Engineering and Applied Science Research (Sep 2022)
Conventional track and asphaltic underlayment track mechanical behavior under Indonesia’s Babaranjang freight trains loading
Abstract
A new rail track design for Indonesia’s railway systems is essential to increase freight trains capacity and operation speeds and to minimize possible damage that generally found in conventional track. The two-dimensional numerical modeling was implemented on existing Indonesia's conventional track and new asphaltic underlayment track design according to four cyclic loading conditions by varying the train speeds and bogie loads to simulate Babaranjang freight train loads. Three mechanical behavior parameters were measured and compared, i.e., horizontal strains, vertical stress, and deformation, to evaluate the performance of the studied rail tracks and the possibility of Babaranjang freight trains operated with higher speed and heavier axle load with the new asphaltic underlayment track design proposed through this study. The numerical simulations results confirm the capability of the new asphaltic underlayment track in serving Babaranjang freight trains with the speed of 120 km/h, or 70% higher than the existing operating speed, and in allowing each coal wagon to carry the maximum payload up to 75 tons, or 50% higher than the existing maximum payload. It can be predicted that the application of asphaltic underlayment tracks in Indonesia's railway systems could be beneficial for optimizing the Babaranjang freight train capacity and operation speed.
