The development of a bench to perform tests on track panel

In this article, the problem of assessing the stability of a continuous welded rail track during its thermal elongation is considered. The article considers the method of determining a stress-strain state of continuous welded rails proposed by specialists of JSC “VNIKTI”, which is based on the use of the dependence of natural frequencies of rail vibrations on the applied longitudinal force. Such a dependence can be obtained with the help of the calculation method using a finite element model of a track section. The reliability of such a dependence can be assessed by comparing the results obtained using the calculation method with the actual values of natural frequencies of rail vibrations, depending on the longitudinal tensile and compression force applied to a full-scale facility. The track panel is chosen as such a facility. In order to obtain the actual dependence of natural frequencies of rail vibrations on the applied longitudinal force, a specialized test bench is developed. The development of the test bench included designing the test bench elements and creating finite element models of main load-bearing elements of the test bench - a stop, support and traction, as well as their subsequent strength calculation to confirm the operability of the selected design under necessary loading conditions. The strength is assessed using the safety factor for the yield strength. Calculations using the finite element method have shown that the test bench design has sufficient strength. The developed test bench will allow performing tests for the purpose of the verification obtained using the calculation method of the dependence of rail vibration frequencies on the longitudinal tension and compression force applied to it, as well as for testing the proposed method to assess the rail longitudinal force during its thermal expansion.