Manufacturing of sleepers using plastic materials

Visvesvaraya Technological University

BELGAUM, KARNATAKA

A PROJECT REPORT ON

“MANUFACTURING OF SLEEPERS USING PLASTIC

MATERIALS”

Submitted to Visvesvaraya Technological University in partial fulfillment of

the requirement for the award of Bachelor of Engineering degree in Civil
Engineering.

Submitted by:
RACHANA S - 4JN19CV058

Under the guidance of:

Mrs. CHAYA D Y (BE. MTech)
Assistant Professor, Dept, of CIVIL ENGG,
JNNCE, Shivamogga

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 Manufacturing of sleepers using plastic materials

National Education Society ®

Department of Civil Engineering,
Jawaharlal Nehru New College of Engineering,
Shivamogga - 577204
March-
Jawaharlal Nehru New C2023
New College
ollege of Engineering

Department of Civil Engineering

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the Project entitled

“MANUFACTURING OF SLEEPERS USING PLASTIC

MATERIALS”

Submitted by:
RACHANA S - 4JN19CV058

The student of 8th semester B.E. Civil Engineering under our supervision and
guidance towards the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of
degree of Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering as per the university
regulations during the year 2023.

Mrs. Chaya D Y Dr. Karthika B S

Asst. Professor, H.O.D,
Dept. Of Civil Engineering Dept. Of Civil Engineering,
JNNCE, Shivamogga. JNNCE, Shivamogga.

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CONTENTS :
 Abstract.
 Introduction.
 Literature Review.
 Scope and objectives
 Functions of sleepers
 What is Plastic Sleepers ?
 Why Plastic Sleepers are Used?
 Characteristics of Plastic Sleepers.
 How Plastic Sleepers Changing Construction Industry?
 How can Construction Overcome its Dependence on Plastic.
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Plastic sleepers.
 Comparison between Different Types of Sleepers.
 Refernce

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ABSTRACT
A number of composite railway sleeper technologies have been developed but their
applications in rail tracks are still limited. This paper rigorously reviews the recent
developments on composite sleepers and identifies the critical barriers to their widespread
acceptance and applications.Currently the composite sleeper technologies that are available
ranges from sleepers made with recycle plastic materials which contains short or no fibre to
the sleepers that containing high volume of fibres. While recycled plastic sleepers are low
cost, the major challenges of using this type of sleepers are their limited strength, stiffness
and dynamic properties which in most cases, are incompatible with those of timber.

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INTRODUCTION :
• A railway sleeper is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally
laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer loads to the track ballast and subgrade,
hold the rails upright and keep them spaced to the correct gauge.
• Railroad ties are traditionally made of wood, but prestressed concrete is now also
widely used, especially in Europe and Asia. Steel ties are common on secondary lines
in the UK; plastic composite ties are also employed, although far less than wood or
concrete. As of January 2008, the approximate market share in North America for
traditional and wood ties was 91.5%, the remainder being concrete, steel, azobe (red
ironwood) and plastic composite.

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LITERATURE :

1. (A Comparative Study on Recycled Plastic Railway Sleeper with

Concrete Sleeper (IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 1145 012006))

. suggested that there is a global environmental crisis facing the mother earth. plastic
recycling can minimally reduce this problem. INDIA is the country that relies primarily on
railway networks. Therefore, the rail manufacturing materials used should be high quality,
economical, eco-friendly and solid. Concrete, steel, concrete that becomes exhaust after
several decades is the most commonly used. In order to avoid this, we need the material so
these sources can be replaced. Nowadays, in many manufacturing sectors, plastic is known as
the primary fuel. The plastic has a decent consistency against decomposition in terms of its
length and life span, so this makes it most eco-friendly these days. It led to rapid change that
all sleepers are replaced by plastic sleepers in most of the railways. Our task, therefore is to
observe the operation and efficiency of recycled plastic railway sleepers used in the railway
networks.

2. TVEMA, “Composite Sleepers,” 2021. https://tvema.com/651 (accessed

Oct. 10, 2021).
• An increase in the volume of waste and its requirement of proper management is
eading toward the need for useful application of the waste materials.
.Applying recycle waste as an alternative material to the rail sleeper is one of many
innovative applications.
• Rigorous processes are required to introduce alternative materials into railway
networks, and despite their promising proposition, composite sleepers are no
exception.
• Close collaboration with rail industry stakeholders, research organisations and
approving authorities is essential for the successful application of composite sleepers
in railway tracks. sleepers in railway tracks.

