrumentation during experiments conducted in 1978 on the Union Pacific Railroad have resulted in a substantial "data bank." In this paper, some results from a statistical analysis of these data are presented; and techniques for predicting extreme-value loads and for extrapolating the load environment to other track, traffic, and operating conditions are described.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contributed by the Rail Transportation Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for presentation at the Joint Railroad Conference, April 9-10, 1980, Montreal, Canada
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Mechanical Engineers

  Two Park Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10016-5990
• Authors:
  • Ahlbeck, D A
• Publication Date: 1980-1

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 9 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Continuous welded rail; Data collection; Field tests; Force; Freight trains; Information processing; Instrumentation; Loads; Railroad rails; Railroad tracks; Railroad wheels; Strain gages; Stresses; Train track dynamics; Wheels
• Identifier Terms: Union Pacific Railroad
• Uncontrolled Terms: Lateral loads; Vertical loads
• Old TRIS Terms: Track stress
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Railroads; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00312394
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 80-RT-7 Conf Paper
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 27 1980 12:00AM