On the determination of the rail support modulus k

With the adoption and use of equation EIw(IV) + kw = q for track analyses, various methods for the determination of k, the rail support modulus, were proposed during the past several decades. However, some of these methods ar e difficult to use or are of questionable validity. Therefore, at first, a simple yet accurate method that is consistent with this equation is present ed and its use is illustrated on practical examples. Then, other published methods are critically reviewed and their shortcomings are pointed out. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.