Design loads on railway substructure-comparative parametric investigation on the influence of fastening stiffness (European and Japanese)

The existing international bibliography-German, French, AREMA methods-includes various methods for a realistic estimation of loads on track superstructure and the reactions/actions on the sleepers. The magnitude of loads derived from these formulas could not justify the systematic appearance of cracks at 60% of the sleepers in the Greek network. This generated the need of a more exhaustive investigation of the extensive appearance of cracks on sleepers, that would lead to the development of a new methodology for the calculation of the actions on the sleepers, which would be able to simulate and explain the phenomena that have been observed in the Greek network. In this paper a comparative parametric investigation is presented for the influence of fastening stiffness on the estimation on Design Loads on Railway Superstructure and Substructure. Japanese and European data are compared.