Modular Railway Support Structure for Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current provisional supporting structures for in-service railway tracks during maintenance are labor-intensive, require lengthy service closures, and disrupt normal rail traffic due to lack of strength, robustness, and stability, necessitating speed reductions for circulating trains.
Innovation Solution
A modular supporting structure with adjustable crossbeams and bracing rails that can be easily assembled and disassembled between sleepers, providing stability and maintaining track gauge and cant without interfering with the running surface, using a system of articulated joints and adjustable rod cylinders to support the tracks during maintenance work.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional mechanical fastening assemblies are used to attach bracing rails to tracks, then the supporting structure can be assembled, but the assembly and disassembly process becomes labor intensive and requires lengthy service closures
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting structure is divided into modular components (bracing rails, crossbeams, adjusting assemblies) that can be independently assembled and disassembled. Each module can be quickly installed between sleepers without requiring extensive manual fastening operations, thereby reducing both labor intensity and service closure duration.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjusting assembly incorporates adjustable rod cylinders that enable dynamic height adjustment of the bracing rails. This allows the structure to be quickly adapted to different track conditions during assembly and disassembly, significantly reducing the time required for installation and removal while maintaining structural integrity.
2Reliability
If traditional supporting structures are used, then the tracks can be supported during maintenance, but the structures lack sufficient strength and stability requiring trains to reduce speed
Solution Approach 1:
The bracing rails and crossbeams are pre-assembled into a rigid modular framework before being installed on the tracks. This preliminary structuring ensures that the supporting system possesses sufficient strength and stability from the outset, eliminating the need for speed reductions and maintaining reliable track support throughout the maintenance period.
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting structure combines multiple materials and components (metal bracing rails, wooden or metal crossbeams, mechanical adjusting assemblies) to create a composite system with enhanced load-bearing capacity and structural stability. This composite construction ensures that the tracks remain firmly supported even when trains are circulating at normal speeds.
3Strength
If the supporting structure requires complex mechanical fastening assemblies, then the tracks can be securely attached, but the structure becomes difficult to disassemble and requires moving the tracks
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening system is segmented into standardized, interchangeable components that can be quickly released and repositioned. Each module maintains strong attachment during operation but allows for rapid disassembly by simply releasing the fastening mechanisms, eliminating the need to move the tracks themselves and significantly reducing downtime.
Data Source
Figure 1~2A
Figure 2B
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A modular supporting structure for dismountably supporting a section of railway track (12) while work is in progress below the tracks; comprising at least one adjusting assembly (18) configured so that it can be disassembled from bracing rails (16, 161, 162), which assembly comprises a first adjustable rod cylinder (32) disposed crosswise to bracing rails (161, 162) and a second adjustable rod cylinder (33) and a third adjustable rod cylinder (34) to adjust the height of modular supporting structure (11) to the plane of the running surface in the working position of modular supporting structure (11).