FEA to assess plastic deformation of railhead material damage of insulated rail joints with fibreglass and nylon endposts

This paper presents a 3D finite element analysis targeting damage and stress distributions in the railhead material near the endposts. The following design parameters are considered: 5mm endpost thickness in a 6-bolt IRJ centrally suspended between two sleepers. A non-linear isotropic and kinematic material hardening model is used to represent elastic-plastic behaviour. 2000 loading cycles in the form of wheel pressure using the amplitude function in ABAQUS are applied for this analysis. Critical strain and stress components are determined to quantify railhead damage. The effects of both fg and ny endpost material on the mechanical behaviour of IRJs are analysed to find the best design. In this regard, progressive damage parameter and von-Mises stresses are considered to determine plastic deformation and material degradation of the railhead material.