Energy method solution for the vertical deformation of longitudinally coupled prefabricated slab track (Q1993227)

Summary: Upwarping on the longitudinally coupled prefabricated slab track system caused by the rising temperature is a common distress, which deteriorates the mechanical properties of the coupled slabs and the vertical stability of slabs. The objective of this paper is to quantify the upwarping deformation on the slab subjected to temperature force and to find out the influence of different factors on the upwarping phenomenon of the slabs. An analytical expression is deduced using energy method, and a finite element model is also established to verify the analytical solution's adequacy. The following main findings are drawn: (1) when the amplitude of the initial elastic misalignment \(w_e\) is equal to a half of the amplitude of the initial plastic misalignment \(w_p\) and the half-wavelength \(l_{\min}\) takes the most unfavorable value, the maximum relative error between the analytical solution and the result in FEM is only 2.64\%, which demonstrates that the analytical solution correlates well with the FEM results. \((2) l_{\min}\) is closely related with \(w_p\). With the increase of \(w_p, l_{\min}\) becomes longer, and the maximum length of the half-wavelength is 7.769 m. (3) When the total amplitude \(w_e + w_p\) exaggerates, the slab will be much likely to suffer upwarping.