Variation of Rail Temperature due to Korean Climatic Factors

초록

In order to secure safety for the buckling and fracture of the continuous welded rail (CWR) and improve the efficiency of maintenance work, it is very important to grasp the characteristics of rail temperature. Recently, the maximum air temperature in Korea summer season gradually rises due to climate change. This affects a lot of changes in the amount of yearly rail temperature variation and can cause the change of laying and maintenance temperatures for the continuous welded rail track. The investigation on the rail temperature characteristics for the impact of climate change is very important because the distribution of the rail temperature varies depending on the climate condition. In this study, to analyze the trend of rail temperature change according to the climate condition, climatic factors (ambient temperature, humidity, solar radiation, and wind velocity) were measured by constructing the temperature and climate measurement system in an outdoor experimental place as realistic as possible. Through the intensive investigation of actual data, it is found that existing prediction formulas for rail temperature may be used only at certain climatic conditions (certain combination of climatic factors). If maintenance engineers utilize the temperature characteristics investigated in this study, there will be effective improvement for the maintenance work of a continuous welded rail.