Railway ballast performance: Recent advances in the understanding of geometry, distribution and degradation

Railway ballast performance is dictated by a complex mix of mechanical properties. These effect its performance at the particle level for example in terms of particle degradation, but also at the track system level in terms of settlement and stability. Therefore this paper seeks to develop new understandings of ballast behaviour and identify...

Machine learning approach to railway ballast degradation prognosis considering crumb rubber modification and parent rock strength

Parent rock strength and crumb rubber modification are two critical mechanical parameters that significantly decide the ballast layer degradation subjected to train dynamic loading. Using machine learning to predict ballast degradation considering these two parameters is helpful for deciding ballasted track maintenance cycle. In the current...