ANALYSIS ON RAILWAY SLEEPERS MANUFACTURED FROM POLYMERS AND IRON SLAG

Timber is the most commonly used material for railway sleepers. However, as a sleeper material deteriorates with time, it becomes so expensive and needs suitable replacement. There are also now various environmental concerns regarding the use and disposal of chemically-impregnated timber sleepers. Composite sleepers have become great replacement of existing timber ones. In this paper, a review of advantages and disadvantages of existing timber sleepers are presented as well as conventional methods in analysis and design of railway sleepers. Trials and proportions of proposed composite mixture using polymers and iron slag are portrayed. Mechanical and physical testing has been carried out to determine the important properties of the new selected mixture; hence results are compared with the recommendations of the international railway standards. It is found that the testing results are larger than the recommended values. Thus; it is concluded that the tested composite mixture is effective and adequate to be used in manufacture of railway sleepers. Selection of the optimal sleeper dimensions by Evaluation of 21 suggested models of sleeper with different dimensions is also presented.