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            Evaluation of Engineered-Polymer Composite Tie Performance in Revenue Service
      

      
  Document Series
              Research Results


      
  Author
          Federal Railroad Administration


      
Report Number
              RR 22-20

  Office
              RDI-21


      Subject
                    Track


      
  Keywords
              Engineered polymer composite ties, bending strain measurement, thermal effect


      

      
      
              
                  
      
              
  Document
              Engineered-Polymer Composite Tie Performance Final.pdf (431.1 KB)

      
              The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) investigated the in-track performance of engineered-polymer composite (EPC) ties. This report summarizes the results from a revenue service test conducted by the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) between 2018 and 2021. Visual inspection identified two main types of defects often associated with EPC ties: center cracking and spike-hole cracking. In-track measurements indicated that the bending strain was well below the ultimate tie strength. Therefore, researchers concluded that fatigue failure resulting from dynamic cyclic loading caused both defects. The research team also found that differential thermal expansion affected the tie bending behavior and increased static track gage.
      
            
      
      
              Last updated: Friday, September 23, 2022 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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