• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.386-393
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• 2013

In this study, the so-called repeated plate load bearing test (RPBT) used to get $E_{v2}$ values in order to check the degree of compaction of subgrade, and to get design parameters for determining the thickness of the trackbed foundation, is investigated. The test procedure of the RPBT method is scrutinized in detail. $E_{v2}$ values obtained from the field were verified in order to check the reliability of the test data. The $E_{v2}$ values obtained from high-speed rail construction sites were compared to converted modulus values obtained from resonant column (RC) test results. For these tests, medium-size samples composed of the same soils from the field were used after analyzing stress and strain levels existing in the soil below the repeated loading plates. Finite element analyses, using the PLAXIS and ABAQUS programs, were performed in order to investigate the impact of the strain influence coefficient. This was done by getting newly computed $I_z$ to get the precise strain level predicted on the subgrade surface in the full track structure; under wheel loading. It was verified that it is necessary to use precise loading steps to construct nonlinear load-settlement curves from RPBT in order to get correct $E_{v2}$ values at the proper strain levels.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.604-609
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• 2016

This study evaluated the long-term performance of RSR (Reinforced Subgrade for Railways) technology which increases the railway line capacity without the need for additional land. Its characteristics include the use of a short reinforcement with rigid wall, which make it possible to apply it in confined spaces. The 7m high and 40m long testbed employed to evaluate the long-term performance was designed and constructed near Jupo station on the Chang-hang line. This line, located close to a local bus route, had collapsed at the subgrade following heavy rainfall. The performance of the new type of subgrade was verified with long term measurements over a 2 year period including the surface and ground settlement, horizontal displacement of the wall, tensile strain of the reinforcement, and settlement of the rail top on the side track. Based on the results of the measurements made until now, we concluded that it had sufficient safety and serviceability for use as a railway subgrade. It is expected that RSR technology could be frequently used at sites which lack the necessary construction materials for an embankment and are located close to functional railway lines and boundaries, in order to settle civil complaints.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.204-212
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• 2016

The soils used as trackbed in Korea are selected using USCS utilizing basic soil properties such as Grain Size Distribution(GSD), % passing of #200 sieve ($P_{200}$), % passing of #4 sieve ($P_4$), Coefficient of uniformity ($C_u$), and Coefficient of curvature ($C_c$). Degree of compaction of the soils adapted in the code by KR should be evaluated by maximum dry density (${\gamma}_{d-max}$) and deformation modulus $E_{v2}$. The most important influencing factor that is critical to stability and deformation of the compacted soils used as trackbed is stiffness. Thus, it is necessary to construct a correlation between the modulus and the basic soil properties of trackbed soil in order to redefine a new soil classification system adaptable only to railway construction. To construct the relationship, basic soil test data is collected as a database, including GSD, maximum dry unit weight (${\gamma}_{d-max}$), OMC, $P_{200}$, $P_4$, $C_u$, $C_c$, etc.; deformation modulus $E_{v2}$ and $E_{vd}$ are obtained independently by performing a Repeated Plated Bearing Test (RPBT) and Light Weight Deflectometer Test (LWDT) for ten different railway construction sites. A linear regression analysis is performed using SPSS to obtain the relationship between the basic soil properties and the deformation modulus $E_{v2}$ and $E_v$. Based on the constructed relationship and the various obtained mechanical test data, a new soil classification system will be proposed later as a guideline for the design and construction of trackbed foundation in Korea.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.2C
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• pp.71-79
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• 2009

