Modeling damage mechanics of railway tracks to evolve control strategies for derailment prevention

Abstract

Purpose

With an eye to prevent derailment of high-speed trains, vis-à-vis unwarranted loss of lives and property, this paper aims to develop a formalism of designing a suitable control system with embedded decision support system.

Design/methodology/approach

A model of rolling contact fatigue (RCF) crack propagation in railway tracks is designed, simulating the alarming stress intensity factor around the advancing fatigue cracks. COMSOL multi-physics software is employed to design the RCF crack monitoring system with acoustic emission (AE) count signals, describing the damage threshold of railway tracks.

Findings

Simulation experiment on stress intensity factor for cracks in real life rail sections has enabled to describe the maximum working stress; it has been noticed that the threshold value of stress intensity factor (∼ 41 MPa m1/2) for the onset of unstable crack propagation is reached at a fatigue crack length of 11.5 mm. It is further noticed that the observed AE count at a particular instant of time in a specific location of railway track is a true indication of the vulnerability of rail failures.

Originality/value

The proposed model, a completely new of its kind, bears a high socio-technological value as it entails the design of an intelligent control system to prevent train accidents.

Citation

Banerjee, U. (2013), "Modeling damage mechanics of railway tracks to evolve control strategies for derailment prevention", Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 341-358. https://doi.org/10.1108/MMMS-04-2013-0033