Rotational capacity of railway prestressed concrete sleeper under static hogging moment

Railway prestressed concrete sleeper is an imperative component of ballasted railway tracks. Its main function is to help distribute axle loading to subgrade and formation. By nature, the concrete sleeper is subjected to sagging moment at the railseat zone and to hogging moment at the middle section. Although behaviors of concrete sleepers under static loading have been enormously studied, their rotational characteristic and capacity under such loading have never been reported. The emphases of this paper are placed on the static behavior and rotational capacity of a prestressed concrete sleeper under hogging moment. An Australian manufactured concrete sleeper was used in the experiment in accordance with Australian Standards, AS1085.14. LVDT was mounted at the middle span for measuring the deflection. The inclinometers were installed coincident with rail gauge in order to measure the rotations at those positions. Strains at bottom and top fibres under loading were recorded by strain gages. In this paper, the load-deflection curve of the static four-point loading test is presented. Relationship between hogging moment and gauge rotation is underlined. Criteria of the measure based on wheel/gauge-holding capacity are also discussed for determining the rotational capacity of the concrete sleeper.