STRESSES IN THE RAILS, THE BALLAST AND IN THE FORMATION RESULTING FROM TRAFFIC LOADS. DEFORMATION PROPERTIES OF BALLAST (LABORATORY AND TRACK TESTS) VOLUME 1 - TEXT AND APPENDICES. VOLUME 2 - TABLES AND FIGURES

This report describes laboratory and field studies aimed at ascertaining the fundamental laws describing the response of the ballast layer in the track foundation to the action of repetitive loads. Measurements of the elastic and plastic deformation of ballast were made in triaxial and radially restrained (compressometer) samples. The vertical settlement of the ballast layer after maintenance was measured in the track. The appendices cover tests on the deformation of a ballast bed when compacted with a vibrator and measurements made in the laboratory on the deformation of and the load distribution through the ballast from two circular loading plates. The main conclusions are, that repetitive loading produces a more stable ballast structure i.e. a higher resistance to permanent deformation, the settlement of the ballast is extremely dependent upon the degree of initial ballast compaction and that the behaviour of the ballast can be predicted for constant stress conditions.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Restrictions on the use of this document are contained in the explanatory material.
• Corporate Authors:

  International Union of Railways

  Office of Research and Experiments
  Utrecht,   Netherlands 
• Publication Date: 1970-4

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 39 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Ballast (Railroads); Compaction; Damping (Physics); Deformation; Inspection; Railroad rails; Railroad tracks; Soil compaction; Stability (Mechanics); Stresses; Tests
• Uncontrolled Terms: Ballast; Track stability
• Old TRIS Terms: Ballast quality; Question d71; Rail stress; Track component investigations; Track deformation
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00052874
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: International Union of Railways
• Report/Paper Numbers: D 71/RP 10/E
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 9 1976 12:00AM