TY - JOUR
T1 - Analytical Method to Estimate Railroad Spike Fastener Stress
AU - Dersch, Marcus S.
AU - Silva, Matheus Trizotto
AU - Edwards, J. Riley
AU - Lima, Arthur de O.
AU - Roadcap, Tom
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research effort is funded by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), part of the United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT). This work was also supported by the National University Rail Center, a U.S. Department of Transportation Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Tier 1 University Transportation Center. The material in this paper represents the position of the authors and not necessarily that of sponsors. J. Riley Edwards has been supported in part by the grants to the UIUC Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC) from CN and Hanson Professional Services.
Publisher Copyright:
© National Academy of Sciences: Transportation Research Board 2020.
PY - 2020/9/1
Y1 - 2020/9/1
N2 - Previous research indicates that spike fastener fatigue failures have led to at least ten derailments since 2000. Given that railroads continue to install fastening systems that have experienced spike failures, methods to quantify the stress state of the spike must be developed. Common approaches to quantify the effect of key variables include laboratory experimentation, field instrumentation, or finite element model development. However, these approaches may be both time and cost prohibitive. An analytical method based on beam on elastic foundation mechanics, similar to the analysis of laterally loaded piles in deep foundation design, was developed to estimate the spike stresses. The outcome is a laboratory-validated analytical approach that generates estimates of spike stress. This analytical model was used to investigate key design criteria (timber modulus, spike cross-sectional area, and load applied) that could be changed to improve the resiliency of the fastening system to increase railroad safety. Another outcome of this study is the development of an instrumented spike that quantifies the spike demands when installed and loaded within a crosstie.
AB - Previous research indicates that spike fastener fatigue failures have led to at least ten derailments since 2000. Given that railroads continue to install fastening systems that have experienced spike failures, methods to quantify the stress state of the spike must be developed. Common approaches to quantify the effect of key variables include laboratory experimentation, field instrumentation, or finite element model development. However, these approaches may be both time and cost prohibitive. An analytical method based on beam on elastic foundation mechanics, similar to the analysis of laterally loaded piles in deep foundation design, was developed to estimate the spike stresses. The outcome is a laboratory-validated analytical approach that generates estimates of spike stress. This analytical model was used to investigate key design criteria (timber modulus, spike cross-sectional area, and load applied) that could be changed to improve the resiliency of the fastening system to increase railroad safety. Another outcome of this study is the development of an instrumented spike that quantifies the spike demands when installed and loaded within a crosstie.
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U2 - 10.1177/0361198120949259
DO - 10.1177/0361198120949259
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85096162668
SN - 0361-1981
VL - 2674
SP - 379
EP - 389
JO - Transportation Research Record
JF - Transportation Research Record
IS - 11
ER -