Keywords: prestressed railway sleeper, bending test, quasi-brittle fracture, crack initiation, crack width, fatigue, aging, finite element simulation.

This paper presents a numerical study of the mechanical response of the prestressed mono-block railway sleepers used on Czech railway tracks. The influence of selected mechanical/fracture parameters of concrete on the structural behaviour of the studied precast structural members is investigated by means of numerical simulations of standardized static loading tests according to the European Standards for railway applications. Most attention is paid to the prediction of the widths (and distribution) of cracks evolving at the sleeper surface with respect to the applied load. The data obtained can aid the quality inspection process at production plants manufacturing prestressed sleepers. The tests were modelled using the ATENA nonlinear finite element method software; several finite element model variants are considered in the analyses. Comparison of the results of the simulations with the experimental data is performed and discussed. The experimental results were gained using standardized evaluative static loading tests conducted on sleepers both before their use according to their designated purpose and after seventeen years in operational service, thus allowing the investigation of the effect of concrete aging and also fatigue.

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