Design of railway transition zones: A novel energy-based criterion

Railway transition zones (RTZs) experience higher rates of degradation compared to open tracks, which leads to increased maintenance costs and reduced availability. Despite existing literature on railway track assessment and maintenance, effective design solutions for RTZs are still limited. Therefore, a robust design criterion is required to...

Stiffness profile spectral composition & geometry deterioration of railway tracks

This work addresses the contribution of the wavelength composition of the spectrum of the rail support stiffness profile to the expected long-term settlement. To that aim, purely harmonic stiffness variations of different wavelength are studied. The frequency-domain model with a double periodicity level previously developed by the first and...

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...

Railway track degradation: The contribution of a spatially variant support stiffness - Local variation

This study addresses the contribution of spatial variance in the railway track support stiffness to the expected long-term track degradation. Hereto, a novel frequency-domain model is developed with a double periodicity ‘layer’, capable of dealing with both sleeper periodicity and arbitrary non-uniformity in track properties. The model...

Effects of railway track design on the expected degradation: Parametric study on energy dissipation

This paper studies the effect of railway track design parameters on the expected long-term degradation of track geometry. The study assumes a geometrically perfect and straight track along with spatial invariability, except for the presence of discrete sleepers. A frequency-domain two-layer model is used of a discretely supported rail coupled...

Dynamic Axle Loads as a Main Source of Railway Track Degradation

During train operation, geometrical irregularities develop in soil-supported ballasted railway tracks as a function of born tonnage. This form of degradation is combatted by periodic maintenance in the form of tamping by specially equipped trains in order to guarantee predefined levels of structural performance. The growth of irregular...

Dynamic Axle Loads as a Main Source of Railway Track Degradation

During train operation, geometrical irregularities develop in soil-supported ballasted railway tracks as a function of born tonnage. This form of degradation is combatted by periodic maintenance in the form of tamping by specially equipped trains in order to guarantee predefined levels of structural performance. The growth of irregular...