Performance Improvement of Railroads over Soft Subgrades with Geocell Reinforcement

This paper presents the results of a series of model tests performed on a railroad supported by geocell reinforced aggregate/ballast overlying a soft subgrade. Geocells is one of the recently found applications of geosynthetics, which provides all-round confinement to the encased geo-material. Model tests were conducted in a fabricated steel tank using locally available silty clay. This clay was used as a soft subgrade. An aggregate layer was prepared on top of this soft subgrade to represent the ballast. The rail track was simulated using a plain-strain footing of width 250 mm. The undrained shear strength of the underlying clay was varied to verify its influence on the performance and behavior of railroads. An attempt has been made to simulate these model tests using a finite difference program. Both experimental and numerical results demonstrated that the geocell reinforcement has a significant effect on the ballast behavior and performance of the railroad in terms of increase in load carrying capacity and settlement reduction.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9780415871990
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Taylor & Francis.
• Corporate Authors:

  CRC Press/Balkema

  P.O. Box 447
  2300 AK Leiden,   Netherlands 
• Authors:
  • Saride, Sireesh
  • Puppala, A J
  • Pradhan, S
  • Sitharam, T G
• Conference:
  • Bearing Capacity of Roads, Railways and Airfields. 8th International Conference (BCR2A'09)
  • Location: Champaign IL, United States
  • Date: 2009-6-29 to 2009-7-2
• Publication Date: 2009

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Edition: e-book ISBN 9780203865286
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 1253-1262
• Monograph Title: Bearing Capacity of Roads, Railways and Airfields. Proceedings of the 8th International BCR2A'09 Conference

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Ballast (Railroads); Bearing capacity; Field tests; Finite differences; Geosynthetics; Ground settlement; Material reinforcement; Railroad tracks; Shear strength; Silty clays; Simulation; Subgrade materials
• Identifier Terms: Geocell
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Pavements; Railroads; I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01350660
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9780415871990
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 29 2011 2:56PM