Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of Wheel-Rail Impact on the Fatigue Performance of Fastening Clips in Rail Joint Area of High-Speed Railway

  • Railroad Engineering
  • Published:
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In order to study the effects of wheel-rail impacts on the fatigue damage of the fastening clips at the rail joints of a high-speed railway, field tests were carried out on the wheel-rail impacts at the rail joints of a high-speed railway in China. On the basis of the track irregularities at the rail joints obtained from field measurements, a nonlinear vehicle-track coupling dynamics three-dimensional (3D) model with consideration of Timoshenko beam elements and a refined finite element model of WJ-8 fastening system were constructed. And combined with the theory of cumulative damage and the method of fatigue analysis, the effects of wheel-rail impact at the rail joints on the fatigue life of fastening clips were analyzed. The results showed that the impacts of the wheel-rail in the joint area caused high-frequency fluctuations in the stress-time curves of the clips, which significantly increased the amplitude of stress cycle and increased a lot of stress cycles, of which the amplitudes were reached at a large level; the clips in the area where a rail joint was located suffered the most serious fatigue damage and had the shortest fatigue life; in the actual operation line, besides the clips in the rail joint area, it is also necessary to be concerned about the fatigue performance of fastening clips near the rail joint area.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • ABAQUS/Explicit (2010) Abaqus explicit v6.10 user’s manual, version 6.10. Abaqus Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Gao X, Wang AB, Liu L, He Y, Ju L (2020) Analysis of failure mechanism of W1-type fastening clip in high speed railway and structure study of damping composite. Engineering Failure Analysis 118(9):104848, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2020.104848

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman J (1941) Mechanics applied to engineering. Longmans, Green & Co., London, UK

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Grossoni I, Iwnicki S, Yann BZ, Gong C (2013) Dynamic response of vehicle-track coupling system with an insulated rail joint. 11th international conference on vibration problems, September 9–12, Lisbon, Portugal

  • Grossoni I, Iwnicki S, Yann BZ, Gong C (2014) Dynamics of a vehicle-track coupling system at a rail joint. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit 229:364–374, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0954409714552698

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasap A, Paitekul P, Noraphaiphipaksa N, Kanchanomai C (2017) Influence of toe load on the fatigue resistance of elastic rail clips. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit 232:1078–1087, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0954409717707834

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasap A, Paitekul P, Noraphaiphipaksa N, Kanchanomai C (2018) Analysis of the fatigue performance of elastic rail clip. Engineering Failure Analysis 92:195–204, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2018.05.013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins HH, Stephenson JE, Clayton GA, Morland GW, Lyon D (1974) The effect of track and vehicle parameters on wheel/rail vertical dynamic loads. Railway Engineering Journal 3:2–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu YT, Wang H, Duan YZ (2020) Study on difference of fatigue damages of fastener elastic clips in low vibration ballastless track of high speed railway. Railway Standard Design 64(10):1–7, DOI: https://doi.org/10.13238/j.issn.1004-2954.201910270006 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu CX, Shi J (2019) Dynamic response of vehicle and track in long downhill section of high-speed railway under braking condition. Advances in Structural Engineering 23:523–537, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1369433219870573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyon D (1972) The calculation of track forces due to dipped rail joints, wheel flats and rail welds. British Railways Board Research and Development Division Technical Report, TM.TSO-2

  • Mandal NK, Dhanasekar M, Sun YQ (2014) Impact forces at dipped rail joints. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit 230:271–282, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0954409714537816

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohammadzadeh S, Ahadi S, Keshavarzian H (2014a) Assessment of fracture reliability analysis of crack growth in spring clip type Vossloh SKL14. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part O: Journal of Risk and Reliability 228:460–468, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1748006x14527926

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohammadzadeh S, Ahadi S, Nouri M (2014b) Stress-based fatigue reliability analysis of the rail fastening spring clip under traffic loads. Latin American Journal of Solids & Structures 11:993–1011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newton SG, Clark RA (1979) An investigation into the dynamic effects on the track of wheelflats on railway vehicles. Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science 21:287–297, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1243/JMES_JOUR_1979_021_046_02

