Abstract
Pre-stressed concrete (PSC) sleepers are the main components of railway track systems in Malaysia. However, there are sections in the track system which PSC sleepers cannot be utilized, where timber sleepers are still needed. Due to limited supply of large sections timber logs and high cost in high grade timber, an alternative for this timber product is needed. Thus, this study is conducted to determine the ultimate strength of the alternative timber product which is glued laminated (glulam) timber railway sleepers from selected Malaysian tropical heavy hardwood timber species namely Kekatong. The static bending test at rail seats was carried out in order to achieve the objective and the test is accordance to AREMA Manual. The values of modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) for two numbers of glulam timber sleepers were evaluated and compared with the MOR and MOE values of two numbers of solid timber sleeper. Then the properties are verified with the minimum performance requirement in AREMA Manual. The results showed the glulam Kekatong timber railway sleepers met the requirement set by AREMA with the static yield load surpassed the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) specific design load.
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Acknowledgments
The provision of glulam and solid timber railway sleepers by Woodsfields Timber Industry (M) Sdn. Bhd. and supported documents by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) are gratefully acknowledged. We wish to thank the technicians of Civil Engineering Faculty for their assistance and support.
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Bhkari, N.M., Ahmad, Z., Bakar, A.A., Tahir, P.M. (2014). Ultimate Strength of Kekatong Glued Laminated Timber Railway Sleepers. In: Hassan, R., Yusoff, M., Ismail, Z., Amin, N., Fadzil, M. (eds) InCIEC 2013. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-02-6_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-02-6_9
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