Development of sustainable prestressed concrete sleepers using mineral admixtures: An experimental and numerical investigation
- Vol.97(11), Nov
- Mumbai ACC LTD 2023
- 7-16p.
The railway track structures rely on sleepers to fulfil an important role of bearing the loads exerted on the rails, subsequently dispersing these loads to the ballast bed. In doing so, they uphold the integrity of the track’s geometry. Prestressed concrete sleepers are at risk of getting damaged when a train derails. In these situations, the sleepers experience strong impacts. To decrease the chances of derailments, we can make the concrete sleepers absorb more energy and handle heavier loads. One way to achieve this is by making the concrete stronger, which can be done by increasing its compressive strength. However, this traditional method uses a lot of cement and other resources that are not eco-friendly. A better and more sustainable approach is to utilize industrial by-products like fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) in the production of these sleepers. This study examines the performance of normal prestressed concrete sleeper and prestressed concrete sleeper produced with fly ash and GGBS when subjected to impact loading and static bending tests. The results clearly demonstrate that the sleeper made with fly ash and GGBS performs slightly better when compared to standard prestressed concrete sleeper made with ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The accuracy of the numerical findings is confirmed through comparison with experimental results.