This research investigates the response of rail material using an elastic-plastic
finite-element framework. The implications of unsupported sleepers and insulated rail
joints which represent sources of stiffness discontinuity in railroad lines were included.
The nonlinear response of wheel-rail material was considered. The developed
finite-element model has been supported by an analytical method to assess
the onset of fatigue cracks in rails. Deflections, strains, stresses, and crack
initiation parameters were obtained. The results showed good compatibility with
the field observations, Hertz’s theory, and equivalent studies. The findings
showed the high sensitivity of plastic flow and rail material fatigue to the
value of rail deflection which on the contrary has a meagre impact on the
magnitudes of stresses. In addition, insulated rail joints due to stress singularity
have a hurtful influence on the quantities of stresses, plastic deformation,
and fatigue life. However, this effect plummets with increasing depth. For
all cases, cracks initiate at the rail’s surface knowing that the simulated
friction coefficient between wheel and rail is 0.35 and the applied wheel
load is 110 kN. Additionally, 15 mm depth is enough to study the nonlinear
characteristics of rail materials. And finally, unsupported sleepers accelerate the
electrical failure, which causes troublesome traffic disturbances, at insulated rail
joints.
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