Composite Sleeper

Composite Sleeper for Sale

Composite (PE and PU) railway sleepers - supplied from AGICO are featured with lightweight and corrosion-resistant, they have excellent screw holding capacity and are widely used in various railway lines. Here are the details:

Product Name: Composite Sleeper
Material Type: PE Plastic Sleeper, PU Synthetic Sleeper
Standard: CJ/T399-2012
Service life: over 50 years
Application: Suitable for railway, metro and industrial tracks
Standard size (section): 230mm(Width)x150mm(Height)

Production Capacity: AGICO factory owns a set of composite sleeper production line, capacity of 30,000 pcs/ year. Composite sleeper height not less than 140mm, width not less than 200mm, and length according to customer need. Other specifications can be processed on customer's request.

Composite Sleeper Types

AGICO supplies mainly 3 types of composite sleepers: PE Sleeper, HDPE Sleeper, PU Synthetic Sleeper. Composite sleepers function the same as rail sleepers of other materials. Its primary function is to maintain the required gauge spacing between the rail tracks. The plastic sleeper functions well in supporting the rail, maintaining its position, and transferring the heavy pressure from the rail to the track bed. As composite sleepers have a certain degree of flexibility and elasticity, it is a better replacement for wooden and concrete sleepers in some cases.

PE Plastic Sleeper

PE plastic sleeper is also called UHMWPE Sleeper, for it is made of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene. This special material has a high molecular weight, ranging from 3 to 7 million g/ mol.

PE Sleeper Specification

Property	Value
Density	0.92–0.96 g/cm³
Tensile Strength at Yield	15–20 MPa
Notched Impact Strength	80–170 kJ/m²
Impact Intensity	100–160 kg/m³
Abrasion Resistance (Sand Slurry Test)	70–120%
Wearing Coefficient	0.15 Shore
Hardness (Shore D)	63–68

HDPE Sleeper

HDPE sleeper is made from recycled thermoplastics and inorganic fillers. It is a new type of sleeper that can replace wood or cement sleeper. Compared with wooden sleepers, it has significant advantages. It has less water absorption, better electrical insulating property, better anti-aging and anti-corrosion. It can be on-site sawing, drilling, grinding, nailing and so on.Size specifications can be customized according to customer needs. High spike holding ability is over time without decline with high anti-fatigue ability and durability. Sleepers do not only use recycled materials for manufacturing, once the product damaged, they can be re-recycled and does not affect the product performance toreduce environmental pollution.

HDPE Sleeper Specification

Property	Value
Density	1.2 ± 0.10 g/cm³
Bending Load Without Crack	≥ 160 kN
Vertical Compression Strength	≥ 80 MPa
Shear Strength	≥ 7 MPa
Fatigue Property	3 × 10⁶ Cycles Without Crack
Screw Spike Pullout	≥ 40 kN

PU Synthetic sleeper

The synthetic sleeper is made of long glass fiber as the reinforcing material, with polyurethane resin as base material to be foamed, solidified and synthesized. At the beginning, two kinds of liquid polyurethane raw materials of A and B are sent to mix by the metering pump in certain ratio at the head facility, then uniformly poured onto the glass fiber surface, and after being evenly kneaded, it is then foamed, solidified and formed into a rolling mold, and finally the synthetic product is automatically tracked and cut at the production line. The semi-finished product is cut into a certain length as needed, and then grinded, compounded, coated or sprayed to become a finished product.

PU Sleeper Specification Compared to JIS E1203

Item		JIS E1203:2007 Strength	(CJ/T399-2012) AGICO Sleeper Strength
Material Strength	Bending Strength	min. 70 N/mm2	min. 80 N/mm2
	Young 's modulus in flexure	min. 6000 N/mm2	min. 7000 N/mm2
	Withstand bending load	min. 170 kN	min. 170 kN
	Longitudinal compressive strength	min. 40 N/mm2	min. 50 N/mm2
	Shearing strength	min. 7 N/mm2	min. 7 N/mm2
	Adhesion shearing strength	min. 7 N/mm2 (base-material breakage)	min. 7 N/mm2 (base-material breakage)
Electrical Properties	Alternating-current breakdown voltage	min. 20 kV	min. 20 kV
Electrical Properties	Direct-current insulation resistance	min. 1 X 1010 Ω	min. 1 X 1010 Ω
Pulling Strength	Track spike pulling strength	min. 15 kN	min. 20 kN
Pulling Strength	Screw spike pulling strength	min. 30 kN	min. 40 kN
Unit volume mass		0.74土 0.1 g/cm3	0.74土 0.1 g/cm3
Amount of water absorption		max. 10 mg/cm2	max. 10 mg/cm2

Synthetic Sleeper Production Process

The synthetic sleeper is made of long glass fiber as the reinforcing material, with polyurethane resin as base material to be foamed, solidified and synthesized. At the beginning, 2 kinds of liquid polyurethane raw materials of A and B are sent to mix by the metering pump in certain ratio at the head facility, then uniformly poured onto the glass fiber surface, and after being evenly kneaded, it is then foamed, solidified and formed into a rolling mold, and finally the synthetic sleeper former product is automatically tracked and cut at the production line. The semi-finished product is cut into a certain length as needed, and then grinded, compounded, coated or sprayed to become a finished sleeper product.

