A Rail Pad is an important component of railway Tracks. Commonly, it is made from polymeric compound, rubber or composite materials. The Rail Pads are installed between the rail and the sleeper in order to attenuate the dynamic content from axle loads and wheel impacts from both regular and irregular train movements, i.e. it prevents the underlying railway track components from excessive stresses.Systematically, advanced analytical methods are used for the characterization of unknown Rail Pad. The backbone structure of unknown Rail Pad is established as poly ether urethane based polymer using 1D { 1H, 13C, DEPT (Distortionless Enhancement Polarization Transfer) -135, & 90}, and 2D (DQFCOSY & HSQC) NMR techniques. Futher, FTIR technique is used as complementary one & the distinct IR absorption bands observed are: 1703 cm-1 hydrogen bonded carbonyl peaks, 1727 cm-1 non-hydrogen bonded carbonyl peaks, 3320 cm-1 N-H vibration peaks, 1223 cm-1 C-O stretch (urethane) & 1107 cm-1 C-O stretch (polyether)Thermal characteristics are performed using the DSC (Tg =  - 43.5oC) and TGA analytical techniques in order to determine the extent of degradation  i.e. confirms that Rail Pad contains 99.5% Polymer &  0.5% filler or additives respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used to study the resin structural morphology and polymer-matrix interfacial coherence indicating major fractured surfaces of the resin-matrices. The majority of surface particles were based on K and Cl with a few particles based on Ca. There is good agreement between the structure & properties of the Rail Pad.

Analytical methodology for the characterization of unknown rail pad

248th National Meeting (2014)

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