Types and Functional Requirements of

Railway
Fasteners by *1Yen-Bing Huang, I-Hua Wang, An-Shang Lin, *2Matt Yang, and *3Jia-Chang Chen

he railway is well connected to the transportation of the entire society. As the construction of a railway

T transport system usually requires a large-scale investment and the engineering procedure including basic
construction, business operation, and the purchase of equipment is very sophisticated, it is closely related to
several industries. A railway system is composed of steel rails, fastening elements, railway ties, and ballast, among
which fastening elements are an important sub-system (i.e. clips, elastic base plates, and anchors) to support the
railway. Each unit of the sub-system comprises different components with certain physical and chemical properties.
Clips are used to hold rails onto the base plates in order to prevent the train from derailing. Currently, most
important components used on the railway of Taiwan were imported from other countries. In order to improve the
performance of the railway system and reduce the cost for railway maintenance, Taiwan Railways Administration
(TRA) is active in promoting the development of domestic railway industry. Furthermore, with the addition of
other metro and high-speed rail systems, the demand for railway fasteners will be increasing day after day.

Table 1 and Figure 1 both Table 1. Statistics of Exports of Taiwan Transport Systems and Part Manufacturing in 2012
show the fastener industry is
one of the important metallic Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
product manufacturing industries Value (NT$ million) 70,349 60,343 60,109 49,836 46,369
in Taiwan. Its industrial cluster
and sophisticated labor division Annual growth rate (%) 20.11% -14.22% -0.39% -0.1709% -6.96%
established in the past few years Percentage (%) 0.92% 0.95% 0.73% 0.58% 0.55%
make it not second to the IT or
other high-tech industries in
terms of the competitiveness in
NT$100 million NT$/Kg
product quality and lead time.
10,000 tons

In the fastener industry, the

development of railway fasteners
is going to be high added value
oriented, in response to the
advancement of railway industry
and the construction of high
speed rails, metros, and light
rails. Railway fasteners act to
prevent the rails from unexpected
separation when the train passes
through. A rail fastener usually
comprises a steel shoulder, a rail
pad, an insulator, etc. Taiwan has
been engaged in the improvement
of railway engineering and
focuses on the R&D of a railway Export value (NT$100 million)
system that is “safe, durable, in Export volume (10,000 tons)
low maintenance cost, with high Export unit price (NT$/Kg)
economic efficiency, and with
low environmental pollution.”
Figure 1. Statistics of Taiwan Fastener Exports from Q4 2009 to Q3 2012
Source: Taiwan Customs import and export data of Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, compiled
by MII-ITIS of MIRDC
258
 Figure 2. Pandrol e Type Fasteners
The fastening system can be categorized into 3 following types- Front Arch Clip Toe
Insulator
(1) Concrete Cross Tie- Rails can be fitted onto concrete cross ties with in-
between flexible rail pads, which is for insulation.
(2) Wood Cross Tie- Metallic base plates have to be placed between rails Centre
Leg
and wood cross ties in order to protect the wood cross ties and provide a
larger area to support the rails. Rail Pad
(3) Direct Fixation Fastener (DFF)- Only spring clips need additional Clip Heel Rail
Foot
flexible components except for others. The fastening system is usually
designed according to the vibration reducing capacity of the roadbeds. Heel Seat Rear
Shoulder Arch
The main function of the fastening system is to provide a connective
force to fixedly hold the rails. The formation of such a force is generated
from the tensile of installing railway fasteners. As rails will be displaced
when there is excessive longitudinal, transverse, or vertical force resulted
from the passing through of a train, railway fasteners must be used to avoid
effects of these forces. In addition, the fastening ability of a railway fastener
is determined by its size, shape, and material used.
Types of Properties of Railway Fasteners
Common railway fasteners used in the market show a variety of forms
and shapes. They are assembled with other components as independent units,
which can be fixed onto the rails as a whole, and which can offer under con-
trolled vertical, longitudinal, and transverse forces to avoid excessive dis-
placement. Different types of railway fasteners cannot be replaced with each be easily installed and maintained. Hence,
other. They can be categorized into 3 types by their usage- they are widely used in the main railways of
Taiwan.
(a) Spikes- often used onto wood railway ties, including hook spikes,
threaded spikes and flexible spikes. Given that fasteners have many types,
trains going safely on rails, convenient
(b) Bolts and wedge shaped fasteners- Wedge-shaped fasteners are fixed
maintenance & repair, material durability,
onto rails and fastened with bolts. They are fixed together on prepared parts
and possibility of fatique, requirements in
or anchoring threaded bases.
fastener design including proper loading and
(c) Spring clips- Anchors and shoulders are pre-cast inside the base plates performance must be taken into account. If
or the track supporting system; then, flexible steel rods are used to fix them. a certain material is not strong enough, its
They can be categorized by feature- structure must be modified or another mate-
(1) How they are fixed rial should be used. Rail fasteners should
be made of alloy spring steel that meets UK
(2) Appearance standards (BS970 PART2: 1988 grade 251
(3) Longitudinal resistance A58), JIS G4801 SUP9 or other applicable
standards. In Taiwan, rail fasteners should
(4) Flexibility meet CNS 2905 and should have a certain
Table 2. Types of Fasteners Used in Certain Countries level of rust resistance; in addition, they
should undergo heat treatment. 20 items out
How They Are Fixed Appearance Names of Fasteners Used of 50,000 fasteners would be selected at ran-
Steel Bar Germany- Vossloh W type dom to undergo the following lab tests.
France- Stedef Nabla fastener and RN
Bolt Type Steel Plate fastener
Japan- 102 type fastener 1. Dimensional Check- based on appropri-
Steel Block Germany- K type fastener ate dimensional diagrams.
UK- Pandrol e type fastener, PR type
fastener, and FastClip 2. Content Analysis- Content of either
The Netherlands- DE fastener phosphorus or sulfur should not exceed
Steel Bar The US- Sidewinder fastener 0.035%.
Non-Bolt Type Switzerland- Fist fastener
Sweden- Hambo fastener
Australia- Mc Kay Safelok The type of spring steel used to make
Steel Plate UK- Pandrol Safelok Ⅲ fasteners should have a proper level of metal
Australia- Rex-Lok fatigue life, can withstand impacts and will
not deform easily. Suitable steels of this kind
Pandrol International Limited is a company in UK and has been famous include carbon steel, Si-Mn steel, Si-Cr steel
for its railway fastening systems since 1937. Its fasteners are generally re- and SUP7/SUP9 types of steel specified in
ferred to as Pandrol fasteners, which include e type fasteners, PR type fas- JIS G4801. Table 3 illustrates the specific
teners and FastClips. Figure 2 illustrates Pandrol e type fasteners, which can contents of each rail fastener.
260
 Table 3. Specific Material Contents of Certain Grades of Rail Fasteners
C% Si% Mn% P% S% Cr% Ni% Mo%

