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            Spike Loading Environment in Various Wood Tie Fastening Systems
      

      
  Document Series
              Research Results


      
  Author
          Federal Railroad Administration


      
Report Number
              RR 22-21

  Office
              RDI-21


      Subject
                    Track


      
  Keywords
              Broken spikes, instrumented spikes, elastic fastening systems, strain measurement


      

      
      
              
                  
      
              
  Document
              Spike Loading Environment Wood Tie Fastening Final.pdf (461.06 KB)

      
              The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) contracted with Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) to investigate the spike loading environment in various wood-tie fastening systems. The goal was to understand how dynamic loads are transferred to the spikes in wood-tie fastening systems and identify feasible solutions to the spike breakage issue. Field testing was conducted on a six-degree curve at FRA’s Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo, CO, in 2021. Researchers instrumented four common wood-tie fastening systems with strain-gaged cut spikes to determine their real-time dynamic bending strains.
      
            
      
      
              Last updated: Friday, September 23, 2022 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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