• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.1303-1308
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• 2007

Recently, precast concrete tracks are replacing ballast track for efficient and economic maintenance of track. Precast concrete railroad tracks are manufactured in factory, and transported to railroad construction site for installation. Therefore, quality of precast concrete track itself should be sufficiently good. On the contrary to the convenient manufacturing of precast concrete track, the installation of a precast concrete track requires careful steps. Typically, a precast concrete track is placed on an approximately 15-cm thick lean concrete layer. A mortar is filled between lean concrete layer and precast concrete track to adjust the sloping angle of a precast concrete track for a safe train operation at a curvy section. Then, the use of filled mortarproduces a void underneath a precast concrete track, which is harmful to structural safety of a precast concrete track undercyclic loading. Therefore, it is essential to make sure that there is no void left beneath a precast concrete track after mortar filling. In the continuous resonance method, the amplitude of frequency response measured using an instrumented hammer and an accelerometer is plotted against a pseudo-depth, which is half of the wave velocity divided by frequency. The frequency response functions are measured at consecutive measurement locations, 6-cm interval between measurement points, and then combined together to generate a 2-D plot of frequency response. The sections with strong reflections or large amplitude of frequency response are suspicious areas with internal voids and unfilled areas. The 2-D frequency response plot was efficient in locating problematic sections just by examining the color shade of a visualized plot in 2-D format. Some of the problematic sections were drilled to make a visual inspection of mortar filling. The visual image of interface between mortar and precast concrete track was verified using the validity of the continuous resonance technique adopted in this research.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.104-110
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• 2003

Precast concrete slab track has been already turned out to be more efficient than cast-in place concrete slab track in view of the easiness of construction and the quality control of concrete. Thus, there is a great need to bring in the precast slab track system. In order to develop the realistic precast slab track system that is well conformed to our circumstances, the performance criteria of slab track, and the state-of-the art of precast slab track systems that are used in other countries are briefly discussed here.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.1659-1663
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• 2011

Precast concrete slab track is a track structure to be installed by transporting and assembling precast concrete slabs manufactured at the factory. This method can improve concrete quality, provide easy maintenance and reduce construction time, compared with in-situ concrete track. However, the concrete slabs being continuously connected in longitudinal direction, due to the temperature change between summer and winter, the openings at slab joints have occurred. Thus, in this study, to identify the cause of this opening of slab joint, the joint opening caused by temperature drop in the longitudinally continuous precast concrete slab track has been predicted using three-dimensional finite element analysis, and compared with field measurements. Based on the proven model, the slab joint opening, and the stress pattern of concrete slab and steel reinforcement according to concrete slab-base friction properties, concrete-reinforcement bond properties, and prestressing were analyzed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.647-659
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• 2018

Through extensive research, there exist a new type of connection between railway bridge girders and steel-concrete composite panels. In addition to conventional shear connectors, newly developed blind bolts have been recently adopted for retrofitting. However, the body of knowledge on their influence and application to railway structures has not been thoroughly investigated. This study has thus placed a particular emphasis on the application of blind bolts on the Sydney Harbour Bridge as a feasible alternative constituent of railway track upgrading. Finite element modeling has been used to simulate the behaviours of the precast steel-concrete panels with common types of bolt connection using commercially available package, ABAQUS. The steel-concrete composite track slabs have been designed in accordance with Australian Standards AS5100. These precast steel-concrete panels are then numerically retrofitted by three types of most practical bold connections: head studded shear connector, Ajax blind bolt and Lindapter hollow bolt. The influences of bolt connections on load and stress transfers and structural behaviour of the composite track slabs are highlighted in this paper. The numerical results exhibit that all three bolts can distribute stresses effectively and can be installed on the bridge girder. However, it is also found that Lindapter hollow bolts are superior in minimising structural responses of the composite track slabs to train loading.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.955-960
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• 2004

In this study, three dimensional FE analysis of concrete slab track has been performed in order to develop the realistic design of precast concrete slab track. The precast slab track system including the precast concrete slab panel and the grout layer is modeled using the three dimensional solid element with crack softening effect. The input load is computed from the one dimensional beam element model constituting the rail and several discrete springs. To investigate the effect of the longitudinal connection of slab panels, two different systems-continuous and discrete systems - are modeled. The analytical results show that the stresses of both the slab panel and the grout layer are in the range of linear elastic, and, at the interface between two adjacent panels, the primary stresses of the grout layer of the discrete system are higher than those of the continuous system. However, The overall stress levels of the grout layer are very low relative to the strength of th grout.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.740-744
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• 2011