Grade
BS970-5 0.55-0.65 0.10-0.35 0.70-1.00 - - 0.40-0.60 0.40-0.70 0.15-0.25
805A60
Grade
BS970-5 0.55-0.65 1.70-2.10 0.70-1.00 - - 0.20-0.40 0.20-0.30 -
925A60

JIS G4801
0.50-0.60 0.15-0.35 0.65-0.95 <0.035 <0.035 0.65-0.95 - -
SUP 9

JIS G4801
0.55-0.65 0.15-0.35 0.70-1.00 <0.035 <0.035 0.70-1.00 - -
SUP 9A

3. Hardness- should be 44 to 48 HRC (Rockwell hardness).

4. Toe Load of Fastening- should exceed 750 Kgf when the displacement reaches 12.7 mm.
5. Fatigue Test- Among the 20 items randomly selected in each group, the fasteners with the highest toe load of fastening should
undergo the metal fatigue test: the fastener should undergo 3 million times of 12.3 mm displacement. The relaxation rate should
not exceed 5%.

Fastener Clips are components that have to withstand

the force created when a train runs over the railway. In order Conclusions
to prevent derailing, fasteners must provide enough fastening A complete railway network will be formed in Tai-
strength, which is an important indicator. Figure 3 is a graph wan as more underground railway systems, rapid transit
illustrating the clip toe deflection for Pandrol e type fasteners systems, light rail rapid transit systems and high-speed rail
and PR type fasteners. When a train runs faster on the tracks, systems have been and will be constructed. Such a railway
a bigger force will be exerted. Therefore, how to increase the network is a correct approach for Taiwan to catch up with
fastening strength has become a focus of research. Because the industrial countries and will also assist the economic
fasteners are closely correlated with safety, older types of development and competitiveness. In addition, as high-
fasteners should be maintained periodically or be replaced. As of speed railways, rapid transit systems and light rail rapid
now, newer types of rail fasteners are developed towards higher transit systems are being constructed, the demand for elec-
levels of safety as well as ease of installation and maintenance. trical/mechanical components and fasteners is on the rise.
Therefore, this will pose a great business opportunity for
Figure 3. Clip Toe Deflection the relevant industries. Taiwanese government has explic-
itly pointed out that the development of transport systems
with tracks will be the focus of the future, which offers
great business opportunities from purchasing, renewal, and
maintenance. If the relevant industries can grasp the oppor-
tunities, it will be favorable to speed up the development of
the railway industry.
The railway industry is highly technology-intensive
and capital-intensive. It requires substantial investment and
a long period of time for return. It is also of high values and
can act as a locomotive to drive up the relevant industries
and improve the transport systems of Taiwan. Therefore,
the railway industry may have big, positive impacts on the
development of economic structure. Moreover, the railway
1400 industry is one that any developed country should focus on
00 and utilize to upgrade its industries, and so is for the devel-
20
1200
｀
e´ oping countries. However, there should be long-term plans
and guidance to establish a solid base. That is why lots of
countries continue to offer sufficient and long-term support
Clip Toe Load KGF

1000 0
00
´1
｀e to facilitate the development of its railway industry.
800
400
PR Note: 1. Huang, Wang, Lin are engineers of Testing Technology &
600
Development Division of MIRDC.
400 2. Matt Yang is the deputy leader of Testing Technology &
Development Division of MIRDC.
200 3. Jia-Chang Chen is the leader of Testing Technology &
Development Division of MIRDC.
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
262
Clip Toe Deflection