• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.346-353
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• 2005

Track substructure(ballast, subgrade) should have sufficient strength and adequate stiffness to fully support track superstructure(rail, fastener, sleeper). Vertical support stiffness of track comes from the sufficient thickness, adequate strength and stiffness of material of substructure layers. Since the vertical support stiffness of track substructure is closely related with the track geometry, the evaluation of the stiffness is very important to understand the track states. This paper introduces the system, which are composed of Ground Penetrating Radar(GPR), Portable Ballast Sampler(PBS), and Light Falling Weight Deflectometer(LFWD), to evaluate substructure condition and summarizes the field test results performed with the reliable system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.64-75
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• 2017

The role of a track subgrade is to provide bearing capacity and distribute load transferred to lower foundation soils. Track subgrade soils are usually compacted by heavy mechanical machines in the field, such that sometimes they are attributed to progressive residual settlement during the service after construction completion of the railway track. The progressive residual settlement generated in the upper part of a track subgrade is mostly non-recoverable plastic deformation, which causes unstable conditions such as track irregularity. Nonetheless, up to now no design code for allowable residual settlement of subgrade in a railway trackbed has been proposed based on mechanical testing, such as repetitive triaxial testing. At this time, to check the DOC or stiffness of the soil, field test criteria for compacted track subgrade are composed of data from RPBT and field compaction testing. However, the field test criteria do not provide critical design values obtained from mechanical test results that can offer correct information about allowable permanent deformation. In this study, a test procedure is proposed for permanent deformation of compacted subgrade soil that is used usually in railway trackbed in the laboratory using repetitive triaxial testing. To develop the test procedure, an FEA was performed to obtain the shear stress ratio (${\tau}/{\tau}_f$) and the confining stress (${\sigma}_3$) on the top of the subgrade. Comprehensive repetitive triaxial tests were performed using the proposed test procedure on several field subgrade soils obtained in construction sites of railway trackbeds. A permanent deformation model was proposed using the test results for the railway track.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2006.05b
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• pp.706-711
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• 2006

• 한국도로학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.635-640
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• 2009

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.5
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• pp.601-612
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• 2021

To study the vibration characteristics of a high-speed railway continuous girder bridge-track coupling system (HSRCBT), a coupling vibration analysis model of an m-span continuous girder bridge-subgrade-track system with n-span approach bridge was established. The model was based on the energy and its variational method, where both the interlaminar slip and shear deformation effects were considered. In addition, the free vibration equations and natural boundary conditions of the HSRCBT were derived. Further, according to the coordination principle of deformation and mechanics, an analytical method for calculating the natural vibration frequencies of the HSRCBT was obtained. Three typical bridge-subgrade-track coupling systems of high-speed railway were taken and the results of finite element analysis were compared to those of the analytical method. The errors between the simulation results and calculated values of the analytical method were less than 3%, thus verifying the analytical method proposed in this paper. Finally, the analytical method was used to investigate the influence of the number of the approach bridge spans and the interlaminar stiffness on the natural vibration characteristics of the HSRCBT based on the degree of sensitivity. The results suggest the approach bridges have a critical number of spans and in general, the precision requirements of the analysis could be met by using 6-span approach bridges. The interlaminar vertical compressive stiffness has very little influence on the low-order natural vibration frequency of HSRCBT, but does have a significant influence on higher-order natural vibration frequency. As the interlaminar vertical compressive stiffness increases, the degree of sensitivity to interlaminar stiffness of each of the HSRCBT natural vibration characteristics decrease and gradually approach zero.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.775-784
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• 2017

This study is devoted to developing many new substructure models for ballasted railway track by using the pyramid model philosophy. As the effect of railway embankment has been less considered in the previous studies in the field of vehicle/track interaction, so the present study develops the pyramid models in the presence of railway embankment and implements them in vehicle/track interaction dynamic analyses. Considering a moving car body as multi bodies with 10 degrees of freedom and the ballasted track including rail, sleeper, ballast, subgrade and embankment, two categories of numerical analyses are performed by considering the new substructure systems including type A (initiation of stress overlap areas in adjacent sleepers from the ballast layer) or type B (initiation of stress overlap areas in adjacent sleepers from the subgrade layer). A comprehensive sensitivity analyses are performed on effective parameters such as ballast height, sleepers spacing and sleeper width. The results indicate that the stiffness of subgrade, embankment and foundation increased by increasing the ballast height. Also, by increasing the ballast height, rail and ballast vertical displacement decreased.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.113-124
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• 2018

