Railway Research

Introduction

The Railway Research is led by Professor Peter Woodward who has been involved in rail track developments for over a decade. Peter and his team investigate the main issues for modern rail networks which include the need to cope with more traffic, heavier loads and higher speeds. These demands are common across the world and academics at the School of the Built Environment are at the forefront of industrially relevant research in the UK for solving these issues. The researchers can offer numerical and experimental analysis of rail track under many different simulated conditions. It has a proven history of experience in the field with its practical applications and has recently benefited from £0.5 million worth of funding to continue with its important research.

Research activities

Track Geometry

The patented polymer technology, XiTRACK, which was developed at the University by Peter and his team, has been widely used by industry across a number of high profile sites. The polymers are used to reinforce ballast and they form an interconnected, energy absorbing network which continues to allow drainage. Due to the commercial nature of the polymer, the technology was ‘spun-out’ to an external partner who have continued to work successfully with the team to develop the product. Find out more about XiTRACK.

The technology was developed in 2000 and was first used in March of that year at Bletchley to reinforce a switch and crossing which had been regularly going out of alinement every three months. The polymers were installed at the site for ten years and did not require any further maintenance. It was such a success that there have been two further installations on nearby track. After five years of test installations, Network Rail approved the technology which is now used across the country. It has been used to stabilise bridges and tunnels; turnouts; slab-track transitions; level crossings; poor track formations; expansion joints; and to alleviate issues with tolerance between trains and tunnels.

There have been over 50 installations since its development including a high profile project at Clapham Junction. A major benefit of the polymers is that they are fast setting so cause minimal disruption to traffic; they achieve 90% stiffness within the first hour of application.

The site installation equipment is compact and can easily be transported to and from the site of application. Another example of a successful installation of the polymers was at Newham Bog on the East Coast Mainline. This track was constructed over peat bogs which created severe track de0ections and significant track issues. The line is part of the High Speed network which carries transport travelling up to 125 miles per hour. Since the application of the technology, there has been a significant improvement in track quality.

The technology has proven to be extremely successful in solving a multitude of railway track problems, and it has signi0cantly reduced maintenance at many sites that have been reinforced over the last decade. The large range of application profiles for the technology and the fact that it can be used on all ballasted track at low temperatures means that it will continue to play an important part in the upgrading of Britain’s rail network. The technology is installed by Balfour Beatty Rail.

High Speed Railways

The analysis software that the Railway Research team has developed is based at Heriot-Watt University. It looks primarily at the behaviour of rail track when it is under high speed conditions and compares a number of variables including track composition. It predicts where likely displacements and faults in the track will occur and allows users to simulate numerous conditions which would affect the track’s performance. It can model dynamic ground wave propagation.

The recent award of half a million pounds worth of funding from the ESPRC has meant that the software can be further developed to become faster and can eventually be used on a desktop; potentially leading to its use externally by industry. The funding is for a three year project, which started in April 2010. The grant will fund one permanent Research Associate position at Heriot- Watt University, and one research student at the University of Edinburgh as part of the Joint Research Initiative (JRI) collaboration in Civil Engineering. The main aim of this unique facility is to provide industry with relevant research about high speed rail development. The current Government have prioritised the development of a high speed rail network across the UK and so the funding and cutting edge facilities that are available at the University will help to shape and inform future policy and development of an upgraded track across the UK.

GRAFT

Railway track settlement is a serious problem in modern day railway engineering and has considerable cost and time implications to the rail industry through maintenance operations, track reconstructions and line speed restrictions. The main cause of track deterioration is settlement of the substructure and a point is eventually reached where track geometry has to be improved before differential track settlements give rise to faults. The Geo-pavement and Railways Accelerated Fatigue Testing facility (GRAFT) is one of only two academic facilities of its kind in the UK. It has a hydraulic capacity of 200 tonnes (150 tonnes cyclically) which enables accelerated testing of existing and new railway products in realistic railway conditions. It is important for all proposed solutions to railway track settlement to be researched thoroughly to understand the implications of placing them within the harsh substructure environment of railway tracks. The GRAFT facility at Heriot-Watt University has been developed to enable the performance of these solutions to be quantified and compared with confidence.

Contributing staff

The group is made up of several academics, researchers and students at the School as well as being part of a collaborative partnership with Edinburgh University.

Members from the School of the Built Environment are:

• Professor Peter Woodward 
• Dr Gabi Medero 
• Dr Omar Laghrouche 
• Abdellah Elkacimi