This study is to develope the resilient modulus prediction model, which is the function of mean effective principal stress and axial strain, for three types of railroad trackbed materials such as crushed stone, weathered granite soil, and crushed-rock soil mixture. The model consists of the maximum Young's modulus and nonlinear values for higher strain, analogous to dynamic shear modulus. The maximum value is modeled by model parameters, $A_E$ and the power of mean effective principal stress, $n_E$. The nonlinear portion is represented by modified hyperbolic model, with the model parameters of reference strain, ${\varepsilon}_r$ and curvature coefficient, a. To assess the performance of the prediction models proposed herein, the elastic response of a test trackbed near PyeongTaek, Korea, was evaluated using a 3-D elastic multilayer computer program (GEOTRACK). The results were compared with measured elastic vertical displacement during the passages of freight and passenger trains at two locations, whose sub-ballasts were crushed stone and weathered granite soil, respectively. The calculated vertical displacements of the sub-ballasts are within the order of 0.6mm, and agree well with measured values. The prediction models are thus concluded to work properly in the preliminary investigation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.68-76
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• 2000

Such traditional construction methods as the interchange or improvement of railway subbase maintenance and reinforcement have many problems in the matters of construction period, constructive and economical efficiency aspects. This paper will describe the alternative railway subbase reinforcement method based on geosynthetics system. It is presently very popular in Germany and Japan. In summary it is to say, that geosynthetics used at fine grained subsoils to a strong improvement of the whole railroad system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 2014

In the earth structures of railways, large coarse granular materials are widely used as fill materials. However, experimental studies that consider the dynamic properties of these coarse granular materials have rarely been carried out in Korea due to the lack of a large scale test apparatus in this country. In this study, large scale cyclic triaxial tests were carried out for materials such as reinforced roadbed (subballast, graded crushed stone), transition zone gravel, and the upper subgrade of a railway. These specimens were prepared according to certain conditions (dry unit weight, grain size distribution, and so on) specified in the Korea railroad design standard. Based on these large triaxial test results, normalized shear modulus and damping ratio curves according to small strain level are suggested. A model and coefficients for each material are also proposed.

• 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 GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.5-13
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• 2014

In this research, in order to study insulation effect of commercial XPS and recycled PE aggregates for prevention of frost heave in the roadbed of railroad track from the freezing temperature, model tests were carried out in the large freezing room. For this, thermal conductivities were measured for various dry densities, water contents, temperatures and mixing ratios of PE aggregates. From the tests, it can be seen that thermal conductivities of roadbed decrease with the increase of the ratio of mixed PE aggregates. However it was sensitive to the changes of temperature and water content due to the amount of water in the voids. From the model test of railroad track, it can be seen that the time to reach $0^{\circ}C$ was longer for XPS than that for the PE aggregates. Also the test shows best insulation effect can be achieved when XPS board was installed above the PE aggregate layer rather than the opposite order.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.3-11
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• 2005

In this study, a large-scale laboratory model test and 2-D numerical analysis were conducted to verify the reinforcement effect by utilizing geotextile bag on the railway roadbed. Static loading which simulated train load was applied on the geotextile-reinforced railway roadbed and also unreinforced railway roadbed. Computer program named Pentagon 2-D which is a part of FEM programs was used in the numerical analysis. Based on the results of laboratory test and 2-D numerical analysis, the effect of load distribution and settlement reduction was found to be depending on the geotextile characteristics, tensile strength of geotextile, and interface friction angle between geotextile bags. In general, the result of 2-D numerical analysis shows lower value than that of laboratory test.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.257-262
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• 2008

Design and analysis of road subgrade system, which is exposed to repetitive loading condition, uses resilient modulus. The behavior of railway subgrade system will not be quite different from that of road system. Following this phenomenological feature of the subgrade system, this paper introduces the implementation of the resilient modulus based constitutive model on a commercial finite element software. The implementation of the resilient modulus models such as K-${\theta}$ and Uzan on a FE program has been conducted previously. These model assumes that the material state reaches to the nonlinear elastic condition and with further application of repetitive loads, the response of material is completed in elastic condition. According to the recent test results performed on cohesive subgrade soils, however, permanent deformation occurs with repetitive loads. With aids of previously suggested models the permanent deformation cannot be modeled. To overcome such limitation a plastic potential derived from the test results and simple failure criterion based constitutive model is developed. The comparison between the analysis and test results shows a good correlation.