Author(s)

L. Ižvolt, P. Dobeš & M. Pitoňák

Abstract

In addition to other topics on railway engineering, the Department of Railway Engineering and Track Management is permanently paying attention to the issue of the non-traffic load of railway track (track load of climatic impacts) for the purpose of verification and possible adjustments of the existing methodology of the railway subgrade structure design to the adverse effects of frost used on the Slovak railways. For this purpose, the model of a railway track structure was built – Experimental Stand DRETM I – with an inbuilt thermometer in its individual structural layers and their interfaces, connected to recording equipment. This paper presents the characterized results of individual winter periods observed since 2003, its partial analysis is made and it states some fundamental knowledge necessary to be taken into account in the design and assessment of the railway track structure to the adverse effects of frost. Based on the evaluation of experimental measurements and knowledge obtained so far, a draft design nomogram for the design of the structure of a railway track on a non-traffic load was made, which greatly simplifies this whole process of design and assessment, compared with the current methodology in TNŽ 73 6312 \“The design of structural layers of subgrade structure”. Keywords: railway track, design, temperature regime, frost depth, frost index.

Keywords

railway track, design, temperature regime, frost depth, frost index.