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Track Geomechanics for Future Railways: Use of Artificial Inclusions

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Advances in Transportation Geotechnics IV

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering ((LNCE,volume 165))

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Abstract

Given that current ballasted tracks cannot support faster and heavier Australian heavy freight trains, the need to develop innovative and sustainable ballasted tracks for transport infrastructure is crucial. This paper reviews and discusses the use of artificial inclusions such as recycled rubber mats, end-of-life tyres, and geogrids to stabilize ballasted rail tracks overlying soft formation soil. It also presents a novel solution for increasing the stability and resiliency of track structure by energy-absorbing recycled rubber tyres. This study confirms that a capping layer confined by tyres will actively reduce ballast breakage within the track substructure. Numerical simulations employing discrete element method (DEM) are also carried out to study the micro-mechanical aspects of ballast aggregates and the interaction between the particles and inclusions. This study shows that waste rubber products and geosynthetics will eliminate the need for a capping layer in certain terrain and help to decrease the thickness of the ballast layer. The outcomes of this study will lead to a better understanding of the performance of ballast tracks reinforced with artificial inclusions and also help to improve the design and cost-effectiveness of ballasted tracks, with a view to enhancing passenger comfort and safety.

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Acknowledgements

This study was carried out at the ARC—Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Advanced Technologies in Rail Track Infrastructure (IC170100006) with funds provided by the Australian Government (ITTC-Rail) and also financially supported by Australian Research Council Discovery Project (ARC-DP: 180101916). The authors appreciate the insightful collaboration and continuous support of the Australasian Centre for Rail Innovation (ACRI), Global Synthetics, Foundation QA, Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC). The authors also acknowledge the Rail Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (funded jointly by participating rail organizations and the Australian Federal Government’s Business Cooperative Research Centers Program) through Project R2.5.2 that contributed some of this research. The authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts of previous doctoral students and research fellows such as Dr Sanjay Nimbalkar, Dr Navaratnarajah, Dr Jayasuriya, Dr Syed Hussaini, Dr Joanne Lackenby, Dr Qideng Sun, as well as others that contributed to the contents, as cited in respective publications. Salient contents from these previous studies are reproduced herein with kind permissions from the original sources. The authors are also grateful to Cameron Neilson, Duncan Best, Richard Berndt, and other CME technician for their assistance during the laboratory and field tests. The authors also thank Robert Clayton (English editor) for proofreading and professionally editing the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Civil Engineering, Transport Research Center and ARC Training Centre for Advanced Technologies in Rail Track Infrastructure (ITTC-Rail), School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Buddhima Indraratna

  2. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Trung Ngo & Yujie Qi

  3. Civil Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn

Authors
  1. Buddhima Indraratna
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  2. Trung Ngo
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  3. Yujie Qi
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  4. Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Trung Ngo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Erol Tutumluer

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA

    Soheil Nazarian

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Imad Al-Qadi

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Issam I.A. Qamhia

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Indraratna, B., Ngo, T., Qi, Y., Rujikiatkamjorn, C. (2022). Track Geomechanics for Future Railways: Use of Artificial Inclusions. In: Tutumluer, E., Nazarian, S., Al-Qadi, I., Qamhia, I.I. (eds) Advances in Transportation Geotechnics IV. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 165. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77234-5_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77234-5_12

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-77233-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-77234-5

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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