Enhancement of riveted steel bridges by adding a trough in UHPFRC acting in composite action

Eugen Brühwiler
2021
Conference paper

Riveted railway bridges are commonly considered as being “old”, having fatigue damage and are therefore replaced. While this practice should be by now obsolete by using novel engineering methods like structural monitoring, prolongation of the service duration of railway bridges often requires an enhancement of the railway track system, in particular when there is an open deck with the sleeper-rail-system directly fixed on the steel structure. Three examples are described where the novel Ultra-High Performance Fiber Reinforced Cementitious composite material (UHPFRC) has been used to design lightweight trough and deck slab elements for new ballasted and fixed railway tracks respectively. Acting as a composite UHPFRC – riveted steel system, the structural resistance is significantly increased leading to important reduction of fatigue stresses. Subsequently, safety verifications at Fatigue and Ultimate Limit States are satisfied in view of future higher traffic loading.

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Eugen Brühwiler
2021
Conference paper

Abstract

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/291374?ln=en

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A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as a train track or permanent way, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the , fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, British English) and ballast (or slab track), plus the underlying subgrade. It enables trains to move by providing a dependable surface for their wheels to roll upon. Early tracks were constructed with wooden or cast iron rails, and wooden or stone sleepers; since the 1870s, rails have almost universally been made from steel.

Structural steel is a category of steel used for making construction materials in a variety of shapes. Many structural steel shapes take the form of an elongated beam having a of a specific cross section. Structural steel shapes, sizes, chemical composition, mechanical properties such as strengths, storage practices, etc., are regulated by standards in most industrialized countries. Most structural steel shapes, such as -beams, have high second moments of area, which means they are very stiff in respect to their cross-sectional area and thus can support a high load without excessive sagging.

A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually something that is otherwise difficult or impossible to cross. There are many different designs of bridges, each serving a particular purpose and applicable to different situations.