The Railway Construction Laboratory
The railway construction laboratory at the Chair of Railway Design has been in existence since 2013 and specializes in research on track construction components and systems for railways. Admission tests are also carried out for this purpose. The laboratory equipment includes a servohydraulic testing machine and a static inspection portal with hydraulic loading equipment.

The Railway Construction Laboratory
With the installation and commissioning of the servohydraulic testing machine ZWICK HB 160 (max test load 160 kN) in 2015, the prerequisite for laboratory experiments for basic research on track and turnpike designs is given. These experiments are an essential prerequisite for verifying and calibrating mechanical load capacity models. This is flanked by measurements under moving trains in the track to determine the dynamic load. Thus, the safety of the track and turn structure can be determined as a quotient of load and load capacity. Current work deals with the load transfer behavior of the ballast bed.
In addition, all prescribed static and dynamic tests on superstructure components and systems can now be covered. These include e.g. all test methods for rail fastening systems according to DIN EN 13481 and DIN EN 13146, in particular the determination of the static and dynamic stiffnesses of rail supports as well as fatigue tests. Static and dynamic tests of elastic liners according to DBS 918 235 are also possible.
The required preliminary tests at the rail support points according to DIN EN 13146, such as the determination of the clamping force, determination of the push-through resistance in the longitudinal direction and determination of the torsional resistance, can be carried out with the specially designed static portal with hydraulic loading device (max load 100 kN).
In addition, required tests on rail fastening systems according to DIN EN 13146 such. Effects of strong environmental influences, tests under special climatic conditions, determination of electrical resistance during irrigation can be carried out in cooperation with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, the HTW Dresden or external companies.
All preparations for in-situ tests (tests in the operating track), such as necessary adjustments and tests on the test set-up as well as the assembly of the equipment can be carried out in the railway construction workshop using the own workshop.
For measuring data acquisition and evaluation, comprehensive measuring technology and software equipment is available, including:
- Amplifier HBM DMCplus, QuantumX MX840A, Spider8
- Sensors for recording all mechanical parameters (force, displacement, acceleration, torque, strain ...) and temperatures
- Software NI DIAdem, HBM CatmanAP, FlexPro
Dr.-Ing. Ulf Gerber (Tel. 0351 46334116 / )