Abstract
Railways is becoming faster, with high speed running vehicles exerting wheel loads on tracks could become critical for track quality and the overall lifecycle. To cope with such high loads, state of the art ballastless track systems could be a long-term solution and to increase its acceptance under limited economic boundary conditions. Finite Element Modeling (FEM) is powerful tool that optimizes the design of the ballastless track. This study examines the reliability and verification of Finite element (FE) Models with analytical tools. Firstly, using analytical tools, the Zimmermann and the Westergaard methods, continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) slab with various cracking distances are designed followed by numerical design and analysis. Comparative design analysis is then carried out between analytical and numerical tool to evaluate the impact of input parameters on each of the tools. The finite element package SOFiSTiK is used to model ballastless track design. The verification of FE- model is also done based on calibrations, results and boundary conditions to check reliability, behavior and working. Lastly author gives some guidelines for the model verification.