Modelling ballast via a non-linear lattice to assess its compaction behaviour at railway transition zones

Locations in railway tracks where significant variations of the track properties occur are subject to increased track deterioration. To successfully mitigate this, the mechanisms leading to the increased deterioration need to be understood. To this end, this work presents a non-linear constitutive law for a lattice model able to describe the...

A lattice model for transition zones in ballasted railway tracks

The procedure presented in this work aims at providing a framework for studying settlement of ballast in zones with stiffness variation of the railway track support. The proposed procedure results from expanding an existing infinite periodic model of a railway track to account for variations in the stiffness of the foundation. Ballast is...

Dynamic response of an infinite beam periodically supported by sleepers resting on a regular and infinite lattice: Semi-analytical solution

In this work we propose a model for the analysis of the dynamic behaviour of a ballasted track that combines discrete and continuous elements. The rail is modelled via an Euler-Bernoulli beam, the periodically spaced sleepers are represented with lumped masses, and the ballast is simulated using a lattice (regular network of elastically...