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen ZY (1992) On principles and methods to reduce the wheel/rail forces for rail freight vehicles. Vehicle System Dynamics 20:584–595, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00423119208969424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steenbergen MJMM (2008) Quantification of dynamic wheel-rail contact forces at short rail irregularities and application to measured rail welds. Journal of Sound and Vibration 312:606–629, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsv.2007.11.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steenbergen MJMM, Esveld C (2006a) Relation between the geometry of rail welds and the dynamic wheel-rail response: Numerical simulations for measured welds. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit 220:409–423, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1243/0954409jrrt87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steenbergen MJMM, Esveld C (2006b) Rail weld geometry and assessment concepts. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit 220:257–271, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1243/09544097JRRT38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadeghi J, Fesharaki M, Khajehdezfuly A (2015) Influences of train speed and axle loads on life cycle of rail fastening clips. Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering 39:1–11, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/tcsme-2015-0001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadeghi J, Khajehdezfuly A, Esmaeili M, Poorveis D (2016) Investigation of rail irregularity effects on wheel/rail dynamic force in slab track: Comparison of two and three dimensional models. Journal of Sound and Vibration 374:228–244, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsv.2016.03.033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadeghi J, Seyedkazemi M, Khajehdezfuly A (2020) Nonlinear simulation of vertical behavior of railway fastening system. Engineering Structures 209:1–13, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2020.110340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun YQ, Cole C, Kerr M, Kaewunruen S (2009) Use of simulations in determination of wheel impact forces P1 and P2 due to rail dip defects, AusRAIL 2009, November 17–19, Sydney, Australia

  • Sun YQ, Cole C, Spiryagin M (2013) Study on track dynamic forces due to rail short-wavelength dip defects using rail vehicle-track dynamics simulations. Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 27:629–640, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-013-0117-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang P, Lu J, Zhao CY, Chen M, Xing M (2020) Numerical investigation of the fatigue performance of elastic rail clips considering rail corrugation and dynamic axle load. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit 235(3):1–14, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0954409720926016

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang HW, Xing B, Luo HY (2006) Rain-flow count method and application on fatigue life estimation. Mining & Processing Equipment 34(3):95–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Wen ZF, Jin XS, Zhang WH (2003) Finite element analysis of contact-impact of wheel/rail at rail gap. Journal of Tribology 23(3):240–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiao JH, Hu HF, Yan ZQ, Li W, Tu YH, Fang HW (2018) The influence of wheel/rail vibration on the damage of rail fastening system of high speed railway in China. In: Proceedings of the 11th international conference on contact mechanics and wear of rail/wheel system, September 24–27, Delft, The Netherland

  • Xu JM, Wang K, Gao Y, Ma TQ, Dong ZG, Liu YB, Wang P (2019) Transient impact behavior analysis of rail broken gap on high speed continuous welded rail. Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University 55(6):7 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu L, Zhai WM (2017) A novel model for determining the amplitude-wavelength limits of track irregularities accompanied by a reliability assessment in railway vehicle-track dynamics. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing 86:260–277, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymssp.2016.10.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu L, Zhai WM, Gao JM (2017) Extended applications of track irregularity probabilistic model and vehicle-slab track coupled model on dynamics of railway systems. Vehicle System Dynamics 55(11):1686–1706, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00423114.2017.1319961

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhai WM (2007) Vehicle-track coupling dynamics, 3rd edition. China Railway Press, Beijing, China, 12–78 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang N, Xia H (2013) Dynamic analysis of coupled vehicle-bridge system based on inter-system iteration method. Computers & Structures 114–115:26–34, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruc.2012.10.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the the scientific research project of China Academy of Railway Sciences Co., Ltd. (2019YJ050).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Junheng Xiao

  2. Beijing Tieke Shougang Railway-Tech Co., Ltd., Beijing, 102206, China

    Junheng Xiao

  3. Railway Engineering Research Institute, China Academy of Railway Sciences Co., Ltd., Beijing, 100081, China

    Ziquan Yan

  4. School of Civil Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, 100044, China

    Jin Shi & Dengke Ma

Authors
  1. Junheng Xiao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ziquan Yan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jin Shi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dengke Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ziquan Yan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xiao, J., Yan, Z., Shi, J. et al. Effects of Wheel-Rail Impact on the Fatigue Performance of Fastening Clips in Rail Joint Area of High-Speed Railway. KSCE J Civ Eng 26, 120–130 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-021-1905-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-021-1905-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation