Skip to content
Yuliang Zhou

Pages

HomeHome page section
NewsHome page section
ResearchHome page section
PublicationHome page section
TeachingHome page section
StudentsHome page section
ContactHome page section
Prospective Ph.D. StudentsRecruitment details & how to apply

Research

Rail Safety Improvement Through Enhanced Understanding of Ballast and Subgrade InteractionsFederal Railroad Administration (FRA)
Continuous Railroad Track Health Monitoring Using Distributed Fiber Optic SensorMxV Rail University Program
Automated Bridge Inspection and Load Rating Using Low-Cost Sensor NetworksU.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)
Under-Tie Support Condition Assessment using Distributed Fiber Optic Strain SensorResearch project
Recycled Plastics Railroad Ties Fatigue PerformanceResearch project
↑↓navigate↵open13 results

Recycled Plastics Railroad Ties Fatigue Performance

Overview

Project Description

This project evaluates the fatigue performance of recycled plastic railroad ties through full-scale laboratory testing at Penn State's Civil Infrastructure Testing and Evaluation Laboratory (CITEL). A ballast-box track section with subgrade and ballast layers was constructed and loaded using MTS actuators to simulate repeated train loading. The study examines the structural response of recycled plastic ties under cyclic loading and provides data to support the assessment of their durability and potential application in railroad track systems.