Experimental study of key parameters investigation in turnout crossing degradation process

The continuous increasing demand of public transportation capacity requires the railway network operating in tight schedule. The high transporting volumes not only aggravate the degradation of railway infrastructure but also shorten the time for maintenance. Well-arranged infrastructure maintenance contributes to the budget reduction and...

Analysis of Bridge Transition Zones in Railways Considering the Moisture Condition of the Ballast and Subballast

Transition zones in railway tracks are the locations with considerable changes in vertical support structures, e.g., near bridges. Due to possible water flow constrictions in transition zone structures, there is frequently an increased moisture level in the ballast/subballast layers, which is a potential source of track degradation. This paper...

Ballast degradation: Effect of particle size and shape using Los Angeles Abrasion test and image analysis

Ballast track is the most widely used track for the railway transport, and ballast bed plays a significant role to provide resistances during train operation. Generally, the ballast bed consists of crushed stones. To achieve the mitigation of ballast degradation, the first priority is to describe the degradation development and to study its...

Image analysis for morphology, rheology and degradation study of railway ballast: A review

The performance and deformation of ballast bed are significantly influenced by the particle morphology (size and shape), the rheology (translation and rotation), and the degradation (breakage and abrasion). Regarding the ballast particle morphology, the ballast particle size is generally measured by sieving and described with the Particle Size...

Effects of crumb rubber size and percentage on degradation reduction of railway ballast

Higher speed, more freight and frequent maintenance increase ballast degradation and reduce the ballast lifespan. To reduce ballast degradation, crumb rubber used as buffering aggregates in ballast bed is relatively unexplored and needs more studies, because using it has the advantage of reusing the waster rubber and absorbing the noises. The...

Calibration for discrete element modelling of railway ballast: A review

The discrete element method (DEM) has been confirmed as an effective numerical method for modelling railway ballast, and successfully used to analyse a wide range of ballast-related applications (e.g. geomaterials). However, there still exists some aspects under development. Among them, the model calibration can be the most significant one ...

Discrete element modelling of rubber-protected ballast performance subjected to direct shear test and cyclic loading

The rubber-protected ballast (RPB) is made from natural ballast particles and crumb rubber particles. The crumb rubber is shredded waste tires. RPB was chosen to replace the ballast as it has higher resistance to breakage and abrasion. However, the static and dynamic performance of the RPB has not been confirmed yet. Towards this end,...

Railway ballast

Railway ballast is normally made of crushed rocks with grading (particle size distributions). Ballast is inevitably suffering from more rapid degradation. Because ballast keeps undergoing and dissipating most of the train loadings, furthermore, the train speed and freight weight are increasing, causing more intensive loadings to ballast. To...

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...