Dr. Shushu Liu
Senior Engineer
Changeis,
Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
Dr. Shushu Liu Bio
Shushu received her Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Kentucky, and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with emphasis on railroad geotechnics from Penn State. She joined the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center after she obtained her Ph.D. in 2018. Her work includes laboratory investigation, field instrumentation, and numerical modeling of railroad track structure, such as ballast, tie and fastener systems, etc.
Modeling Approaches to Investigate Loading and Failure of Railroad Track Components
To minimize infrastructure degradation and the risk of derailments, research studies have been conducted to examine the impact of loading on railroad track and its components. Several recent railroad derailment accidents were attributed to a significant number of broken spikes used in the elastic fastening systems. The spike failures have been found in bending modes due to a combined lateral and longitudinal loading condition. However, there has been limited studies to understand the load transfer mechanism. In this presentation, validated modeling approaches will be given to investigate loading distribution to each track component using field measurement as an input. Further development of the models will also be discussed. These models can be used as a tool to assess the loading conditions at a system level, and hence to provide insights to advancing track safety.