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OBJECTIVE :
 Sleepers hold the rails in proper gauge by fixing them in position.
 It transfers the loads received from the track to the ballast
 It provides an elastic medium between the rails and the ballast
 It ensures the stability of the permanent way as a whole.

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1.1 Function of sleeper

 Sleepers hold the rails in proper gauge by fixing them in position.

 It transfers the loads received from the track to the ballast
 It provides an elastic medium between the rails and the ballast
 It ensures the stability of the permanent way as a whole.

1.2 Classification of Railway Sleepers

Based on the materials used, railway sleepers are classified into following types.
 Wooden sleepers
 Concrete sleepers
 Steel sleepers
 Cast iron sleepers
 Composite sleepers

1.2.1 Wooden sleeper

These are sleepers made of wood. Wooden sleepers are used since olden days.
These are still widely using in some western countries. Either hardwood or
softwood can be used to make wooden sleepers. However, hardwood sleepers
made of oak, jarrah, teakwood are more famous.

Benefits of Wooden Sleepers

 Wood sleepers are cheaper than others and easy to manufacture.

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 They are light in weight so, they can be easily transported and handled while
installing.

 They are suitable for all types of rail section.

 They are well suitable for tracks in coastal areas.

Drawbacks of Wooden Sleepers

 Life of wooden sleepers is very less compared to others.
 Weak against fire.
 Easily affected by humidity which will cause dry rot, wet rot etc.
 Vermin attack can be possible if it is not properly treated.

1.2.2 Concrete Sleepers

Concrete sleepers are manufactured by concrete with internal reinforcement.
Concrete sleepers used in many countries due to its high stability and small
maintenance. These are more suitable for high speed rails. Most of the concrete
sleepers are made from pre-stressed concrete in which internal tension is induced
into the sleeper before casting. Hence the sleeper withstand well against high
external pressure.

Benefits of Concrete Sleepers

 Concrete sleepers are heavier than all other types hence, gives good stability to the
rails.
 They have long life span so, economically preferable.
 They have good Fire resistance.

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 Corrosion is not occurred in concrete sleepers.

 Vermin attack, decay etc. are not occurred. Hence, they are suitable for all types of
soil and moisture conditions.
 Bucking strength is more.
 Concrete is good insulator so, this type of sleepers are more suitable for circuited
tracks.
 Concrete sleepers holds the track strongly and maintains gauge.
Drawbacks of Concrete Sleepers
 Because of heavy weight, handling is difficult.
 For tracks on bridges and at crossings, concrete sleepers are not suitable.
 Damage may occur while transporting.

1.2.3 Steel Sleepers

Benefits
 They are light in weight so, easy to transport, to place and to install.
 They are recyclable hence possess good scrap value.
 Life span of steel sleepers is more and is about 30 years.
 They cannot be attacked by vermin etc.
 They are well suitable for tracks of high speeds and larger loads.
 They holds the rail strongly and connecting rail to the sleeper is also simple.

Drawbacks

 Steel can be effected by chemicals easily.

 Steel sleepers requires high maintenance.

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 They are not suitable for all types of ballast which is provided as bed for sleepers.
 If derailment is happened, they damaged very badly and not suitable for re using.
 These are not suitable for all types of rail sections and gauges.

1.2.4 Cast Iron Sleepers

Cast iron sleepers are widely used in the world especially in Indian railways. They
are available in 2 types, pot type sleepers and plate type sleepers. Pot type sleepers
are not suitable for curves sharper than 4 degrees. CST 9 type sleepers more
famous in Indian railways.

Benefits
 Cast iron sleepers can be used for long period up to 60 years.
 Their manufacturing is also easy and it can be done locally so, there is no need for
longer transportation.
 Vermin attack is impossible in case of cast iron sleepers.
 They provide strong seat to the rail.
 Damaged cast iron sleepers can be remolded into new sleepers hence, scrap value of
cast iron is good.
 Creep of rail can be prevented by cast iron sleepers.
Drawbacks
 Cast iron is brittle in nature and it can be damaged easily while handling. So,
transportation, placing is difficult to deal.

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 Cast iron sleepers can be easily damaged and corroded by salt water so, they are not
suitable for coastal regions.
 They may damage badly when derailment happened.
 Cast iron is expensive in market when compared to some other sleeper materials.
Hence it is uneconomical.
 So many fastening materials are required to fix the rail to the sleeper.
 Proper Maintenance is required.
1.2.4 Composite Sleepers
The composite sleeper is a railway sleeper made of a new material called
continuous glass fiber reinforced polyurethane foam. Concrete sleepers have been
popularized in countries around the world, but lack of flexibility is also a serious
drawback. Although the wooden sleepers are flexible, the total amount of forest
resources in the world has decreased sharply in recent years. In addition, the
wooden sleeper is easy to be corroded. If it is treated with anticorrosion, it will
cause certain influence on the environment. For these reasons, the era of heavy
use of wooden sleeper has become a thing of the past. Due to the use of new
materials, the composite sleepers not only inherit the advantages of the two types
of railway sleepers, but also avoids their drawbacks. Our composite sleepers are
more and more popular in the world, and have been exported to the United States,
India, Chile and other countries.

