• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.241-251
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• 2015

Compared with ballasted track (BT), ballasted asphalt track (BAT) has been increasingly adopted in many countries due to its more greatly reduced reinforced roadbed thickness and smaller cumulative plastic deformation, and its advantages in terms of maintenance. In this respect, the authors' previous research includes analysis of BAT sections that show performance similar to that of BT sections of the present specifications; reliability verification of the analysis results through real-sized static and dynamic train-load tests were performed. Based on previous research, this paper estimates the track lifetime using the strain of the lower roadbed according to reinforced roadbed thickness; using probabilistic LCC analysis, this paper presents a BAT section that satisfies the design lifetime and that has performance similar to or higher than that of BT.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.55-69
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• 2013

An alternative design method of existing methods based on elastic theory the design method of roadbed considering plastic deformation of roadbed and stress-strain at roadbed materials with the cyclic loading of trains passing. The characteristics of the developed design method considering traffic load, number of cyclic loading and resilience modulus of roadbed materials can evaluate elastic strain as well as plastic settlement with allowable design criteria. The proposed design method is applied to standard roadbed section drawing of HONAM high-speed railway considering design conditions such as allowable elastic and plastic settlement, train speed, the tonnage of trains. As a result, required levels of resilience modulus model parameter ($A_E$), unconfined compressive strength, types of soil material were evaluated.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.40-46
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• 2013

Based on Korean railway design standards, the thicknesses of the reinforced roadbeds of conventional and high speed railways are different, and so too, for the size distribution of the ballast particles. Accordingly, considerable cost would be required to increase operating speeds of conventional lines, in particular related to changing from a ballasted track system to a ballastless one. In this study, applicability of a roadbed which supports conventional ballasted track, for use as a ballastless track for a high speed rail line was examined. A reinforced roadbed for a conventional railway is 20cm thick, and the type of material used for a conventional reinforced roadbed is M-40 (crushed gravel for road embankments). A dynamics test was conducted to evaluate the occurrence of the permanent settlement of the track substructure. These results suggest that, without changes to the track substructure, an operational speed of 400km/h is feasible with a ballastless track. This result; however, is from laboratory experiments. Further studies, such as numerical analyses or field validation, are required.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.114-122
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• 2014

An asphalt trackbed is to be adapted in Korea to provide better bearing capacity and stability to the track and a comfortable ride to passengers. The dynamic modulus of Hot Mixed Asphalt(HMA) mixes is a critical design input parameter to determine the thickness of the asphalt trackbed. In this study, impact resonant tests and ultrasonic test methods are designed to obtain the dynamic modulus. These test methods are also verified to check the etffectiveness of constructing a master curve of the dynamic modulus over a wide range of frequencies and temperatures. The test results are compared to the computed dynamic modulus using AASHTO 2002 and the KPRP's proposed model. It can be concluded that the proposed simple test methods are effective to obtain the dynamic moduli of the asphalt mixes for the design of an asphalt trackbed foundation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.123-132
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• 2014

In this study, permanent deformation of asphalt trackbed was investigated by performing repetitive load test on specimen made with dense graded asphalt mixture that was specially prepared for asphalt trackbed foundation. The obtained test results were compared with those computed from the prediction model proposed by AASHTO 2002, called MEPDG. No prediction model adaptable only for permanent deformation of the asphalt trackbed foundation has yet been developed, so the prediction model by AASHTO was adapted in this study to simulate permanent deformation of trackbed foundations in asphalt slab track and in ballasted asphalt track. In order to simulate permanent deformation, a finite element analysis was performed to obtain stresses generated in trackbed due to wheel load. It was found that the predicted permanent deformation was much smaller than the anticipated deformation and that the asphalt track could be stable during the service life of the structure.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.835-843
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• 2009

Recently the more stable roadbed is required due to the high speed and design load. Therefore the reinforced roadbed was introduced as the solution. But the thickness and stiffness of reinforced roadbed in design code is being conservatively assessed by the foreign code without considering the domestic construction condition. In this paper, adequate Young's modulus, drain capacity, freezing depth, economical efficiency, bearing capacity, construction condition and 3-D finite element method were employed to determine the proper thickness of reinforced roadbed at the embankment section.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.15-22
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• 2013

By changing from ballasted track to concrete slab track, new type railroad subgrade is strongly required to satisfy strict regulations for displacement limitations of concrete slab track. In this study, sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the design characteristics of new type reinforced railroad subgrade, which could minimize residual settlement after track construction and maintain its function as a permanent railway roadbed under large cyclic load. With developed design program, the safety analysis (circular slip failure, overturning, and sliding) and the evaluation of internal forces developed in structural members (wall and reinforcement) were performed according to vertical installation spacing and stiffness of short and long geotextile reinforcement. Based on this study, we could evaluate the applicabilities of 0.4 H short geogrid length with 0.4 m vertical installation spacing of geotextile as reinforcement and what the ground conditions are for the reinforced railroad subgrade. And also, we could grasp design characteristics of the reinforced railroad subgrade, such as the importance of connecting structure between wall and reinforcement, boundary conditions allowing displacement at wall ends to minimize maximum bending moment of wall.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.354-362
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• 2015

Since allowable settlement of concrete slab track is about 30mm, a lot of attention must be paid to the settlement of the earthwork (reinforced trackbed, upper subgrade, under subgrade) under the concrete track. To this end, more experimental data should be accumulated through tests for these materials. In this study, we evaluate the long-term settlement of reinforced trackbed and subgrade materials using factors such as repeated loading conditions, water content, and grain size distributions in a large triaxial test and a large oedometer test. In cases in which the performance of the reinforced trackbed layer meets the design criteria, the settlement caused by train load was considerably small. But, when the water content increases in the subgrade, unexpectedly large settlement might occur for certain grain size distributions of the subgrade materials.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2008

Resilient modulus has been used for characterizing the stress-strain behavior of subgrade soils subjected to traffic loadings. With the recent release of the M-E Design Guide, highway agencies are further encouraged to implement the resilient modulus test to improve subgrade design. The subgrade design for the trackbed, however, is primarily relying on the static test results such as $K_{30}$ and deformation modulus, Ev. Therefore applicability of the resilient modulus for the design of trackbed needs to be evaluated. In this study, physical property tests, unconfined compressive tests and resilient modulus tests were conducted to assess the resilient and permanent strain behavior of 14 cohesive subgrade soils. A predictive model for estimating the resilient modulus is proposed based on the results of unconfined compressive tests and tangent elastic modulus, unconfined compressive strength, failure strain, secant modulus at peak, and yield strain. The predicted resilient moduli using the predictive models compared satisfactorily with measured ones. Although the permanent strain occurs during the resilient modulus test, the permanent behavior of subgrade soils is currently not taken into consideration.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2008

In the trackbed design using elastic multilayer model, the stress-dependent resilient modulus $(E_R)$ is an important input parameter, that is, reflects substructure performance under repeated traffic loading. However, the evaluation method for resilient modulus using repeated loading triaxial test is not fully developed for practical purpose, because of costly equipment and the significantly fluctuated values depending on the testing equipment and laboratory personnel. The this study, the paper will present an indirect method to estimate the resilient modulus using dynamic properties. The resilient modulus of crushed stone, which is the typical material of sub-ballast, was calculated with the measured dynamic properties and the range of stress level of the sub-ballast, and approximated with the power model combined with bulk and deviatoric stresses. The resilient modulus of coarse grained material decreases with increasing deviatoric stress at a confining pressure, and increases with increasing bulk stress. Sandy soil (SM classified from Unified Soil Classification System) of subgrade was also evaluated and best fitted with the power model of deviatoric stress only.