FEASIBILITY STUDY OF A METHOD FOR OBSERVING TRACK STIFFNESS FROM MID-CHORD OFFSET AND PROFILOMETER MEASUREMENTS

In the presence of a load, the mid-chord offset (MCO) and profilometer will see the vertical rail geometry (profile) in different perspectives. The former is a distributed measurement of rail as seen at three points in space. The latter is a single point measurement. For uniform foundation and rail size, the effect of loading will appear as a bias in the MCO and will not affect the profilometer measurements at all. But in the presence of a discontinuity in the foundation or the rail, loading will introduce variations in MCO and profilometer measurements. An analytical expression has been derived to evaluate the effect of loading on MCO and profilometer measurements in the vicinity of a discontinuity in the subgrade system. Based on this analytical model, the signature for such a transition was derived. This is compared with actual differences observed in track data. Initial results indicate that this method has a good potential for determining sudden changes in track stiffness.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Presented at the 10th IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, Conference Record, Atlanta, Georgia, September 28-October 2, 1975.
• Corporate Authors:

  Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

  3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor
  New York, NY  United States  10016-5997
• Authors:
  • Talapatra, D C
  • Corbin, J C
• Conference:
  • Presented at the 10th IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, Conference Record, Atlanta, Georgia, September 28-October 2, 1975.
• Publication Date: 1975

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 512-517

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alignment; Inspection; Measuring instruments; Railroad facilities; Railroad rails; Railroad tracks; Stability (Mechanics); Structural design; Train track dynamics
• Uncontrolled Terms: Track geometry; Track stability
• Old TRIS Terms: Track alignment; Track inspection; Track response investigations
• Subject Areas: Design; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00152790
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Report/Paper Numbers: Conf Paper
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 31 1977 12:00AM