Abstract
The increasing tractive power of locomotives has led to a significant increase in the longitudinal loading demand on railway tracks. The capacity of longitudinal restraint of existing rail fastening system and its dependency on track parameters can affect the future design of the rail fastening system. This paper investigates the effects of wheel acceleration, elastic modulus of clips, rail to rail pad coefficient of friction (COF), and sleeper spacing on the distribution of longitudinal force in the rail fastening system and on the maximum rail to rail pad friction force. A finite element (FE) model with multiple sleepers and their accompanying fastening systems, along with a moving wheel, is developed and validated using field data. The results of our parametric study indicate that a COF of 0.65 is optional when maximizing the longitudinal resistance per rail seat. Additionally, the maximum rail to rail pad friction force increases exponentially with the spacing of sleepers, and a sleeper spacing of 0.61 m can lead to a desired distribution of longitudinal force.