Optimization of Existing Irregular Plate Used for Slab Track Railway System

Abstract

Fibre reinforced concrete is a material whose utilization in the concrete industry has been rapidly increasing recently. The paper is focused on the study of the material use for precast irregular plates offered by a company specialized in the field of precast elements for the railway industry. The existing irregular plate is made of conventional reinforced concrete. The aim of the study is to verify the feasibility of the modified variant where reinforced concrete is substituted for fibre reinforced concrete with no conventional reinforcement. The article describes the whole procedure for the design and manufacture of the optimized precast element. Within the cope of work, the design and manufacturing technology of fibre reinforced concrete is demonstrated, as well as the numerical analysis of irregular plate on a three-dimensional nonlinear model. The static loading test of the fibre reinforced concrete irregular plate has not been performed yet as the applied research is in the phase of cost-effective pilot study which has to only verify the feasibility.