• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.80 no.5
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• pp.491-501
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• 2021

A difference in subgrade settlement between two rails of a track manifests as lateral differential subgrade settlement. This settlement causes unsteadiness in the motion of trains passing through the corresponding area. To illustrate the effect of lateral differential subgrade settlement on the dynamic response of a vehicle-track coupling system, a three-dimensional vehicle-track-subgrade coupling model was formulated by combining the vehicle-track dynamics theory and the finite element method. The wheel/rail force, car body acceleration, and derailment factor are chosen as evaluation indices of the system dynamic response. The effects of the amplitude and wavelength of lateral differential subgrade settlement as well as the driving speed of the vehicle are analyzed. The study reveals the following: The dynamic responses of the vehicle-track system generally increase linearly with the driving speed when the train passes through a lateral subgrade settlement area. The wheel/rail force acting on a rail with a large settlement exceeds that on a rail with a small settlement. The dynamic responses of the vehicle-track system increase with the amplitude of the lateral differential subgrade settlement. For a 250-km/h train speed, the proposed maximum amplitude for a lateral differential settlement with a wavelength of 20 m is 10 mm. The dynamic responses of the vehicle-track system decrease with an increase in the wavelength of the lateral differential subgrade settlement. To achieve a good operation quality of a train at a 250-km/h driving speed, the wavelength of a lateral differential subgrade settlement with an amplitude of 20 mm should not be less than 15 m. Monitoring lateral differential settlements should be given more emphasis in routine high-speed railway maintenance and repairs.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.15-25
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• 2018

Post-construction subgrade settlement especially differential settlement, has become a key issue in construction and operation of non-ballasted track on high-speed railway soil subgrade, which may also affect the dynamic performance of passing trains. To estimate the effect of differential subgrade settlement on the mechanical behaviors of the vehicle-slab track system, a detailed model considering nonlinear subgrade support and initial track state due to track self-weight is developed. Accordingly, analysis aiming at a typical high-speed vehicle coupled with a deteriorated slab track owing to differential subgrade settlement is carried out, in terms of two aspects: (i) determination of an initial mapping relationship between subgrade settlement and track deflections as well as contact state between track and subgrade based on a semi-analytical method; (ii) simulation of dynamic performance of the coupled system by employing a time integration approach. The investigation indicates that subgrade settlement results in additional track irregularity, and locally, the contact between the concrete track and the soil subgrade is prone to failure. Moreover, wheel-rail interaction is significantly exacerbated by the track degradation and abnormal responses occur as a result of the unsupported areas. Distributions of interlaminar contact forces in track system vary dramatically due to the combined effect of track deterioration and dynamic load. These may not only intensify the dynamic responses of the coupled system, but also have impacts on the long-term behavior of the track components.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.1542-1549
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• 2009

The function of subgrade in the railway is to support track load on the subgrade as well as train load. Unlike the traditional railway, the uppermost subgrade layer in the Gyeongbu high speed railway was constructed as the reinforced road bed. The reinforced road bed comprises sub-ballast in the upper part and grade ballast in the lower part. The filling material such as soil and rocks in the subgrade can be settled by consolidation of original ground, compression due to self weight, plastic displacement due to train operation, and unequal settlement due to embankment material or improper compaction, therefore many efforts have been given for sufficient compaction and use of proper filling materials in the construction stage. The purpose of this study is to investigate the deformation state of subgrade in the Gyeongbu high speed railway. The investigation on the subgrade settlement was performed by choosing representative sections suspected to be settled based on the previous GPR test results and track maintenance history, measuring the settlement for some time period after installing settlement measuring instruments on and under the reinforced road bed. and analyzing the long-term subgrade settlement data from monitoring system which was installed at the construction stage of the high speed railway.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.1506-1512
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• 2010

In this study, model tests were performed to investigate the settlement characteristics of the rock/soil mixture subgrade with the many portion of mudstone due to the cyclic train loading in high-speed railway. Specially, from the tests varying initial degree of saturation, effects of increment of the degree of saturation in the subgrade due to rainfall or elevation of ground water table under cyclic train loading on the deformation characteristics were analyzed. From the results, in the low degree of saturation, settlement converged to some value. However, in the condition of degree of saturation larger than some value, settlement rapidly increased. Therefore, it was found that it is important to maintain the degree of saturation of subgrade below the specific level to prevent the settlement of subgrade.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.275-287
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• 2023