Precast slab track system(PSTS) is a concrete track laying system where the slab panels are pre-manufactured in factories and assembled and installed on-site. PSTS has been developed for the past 30 years in countries where railway technologies are advanced such as Japan and Germany to improve the various drawbacks of the in-situ concrete slab track. However, the usefulness of PSTS is being continuously approved by many other countries such as China, Taiwan, Austria, Italy, Spain, etc,. Lately, not only Japan and Germany, but also Austria, Italy and China have developed their own PSTS by collaboration between their Governments and private enterprises and are now attempting to expand their businesse soverseas. In accordance to such movement, in 2006, the Korean Railroad Research Institution and Sampyo E&C have developed a Korean PSTS by joint research. PSTS consists of concrete panel, under pouring layer and concrete base layer. Amongst these components, the panel is the main component of PSTS which supports the train load and has a great effect on the track quality, workability and economics. Therefore, a study is to be conducted to select the optimum size for the Panel of the precast slab track system panel by analyzing the various standards & forms, interpretation of finite elements of the selected model and economical analysis.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.256-260
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• 2010

It has been proved that precast slab track has advantage of rapid construction speed and good quality compared to in-situ concrete slab track. A korean precast slab track, which is named as a K-PST, was developed and had been installed on the embankment and explored on the air. The developed track system consists of precast track panel and underpouring layer which is made of cement-asphalt mortar. Consequently, poor filling of underpouring layer directly could affect on the long-term performance of the track system. As a preliminary study, the effect of the poor infilling of the underpouring in precasst slab track system on structural behavior was investigated through FEM analysis.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.113-128
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• 2017

This paper highlights a study undertaken on the free vibration of a precast steel-concrete composite slab panel for track support. The steel-concrete composite slab track is an evolvement from the slab track, a form of ballastless track which is becoming increasingly attractive to asset owners as they seek to reduce lifecycle costs and deal with increasing rail traffic speeds. The slender nature of the slab panel due to its reduced depth of construction makes it susceptible to vibration problems. The aim of the study is driven by the need to address the limited research available to date on the dynamic behaviour of steel-concrete composite slab panels for track support. Free vibration analysis of the track slab has been carried out using ABAQUS. Both eigenfrequencies and eigenmodes have been extracted using the Lanczos method. The fundamental natural frequencies of the slab panel have been identified together with corresponding mode shapes. To investigate the sensitivity of the natural frequencies and mode shapes, parametric studies have been established, considering concrete strength and mass and steel's modulus of elasticity. This study is the world first to observe crossover phenomena that result in the inversion of the natural orders without interaction. It also reveals that replacement of the steel with aluminium or carbon fibre sheeting can only marginally reduce the natural frequencies of the slab panel.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.427-442
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• 2017

This paper presents unprecedented damped oscillation behaviours of a precast steel-concrete composite slab panel for track support. The steel-concrete composite slab track is an innovative slab track, a form of ballastless track which is becoming increasingly attractive to asset owners as they seek to reduce lifecycle costs and deal with increasing rail traffic speeds. The slender nature of the slab panel due to its reduced depth of construction makes it susceptible to vibration problems. The aim of the study is driven by the need to address the limited research available to date on the dynamic behaviour of steel-concrete composite slab panels for track support. Free vibration analysis of the track slab has been carried out using ABAQUS. Both undamped and damped eigenfrequencies and eigenmodes have been extracted using the Lancsoz method. The fundamental natural frequencies of the slab panel have been identified together with corresponding mode shapes. To investigate the sensitivity of the natural frequencies and mode shapes, parametric studies have been established, considering concrete strength and mass and steel's modulus of elasticity. This study is the world first to observe crossover phenomena that result in the inversion of the natural orders without interaction. It also reveals that replacement of the steel with aluminium or carbon fibre sheeting can only marginally reduce the natural frequencies of the slab panel.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.373-384
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• 2024

In this study, a novel mountain train system was developed that can run along a steep gradient of 180 ‰ and sharp curve with a minimum radius of 10 m. For this novel mountain train, an embedded precast concrete rack rail track was implemented to share the track with an automobile road and increase constructability in mountainous regions. The embedded rack rail track is connected to a hydraulically stabilized base (HSB) layer with shear anchors, which must have sufficient longitudinal resistance because they bear most of the traction forces originated from the rack rail and longitudinal loads owing to the steep gradient. In addition, the damage to the shear anchor parts, including the surrounding concrete, must be strictly limited under the service load because the maintenance of shear anchors inside the track is extremely difficult after installation. In this study, the focus was made on the shear anchor behavior and design an embedded rack rail track, considering the serviceability and ultimate limit states. Accordingly, the design loads for mountain trains were established, and the serviceability criteria of the anchor were proposed. Subsequently, the resistance and damage of the shear anchors were evaluated and analyzed based on the results of several finite element analyses. Finally, the design method of the shear anchors for the embedded rack rail track was established and verified.