The Effect of Soil Non-linearity on Mixed Traffic Railway Lines: Passenger vs Freight Loads

Kaitai Dong, David P. Connolly, Omar Laghrouche, Peter K. Woodward, Carlton Ho, Pedro Alves Costa

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

To add additional capacity to railway networks, freight services might be added to lines that have previously only be used for passenger services. Existing ballasted lines may have mixed subgrade conditions and thus the effect of increased axle loads on track behavior is unclear. Typically, such cases will result in elevated track deflections in comparison to passenger vehicles. As a result, the supporting subgrade experiences higher strain levels, which can fall into the large strain range. The related non-linear subgrade behavior plays an important role in track response but is challenging to model. As a solution, this paper presents a new semi-analytical numerical model, where the track is simulated analytically and allows for 1D wave propagation. The ground is modelled using a non-linear equivalent thin-layer finite element formulation. This allows for the subgrade stiffness to be updated in an iterative manner with minimal computational effort. A case study is presented to show that modest increases in axle load can have a marked effect on track deflections.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of GeoShanghai 2018 International Conference: Transportation Geotechnics and Pavement Engineering
Subtitle of host publicationGSIC 2018
EditorsXianming Shi, Zhen Liu, Jenny Liu
PublisherSpringer
Pages227-236
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9789811300110
ISBN (Print)9789811300103
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 May 2018

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