Benefits
 Composite sleepers are serviceable for longer spans about 50 years.
 Composite sleepers are eco-friendly sleepers.
 They are light in weight but possess great strength.

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 Their scrap value is good because of recyclable property of composite

sleepers.
 They can be resized easily like wooden sleepers. So, they can be used for
any type of rail section.
 Vibrations received from rails are reduced well by these composite
sleepers.
Drawbacks
 Composite sleepers are not that much good against fire.
 The cost of sleepers may increase for large scale production.
1.3 WHAT IS PLASTIC SLEEPER
A plastic sleeper is a kind of railway sleeper made from mixed plastics as the main
material. Railway sleeper (railroad ties or crosstie in the US) is a component laying
under the track to support railroad rails and transfer the pressure to the ballast. There
are mainly four types of railway sleepers according to the materials. Wooden
sleeper, concrete sleeper, steel sleeper, and plastic sleeper. They differ in many
aspects and are suitable for different construction conditions. As a new material, the
plastic sleeper is a good alternative to wooden and concrete sleepers.
Plastic railway sleepers are polymer of plastic with waste and rubber. One typical
plastic railway sleeper uses PE(Polyethylene) and PS (Polystyrene) as the main
material. Authoritative tests have proved that plastic sleepers are not easy to form
pits. In the real application on railroad rails, plastic sleepers surpassed people’s
expectations. It provides stable support and extremely reduces vibration and noise.
Due to the excellent ductility, it can be installed on railway turnout, bridge these
places. What’s more, the significant feature of this type of material is longevity. It is
estimated to be 3 times longer than wooden sleepers, which means nearly 50 years.
The sustainable character also contributes to its popularity.

1.4 WHY PLASTIC SLEEPER IS REQUIRED

 Converting plastic and polysterne into durable railway sleepers could help
reduce waste.
 According to Victorian company Integrated Recycling, which has been
operating a factory at Mildura since 2010, a kilometre of railway track laid
with its Duratrack railway sleepers uses 64 t of recycled plastic.

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 The sleepers are 85 per cent made of recycled material, a mix of “polystyrene
and agricultural plastic waste, including cotton bale wrap, vineyard covers
and pipe from the mining industry”.
 They also have a lifespan of 50 years, compared to 14 years for timber, and
are resistant to rot, fungus and termites.
 In June, 190 of these sleepers were installed at Melbourne’s Richmond
Station for an 18-month trial. It continues the apparent progress towards
mainstream use of recycled composite sleepers.
 Alternative sleepers are gaining acceptance worldwide, but, as Cong Qiu and
Graham Tew of Monash University’s Institute of Railway Technology (IRT)
wrote in 2017 in the magazine Newsrail, a “major issue within Australia is
that there is no standard or code that currently exists for the use of these
products”.

1.5 Characteristics of Recycled Plastic Sleepers

 The appearance of plastic sleepers is similar to that of wooden sleepers. It is
easy to install on-site, has low construction cost and lowmaintenance cost,
which can save a lot of manpower and financial resources, and reduce the
product cycle and total cost.
 Plastic sleepers have a low thermal expansion coefficient and thermal
conductivity, shock resistance, compression resistance, tensile strength, high
bending strength, and long service life.
 It is waterproof, insect-proof, anti-corrosion, non-toxic, non-radiation, zero
formaldehyde, green and environmentally friendly, and can be recycled and
reused.
 Recycled plastic sleepers can still maintain good electrical insulation
performance after long-term use. It can also keep stable under longterm
adverse weather conditions.
 Related studies have found that the lateral sliding energy of plastic sleepers is
better than that of wooden sleepers. The production process of plastic railway
sleepers can make its surface "hairy" so that it is not easy to slide after being
installed on the subgrade. Plastic sleeper can be made longer according to the