Mechanical Properties of Composite Sleeper

Property	Unit	Testing Method	Value
Molecular Weight	1E6 g/mol	ASTM D4020	3–5
Density	g/cm³	ISO 1183-1	0.93–0.96
Dynamic Coefficient of Friction	-	ISO 8295	≤ 0.15
Notched Impact Strength (Charpy)	kJ/m²	ISO 11542-2	140–170
Abrasion Index (Sand-Slurry)	-	ISO/DIS 15527	100–110
Hardness (Shore D)	-	ISO 868	63–70
Elongation at Break at 23°C	%	ISO 527	≥ 270
Yield Strength	MPa	ASTM D638	20.2
Tensile Impact	Ft-lbs/in²	ASTM D1822	≥ 436
Water Absorption	-	ASTM D570	≤ 0.1
Compressive Deformation	% at 1000 psi	ASTM D621	6.0–8.0
IZOD Impact	Ft-lbs/in²	ASTM D4020	Non-break
Thermal Expansion	K^-1	DIN 53752	≈ 2 × 10^-4
Melting Temperature	°C	DIN 53736	135
Operating Temperature	°C	-	-80 to +80
Volume Resistivity	Ohm-cm	DIN 60093	10¹⁴
Surface Resistivity	Ohm	DIN 60093	10¹⁵

Test Reports of Composite Sleeper

Bending Resistance Test

Bending Strength Test

Shear Strength Test

Spike Pull-out Strength Test

Here are the test reports of 2 composite sleeper models: W416-204A and WP417-302A

WP417-302A Composite Sleeper Test Report

No.

Item

Results

Standard

Remark

Bending Strength After UV Aging

Item	Before	After	Remain
Bending Strength	22.9 MPa	22.8 MPa	99.56%
Modulus of Elasticity	1787 MPa	1780 MPa	99.61%

ASTM D4329-13

Radiation intensity 0.89 W/(m²·nm)
250 h

Dielectric Strength

3.89 kV/mm

GB/T 1408.1-2016

Surface Resistivity

1.2 × 10¹⁵ Ω

GB/T 1410-2006

Dynamic Fatigue Test

The sample structure is stable without damage. The horizontal displacement of the rail head is 2.5 mm, and the vertical displacement of the rail head is 2.8 mm.

Provisional Specification for Composite Sleepers (2014) (REV.01/2017)

4T-20T in 5 Hz;
Repeat 2 million times

Impact Load

Permanent plastic deformation was observed at the impact location. The groove depth was 15 mm after the first impact and 20 mm after the second impact at the same position.

Wheel weight: 580 kg;
Lifting height: 750 mm;
Repeat 2 times

Inflammability

Oxygen index 25.0%. Horizontal burning test: after burning the sample for 20 s and removing the flame, no flaming was observed and the burning line did not reach the 25 mm limit line. V-0 level.

Screwing / Unscrewing

Spike pullout force: 67.79 kN

ASTM (2010 version) 4.9.1.9

8 times

Displacement Under 500 kN

5.32 mm

Coefficient of Linear Thermal Expansion

90 × 10^-6 mm/(mm·K) (-30°C to 30°C)
123.19 × 10^-6 mm/(mm·K) (-30°C to 90°C)

ASTM 831:2014

Composite Sleepers Successful Cases

At present, our company can produce and develop various rail sleeper products, including the various types of composite sleepers, wooden sleeper, steel sleeper and concrete sleeper. From 2018 on, we have successfully developed FFU synthetic sleepers which can be used as an equivalent of Japan Sekisui sleepers, but with more competitive price.

Composite Railway Sleepers Advantages

High strength Material: Composite sleeper is made from recycled plastic composites or fiber-reinforced polyurethane. It is a new type of sleeper that designed to provide excellent durability, electrical insulation and environmental resistance. can replace wood or cement sleepers.
Improved Properties: Compared with wooden sleepers, it has no water absorption, better electrical insulating property, better anti-aging and anti-corrosion. It can be on-site sawing, drilling, grinding, nailing and so on. Size specifications can be customized according to customer needs. High spike holding ability isover time without decline with high anti-fatigueability and durability.
Material Recycable: Composit sleepers do not only use recycled materials for manufacturing, once the product damaged, they can be re-recycled and does not affect the product performance to reduce environmental pollution.
Installation & Maintenance: Onsite processing is the same as that of wood sleeper. It can be machine grooved on the side of the sleeper, drilled a hole on the top of the sleeper on-site. In the absence of special circumstances, the product is maintenance-free.

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