Noise protection walls at high-speed railroad tracks are subject to strong alternating stress in case of compression and suction loads. Due to an economical design of these walls the structural element only consists of a one-layer, centric reinforcement. The result is that the walls as well as the material are subject to monumental alternating stress. The resistance to shear force under cyclic load, for example, has not been covered by experimental examinations up to this day. Therefore, it is not easy to make a statement about the fatigue resistance of such elements under cyclic loads with a high number of cycles. Current design codes contain approaches which describe the behavior under these loads. These approaches are partly based on pragmatic specifications. With regard to the application for a technical approval by the Eisenbahnbundesamt (EBA) the company EUDUR commissioned the Chair of Concrete Structures at TU-Dortmund to execute tests. The necessary experimental tests should give an answer regarding the suitability of the noise protection walls consisting of reinforced concrete at high speed railroad tracks. With the increasing speed of the train the associated dynamic factor rises disproportionately. In relation to a very high number of cycles there are fatigue effects which cannot be neglected. The fatigue design was not possible for all necessary analyses. Therefore, a testing program was agreed upon with the EBA to furnish the proof of suitability in advance. In this testing program the natural frequency, bending and shear resistance, torsional strength and fatigue tests were carried out with a scale of 1:1 (5m long, 1m high). The tests showed that there are no concerns about the usage of theses noise protection walls at high-speed railroad tracks for a calculated speed of v=300km/h or v=230km/h.

fatigue resistance; noise protection walls;