Development and Conduction of an Experiment to Investigate the Static Friction Interactions Between a Wooden Crosstie and Ballast Material

Abstract

The focus of this research is on the friction interactions between railroad crossties and ballast material. These friction interactions change over time as the crossties experience continued loading due to passing trains. In order to investigate this topic, an experiment has been designed to observe the static friction coefficient, points of contact, and contact area between a crosstie and ballast material. The question arises as to whether there is a correlation between these factors and the number of loading cycles. The data collected in this experiment will be useful in ocean engineering applications such as the design of a seawall structure against a sand berm. This experiment was performed as part of a larger research effort examining railroad track buckling.