Under repeated loading, the residual stresses within the subgrade and subsoil can accelerate the deformation of the road structures. In this paper, a series of laboratory cyclic loading model tests and small-scale model tests were conducted to investigate the dynamic stress response within soils under different loading conditions. The experimental results showed that a dynamic stress accumulation effect occurred if the soil showed cumulative deformation: (1) the residual stress increased and accumulated with an increasing number of loading cycles, and (2) the residual stress was superimposed on the stress response of the subsequent loading cycles, inducing a greater peak stress response. There are two conditions that must be met for the dynamic stress accumulation effect to occur. A threshold state exists only if the external load exceeds the cyclic threshold stress. Then, the stress accumulation effect occurs. A higher loading frequency results in a higher rate of increase for the residual stress. In addition to the superposition of the increasing residual stress, soil densification might contribute to the increasing peak stress during cyclic loading. An increase in soil stiffness and a decrease in dissipative energy induce a greater stress transmission within the material.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.63-72
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• 2015

This paper describes the correlation and relationship between elastic moduli measured by three stiffness measurement methods with different mechanical characteristics to evaluate the compaction characteristics of subgrade soils. The Soil Stiffness Gauge (SSG) with very small strain (${\approx}0.001%$) ranges, static Plate Loading Test (PLT) with mid-level strain (${\approx}0.01{\sim}0.1%$) ranges, and Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) using penetration resistance were implemented to measure the elastic modulus. To use the elastic modulus measured by different measurement methods with a wide range of strain in practice, it is required to identify the correlation and relationship of measured values in advance. The comparison results of the measured elastic moduli ($E_{SSG}$, $E_{PLT}$, $E_{DCP}$) using the three measurement methods for domestic and overseas subgrade soils under various conditions indicate that the evaluated elastic modulus relies on the types of soils and the level of stress condition. The correlation analysis of the measured elastic moduli except the data of cement treated soils indicates that the static elastic modulus ($E_{PLT}$) is evaluated as about 60 to 80% of the dynamic elastic modulus ($E_{SSG}$). Unusual soils such as cement treated soils are required to be corrected by the stress correction during the correlation analysis with typical soils, because these types of soils are sensitive to the stress condition when measuring the static elastic modulus ($E_{PLT}$) of soils. In addition, when considering the use of DCP data for the evaluation of the elastic modulus ($E_{DCP}$), the measured data of the elastic modulus less than 200 MPa show more reliable correlation.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2009.05b
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• pp.641-646
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• 2009

Concrete tracks are superior to ballast tracks in the aspect of durability, maintenance and safety. However, deteriorated stiffness of railroad bed and settlement of soft ground induced by trapped or seepage water lead to problems in safety of train operation. In this research, characteristic stiffness of concrete tracks, which is determined from FRACTAL (Flexural-Rigidity Assessment of Concrete Tracks by Antisymmetric Lamb Waves) technique, was employed as an index of track displacement. The characteristic stiffness is defined using Poisson's ratio, moment of inertia and stiffness ratio of subgrade to slab. To verify validity and reliability of the proposed characteristic stiffness, experimental and theoretical researches were performed. Feasibility of the characteristic stiffness based on FRACTAL technique was proved at a real concrete track for Korean high-speed trains. Validity of the FRACTAL technique was also verified by comparing the results of impulse-response tests performed at the same measurement array and the results of SASW tests and DC resistivity survey performed at a shoulder nearby the track.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.389-396
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• 2017

Concrete pavements are subjected to traffic and environmental loadings. Repetitive type of such loading cause fatigue distress which leads to failure by forming cracks in pavement. Fatigue life of concrete pavement is calculated from the stress ratio (i.e. the ratio of applied flexural stress to the flexural strength of concrete). For the correct estimation of fatigue life, it is necessary to determine the maximum flexural tensile stress developed for practical loading conditions. Portland cement association PCA (1984) and Indian road congress IRC 58 (2015) has given charts and tables to determine maximum edge stresses for particular loading and subgrade conditions. It is difficult to determine maximum stresses for intermediate loading and subgrade conditions. The main purpose of this study is to simplify the analysis of rigid pavement without compromising the accuracy. Equations proposed for determination of maximum flexural tensile stress of pavement are verified by finite element analysis.