Modal and harmonic response analysis of new CFRP laminate reinforced concrete railway sleepers.

• Prestressed concrete sleepers have the disadvantages of resonance and low damping. • Steel-reinforced sleepers are better damping but corrosion and fatigue are a concern. • To eliminate all these disadvantages, CFRP laminate reinforced sleepers developed. • According to modal and harmonic response analysis, they show better damping results. Nowadays high-cost sleeper applications are becoming indispensable because of railway operation conditions and high frequency train loads. For the protection of sleepers and other railway components, "non-prestressed" sleepers have the potential to reduce railway maintenance costs and exhibit a longer service life compared to their prestressed competitors. But the disadvantage of this process is steel reinforcement defects due to corrosion and fatigue. A new type of sleeper with non-pre-stressing process with non-corroding carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminate reinforcements can overcome these disadvantages. Rail seat static positive moment tests have been performed for these new types of sleepers before and it was determined that they can provide the desired static strength parameters even in high speed train lines. In this study, modal and harmonic response analysis has been performed and the results compared with prestressed sleepers with equivalent concrete cross-section dimensions. According to the results this new sleeper model has higher damping advantages and is expected to be beneficial in extending the service life of the railway components, reducing maintenance needs, and harmful effects on the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]