Subgrade differential settlement of high-speed railways was a pivotal issue that could increase the risk of trains operation. The risk will be further increased when trains in the subsidence zone are affected by crosswinds. In this paper, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model and finite element (FE) model were established, and the data transmission interface of the two models was established by fluid-solid interaction (FSI) method to form a systematic crosswind-train-track-subgrade dynamic model. The risk of high-speed train encountering crosswind in settlement area was analyzed. The results showed that the aerodynamic force of the trains increased significantly with the increase in crosswind speed. The aerodynamic force of the trains could reach 125.14 kN, significantly increasing the risk of derailment and overturning. Considering the influence of crosswind, the risk of train operation could be greatly increased. The safety indices and the wheel-rail force both increased with the increase of the wind speed. For the high-speed train running at 350 km/h, the warning value of wind speed was 10.2 m /s under the condition of subgrade settlement with wavelength of 20 m and amplitude of 15 mm.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2001.03a
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• pp.525-532
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• 2001

In this study, performance of reinforced railroad roadbeds with the crushed stones was investigated through the real scale railroad roadbed tests. Several real scale reinforced railroad roadbeds were constructed in the laboratory with different subgrade conditions and were tested with the estimated actual train loads including the impact loading of train. The affecting factors such as settlement, earth pressure and stress change at the surface of reinforced roadbed, subgrade layers as well as surface of rails were measured. It was found through the actual testing that for the roadbed with the same thickness, the settlement and vibration level (velocity) of reinforced roadbed decreases with the increase of reaction modulus of subgrade. The settlement of reinforced roadbed with the same reaction modulus of subgrade also decreases with the increase of thickness of the reinforced roadbed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.183-189
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• 2009

The track structure of Gyungbu High Speed Railway line from Daegu to Busan is concrete track. It has a very strict specification for residual settlement because of its rigid type structural characteristics. The residual settlement of it comes from the residual settlement of the subgrade and the ground. The residual settlement of railway subgrade composed of crushed rock and soil might be major parts of total residual settlement depending on the field compaction qualities. Therefore, it is a key to minimize the residual settlement of the subgrade for a successful concrete track construction. In this paper, total 31 large scale compaction tests were performed to understand the compaction behaviors of the crushed rock-soil mixture. The test specimens were constituted with soil, crushed shale and mudstone taken from two sites under construction. The compaction tests were performed with the variations of rock types, #4 sieve passing contents, maximum particle size, and moisture contents. The influence of those factors on maximum dry unit weights of crushed rock-soil mixture was evaluated.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.11
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• pp.23-31
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• 2023

The escalating settlements observed in concrete slab tracks pose a significant challenge in Korea, raising concerns about their adverse impact on the safe operation of high-speed railways and the substantial costs involved in restoration. A primary contributor to these settlements is identified as the utilization of rock materials sourced from tunnel construction, incorporated into the lower subgrade without the requisite soil mixing to achieve an appropriate particle size distribution. This study employs numerical analysis to evaluate the efficacy of partial reinforcement in reducing settlements in rock-filled lower subgrades. Column-shaped reinforcement areas strategically positioned at regular intervals in the lower subgrade induce soil arching in the upper subgrade, leading to a concentration of soil loads on the reinforced areas and consequent settlement reduction. The analysis employs finite element methods to investigate the influence of the size, stiffness, and spacing of the reinforced areas on settlement reduction in the lower subgrade. The numerical results guide the formulation of an optimal design approach, proposing a method to determine the minimum spacing required for reinforcements to effectively limit settlements within acceptable bounds. This research contributes valuable insights into addressing the challenges associated with settlement in concrete slab tracks, offering a basis for informed decision-making in railway infrastructure management.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.583-598
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• 2022

The Compaction effect is important for evaluating the subgrade construction. However, there is little research exploring the compaction quality of deep soil using hydraulic compaction. According to reinforcement effect analysis, dimensional analysis is adopted in this work to analyze subgrade compactness within the effective reinforcement depth, and a prediction model is obtained. A hydraulic compactor is then employed to carry out an in-situ reinforcement test on gravel soil subgrade, and the subgrade parameters before and after reinforcement are analyzed. Results show that a reinforcement difference exists inside the subgrade, and the effective reinforcement depth is defined as increasing compactness to 90% in the depth direction. Layered compactness within the effective reinforcement depth is expressed by parameters including the drop distance of the rammer, peak acceleration, tamping times, subgrade settlement, and properties of rammer and filler. Finally, a field test is conducted to verify the results.