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requirements of track turning and crossing, but it is very difficult to obtain

high-quality wood with a length of 24 feet.
 Another attractive advantage of plastic sleeper is that they are easy to install
and can directly use the same equipment and fasteners as wooden sleepers .
 During the installation of plastic sleepers, ordinary woodworking tools can
be used for sawing, planing, nailing, screwing, gluing and other operations.
In addition, plastic sleeper and wooden sleeper can be mixed and used at
intervals.
1.6 How is Plastic sleeper changing Construction industry
As the world wakes up to the environmental challenges posed by massive plastic
consumption, the construction industry is reducing its reliance on single-use plastics
and increasing the utilization of recycled plastics. We’ll look at how the construction
industry is tackling environmental issues and aiding countries in reducing emissions
and meeting ambitious targets. Plastic items can take up to a millennium to degrade
in landfill, but in the near term the material’s reputation is degenerating at a much
faster clip. Heightened awareness of its effects on the environment has prompted
businesses and individuals to reassess their relationship with plastic. As a major
consumer of single-use plastic, the construction industry could help to drastically
reduce waste by using less and, instead, reusing and recycling more. The most
common plastics used in construction are polyvinyl chloride (PVC), high-density
polyethylene (HDPE), and expanded polystyrene (EPS). Plastic is used for various
applications such as seals, windows and doors, pipes, cables, floor coverings, and
insulation.
1.7 How can construction overcome its dependence on plastic
Its addiction to polymers used in products like flooring, insulation, paints, windows,
doors, pipes and single-use packaging, is fuelling the climate crisis and adding to the
litter of plastics in the ocean. Approximately 51m tonnes of plastic demand across
Europe, construction is responsible for about 10m tonnes, or just under 20%. That
makes it the second biggest market after packaging, according to figures from trade
association Plastics Europe. A percentage of that packaging also feeds into
construction, further increasing the sector’s impact. Statistics for the UK show that
around a third of construction plastics are recycled, while a third go to landfill, and a
third are incinerated. However, the situation is considerably worse in many other

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countries given that fewer than 10% of plastics are recycled globally. Six different
plastic types account for around 90% of all plastic waste generated, with PVC being
the most common material, comprising about half of all waste plastics, followed by
polyethylene and polypropylene. Construction has had little impetus to directly
tackle plastic waste, partly because the material is lightweight compared to other
waste streams and therefore subject to lower landfill tax, minimising the impact on a
contractor’s bottom line. Environmental certification schemes, such as BREEAM
and LEED, don't directly tackle plastic, although they do feed into certain material
and waste credits. However, a growing industry focus on material reuse and
recycling, embodied carbon and the circular economy has helped shift the debate
and accelerate efforts to eliminate plastic waste.

1.8 Suitability of recycled materials as a composite sleeper

The railway transportation system is the most convenient transportation system due
to its easy accessibility and construction mode. Sleeper is the most important and
vulnerable part of the railway transportation system due to its load-bearing and load
distribution characteristics. Several types of materials are used nowadays as sleeper
materials, such as timber, concrete, and steel Each type of sleeper has some
disadvantages and is sometimes harmful to the environment. For that reason, a
composite sleeper with different materials has recently been developed by other
sleeper manufacturing companie Different composite sleeper materials are
geopolymer concrete, recycled polymer, and CarbonLoc composite. The use of
plastic can be an excellent alternative to conventional sleeper material. Still, the only
use of recycled plastic as a sleeper material cannot be suitable due to less stiffness,
higher cost, voids formation, porosity, spike loosening, and permanent deformation
due to creep and less modulus of elasticity. The structural properties of this type of
sleeper can be improved by using recycled rubber, fibre reinforced foamed Urethane
(FFU), and epoxy polymer resin as a composite material.

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Reference
1. Rajendran R. et. al., (2015), "Study on behavior of composite sleepers." This was
concluded that the strength of composite sleepers is comparable to existing sleepers also they
require less maintenance.

2. Saurabh Rao et. al., (2018), "Composite plastic sleepers in Railways." This was concluded
that composite sleepers are suitable to use in bridges since it dead load and in railway
crossings due to change in load from one track to another to overcome accidents.

3. Wahid Ferdous et. al., (2015) "Composite railway sleepers’ recent developments,
challenges and future prospects." This was concluded that composite sleepers have better
properties than existing sleepers property.

4. Amir Ghor Bani et. al., (2013) "Polymeric composite railway sleepers. " This was
concluded that composite sleeper has good property such as corrosion and chemical
resistance, environmental durability. They will create ecological benefits due to their
recyclability.

5. Chirag Jain et. al., (2016) "Composite material for Railway sleepers in railway track." This
was concluded that Adoption of composite sleepers prove to be less distractive to forest &
easily installation, repair and maintenance and save from landfill and greenhouse effect.

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