Variations of stress and deformation in the straightening process of turnout base plate

Straightening technology is an important method to manufacture a high-speed railway turnout base plate with positioning blocks after welding. According to the straightening experiment results, the differences in straightening deformation and stress distribution were investigated between the turnout base plate and the counterpart flat plate under different loading conditions. The residual deformation of the counterpart flat plate is much higher than that of the base plate because of the welded positioning blocks. A theoretical model was presented to predict the straightening deformation variation. Finite element simulations were performed to simulate stress variation in the straightening process of the base plate. The stress concentration and residual stress distribution of the base plate were visually observed. The stress concentration factor changes gradually with the interface angle deflection at the welding area of the positioning block. The variation of dynamic stress concentration factor can be calculated and provide a certain theoretical reference to predict the straightening parameters.