Temperature Stresses in CWR – Experience of Serbian Railways

The railway track with continuously welded rails is an essential part of the modern railway superstructure around the world. Calculation of the temperature stresses in continuously welded rails has great significance for the planning of maintenance activities in order to maintain traffic safety (risk of derailment due to either rail break, or track buckling). This paper presents the finite element model for calculation of rail stresses and displacements due to the temperature changes, which was developed by the authors. The monitoring of the track sections, which are significant regarding traffic safety, was suggested in this paper.