INFLUENCE OF BALLAST DENSITY ON TRACK DEFORMATION

To evaluate the deformation of the track under certain traffic conditions, the traditional design methods assume generally a homogenous support of the sleeper on the transversal profile. However, the granular nature of the ballast and its compaction process lead to important heterogeneities beneath the sleeper. This paper has focused on the ballast density variations on the transversal profile, showing the important role that those heterogeneities can have on the ballast settlement due to particle lateral flow. Thus, improving the transversal homogeneity of the ballast layer could be a positive issue to reduce the track deformation process. Furthermore, a suggestion is made regarding the confining pressure used on triaxal tests of the ballast, since the ballast heterogeneities suppose a substantial reduction on the magnitudes generally considered. For the covering abstract see ITRD E122683.

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  • Corporate Authors:

    ENGINEERING TECHNICS PRESS

    46 CLUNY GARDENS
    EDINBURGH,   United Kingdom  EH10 6BN
  • Authors:
    • LOPEZ PITA, E A
    • TEIXEIRA, P F
  • Publication Date: 2002

Language

  • English

Media Info

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00982629
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
  • ISBN: 0-947644-49-0
  • Files: ITRD
  • Created Date: Dec 2 2004 12:00AM