• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.251-256
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• 2012

Hanging sleepers are frequently observed in the ballasted track with the rail of high rigidity. These hanging sleepers at the high speed line could cause such large dynamic force compared to those at the conventional line. This dynamic force would, in turn, deteriorate train running stability as well as riding comfort, and accelerate irregularity of track and failure of track materials, leading to a sharp increase in track maintenance cost. When the wheel-rail contact spring exhibits nonlinear behavior and some components of the system like hanging sleeper exhibit bi-linear behaviors, an effective analytical method is proposed for train-track interactions. The verification of the present method is carried out comparing numerical results by the present method and those by Ono's method of RTRI.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.1058-1064
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• 2004

As one of reinforcing methods for soft roadbed, the problems that mud-pumping and settlement occurred by soft roadbed, were investigated, evaluated and analyzed through installing relatively economical and efficient geosynthetics on the selected track-bed for testing. Mock-heang to Dong-ryang on the filed resting sections in the Chung-buk lines were selected as investigating the state of track and prepared field after selecting three of 1,700 spots which often make mud-pumping and requiting maintenance for that. Long curved line radiuses(R) of Mock-heang to Dong-ryang are 500m that were installed with 4 types of geosynthetics layers and one ballast layer. Installed testing cross-section is 200m totally with 40 m between places. Strength or prepared roadbed was measured to investigate the state of roadbed and track with constructing(installing) field testing sections and physical properties of roadbed soils were evaluated and analyzed. Also, mud-pumping, settlement of elastic or plastic sleeper, failure or track, wheel-loads, transverse and earth pressures were measured after installing field testing sections.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.35-40
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• 2020

The ballast layers play a key role in distributing and supporting a trainload. On the other hand, it settles down by dynamic train loading due to large void ratios. Consequently, it requires continuous maintenance. In this paper, ballast layers mixed with three types of specially shaped artificial ballast (AB) (Rectangular, Tetrapod, Hexagonal) were modeled by using a two dimensional DEM (Discrete Element Method). Repeated loading tests were performed to evaluate the settlement behavior of the ballast layers. The smallest settlement was observed in the case of the ballast layer mixed with Tetrapod AB than in other cases, according to an analysis of the force transfer routes. In addition, contact force analysis showed that the Tetrapod AB, which has a concave shape, could easily make small and multi-channel force-transfer routes. This means that the stress in the ballast layer by the train loading transferred through the sleeper uniformly was distributed well by the AB. Therefore, the settlement of the ballast layer mixed with the concave-shaped Tetrapod AB could be reduced effectively under a repeated train loading. The effects of a decrease in settlement of the ballast layer highlight the possibility of a maintenance-free ballasted track.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.131-157
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• 2014

Special track systems used to divert a train to other directions or other tracks are generally called 'railway turnout'. A traditional turnout system consists of steel rails, switches, crossings, steel plates, fasteners, screw spikes, timber bearers, ballast and formation. The wheel rail contact over the crossing transfer zone has a dip-like shape and can often cause detrimental impact loads on the railway track and its components. The large impact also emits disturbing noises (either impact or ground-borne noise) to railway neighbors. In a brown-field railway track where an existing aged infrastructure requires renewal or maintenance, some physical constraints and construction complexities may dominate the choice of track forms or certain components. With the difficulty to seek for high-quality timbers with dimensional stability, a methodology to replace aged timber bearers in harsh dynamic environments is to adopt an alternative material that could mimic responses and characteristics of timber in both static and dynamic loading conditions. A critical review has suggested an application of an alternative material called fibre-reinforced foamed urethane (FFU). The full-scale capacity design makes use of its comparable engineering characteristics to timber, high-impact attenuation, high damping property, and a longer service life. A field trial to investigate in-situ behaviours of a turnout grillage system using an alternative material, 'fibre-reinforced foamed urethane (FFU)' bearers, has been carried out at a complex turnout junction under heavy mixed traffics at Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia. The turnout junction was renewed using the FFU bearers altogether with new special track components. Influences of the FFU bearers on track geometry (recorded by track inspection vehicle 'AK Car'), track settlement (based on survey data), track dynamics, and acoustic characteristics have been measured. Operational train pass-by measurements have been analysed to evaluate the effectiveness of the replacement methodology. Comparative studies show that the use of FFU bearers generates higher rail and sleeper accelerations but the damping capacity of the FFU help suppress vibration transferring onto other track components. The survey data analysis suggests a small vertical settlement and negligible lateral movement of the turnout system. The static and dynamic behaviours of FFU bearers appear to equate that of natural timber but its service life is superior.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.1542-1549
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• 2011

The Transitional zone between bridge abutment and earthwork is one of the representative vulnerable zones in railway where differential settlements may take place due to the different supportive stiffness. Although transitional zones are managed with stricter standards than those of the other earthwork zones either in the design and construction stages, it is very difficult to prevent differential settlement perfectly. A three-dimensional numerical analyses were performed by applying train moving load in this study. The analytical model including abutments and earthwork zones was constituted with rail, sleepers, track concrete layer (TCL), hydraulic stabilized base (HSB), reinforced road bed, and road bed using railway and road base structure. The clamp connecting the rail and sleeper were also modeled as the element with spring coefficient. The train wheel is modeled in the actual size and moved on the rail with 300 km/hr speed. The deformation characteristics at each point of the rail and the ground were considered in detail when moving the train wheel. The analysis results were compared with those from the two-dimensional analysis without considering moving load. The research results show that displacement and stress were greater in the three-dimensional analysis than in other analyses, and the three-dimensional analysis with moving load should be performed to evaluate railway performance.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.13-21
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• 2017

Ballasted track has been used as track system for more than 100 years. Ballasted track has advantages of low construction cost, flexible maintenance, low noise and vibration, and so on. However, ballasted track leads to continuous settlement which causes maintenance. Recently, increase in speed, traffic volume, and weight of train requires more frequent maintenance. Fouling, well-known phenomenon of accumulation of fine materials due to intrusion of subgrade and breakage of ballast materials, expedites the settlement (i.e., irregular settlement) of track. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) can be one of non-destructive tools that can evaluate fouling level of ballast. In this paper, a gain function based on the attenuation characteristics of ballast material is suggested in conjunction with Hilbert transform. Lab box tests and full-scale tests indicate that the suggested method reasonably classifies clean, fouled layers, and subgrade. However, additional study to eliminate effect of sleeper and to include the scattering features of the electromagnetic wave in ballast voids should be required in order to enhance the accuracy.