Experimental determination of energy absorption capacity for prestressed concrete sleepers under impact loads

Extreme loading conditions on railway tracks may include dynamic impact loads with very high magnitude but short duration. These loading conditions are caused by wheel or rail abnormalities such as flat wheels, dipped rails, etc. A high-capacity drop weight impact testing machine was constructed at the University of Wollongong, in order to evaluate the ultimate capacity of prestressed concrete sleepers under impact loads. This paper presents the experimental investigations to evaluate failure modes, flexural toughness, and energy absorption mechanisms for railway prestressed concrete sleepers under static and impact loadings. Energy absorption capacity of the prestressed concrete sleepers was also evaluated to determine the amount of energy required to fail the sleeper under impact load. Static and impact tests were carried out on the Australian-manufactured prestressed concrete sleepers. The residual capacity of the prestressed concrete sleepers after impact has also been highlighted.