Fouled Ballast Definitions and Parameters

Bruzek, Radim; Stark, Timothy D.; Wilk, Stephen T.; Thompson, Hugh B.; Sussmann, Theodore R.

doi:10.1115/jrc2016-5725

Cited by 18 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Regardless of how it is modified, the definitions tend to be easy to measure and can predict the ballast performance in terms of track performance and safety. 48 The comparison of the fouling index ranges and their relationship with the ballast contamination status is shown in Table 1.…”

Section: Fouling Content Quantificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Railway ballast fouling, inspection, and solutions - A review

Liu

Yang

Wang

et al. 2022

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F:

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Ballast fouling occurs when the voids of granular particles are wholly or partially filled by fine particles. Railway ballast fouling is always an inevitable issue related to railway performance and safety in ballasted tracks. This paper presents an overview of the railway ballast fouling mechanism, current works, perspective, and innovation. The paper first reviews the fouling mechanism with different fouling sources and their influence, followed by the fouling indices. Then, fouling inspection methods are reviewed, and the ground penetrating radar is highlighted due to its high efficiency and accuracy. The proposed solutions, including rehabilitation, prevention, reinforcement, and stabilization in the ballasted track, are introduced. Additionally, several perspectives and works for the future are mentioned. Ballast cleaning is a thorough and effective treatment. Ground-penetrating radar inspection and proper evaluation can provide a preview and perspective on ballast cleaning determination.

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Section: Fouling Content Quantificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Railway ballast fouling, inspection, and solutions - A review

Liu

Yang

Wang

et al. 2022

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F:

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“…This indicator of degradation of the ballast layer must not exceed specific limits. Nevertheless, these values varies among the countries, (Bruzek et al 2016) leading to an uncertain situation regarding common requirements and revealing a lack of consensus on grain-size diameter and fouling parameters used to define contamination levels. In European countries, for instance, a suggested limit is 30% for particle passing to 22.4 mm sieve (Nurmikolu 2005).…”

Section: Standard Deviation Of Track Irregularitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel performance-based technique for predicting maintenance strategy of bitumen stabilised ballast

D’Angelo

Bressi

Giunta

et al. 2018

Construction and Building Materials

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Nick Thom, Novel performance-based technique for predicting maintenance strategy of bitumen stabilised ballast, Construction and Novel performance-based technique for predicting maintenance strategy of bitumen stabilised ballast Abstract Despite being the most used worldwide, railway ballasted tracks presents high maintenance cost related to ballast settlement and particle degradation. With the aim of reducing life cycle costs, bitumen stabilised ballast (BSB) has been recently proposed as a relatively cheap alternative maintenance solution to be applied to existing tracks. This study aims at assessing the potential advantages of this technology, defining a novel maintenance strategy of traditional ballasted trackbeds. A protocol for the application of the BSB technology and its associated maintenance strategy is defined. To estimate minor and major maintenance operations of BSB scenario in comparison to traditional ballasted track-bed, an integrated model, based on laboratory tests, combining the evolution of track irregularities and ballast contamination with traffic, was used. Results together with a sensitivity analysis related to main parameters adopted revealed that the application of BSB is expected to provide a significant increase of intervals between both minor and major maintenance activities.

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“…Various indices have been developed to represent fine levels in track ( 6 ). In the U.S., mass-based measurements are used, including the percent passing the no.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demonstration of Mechanics-Based Track Geometry Deterioration Models

Wilk¹,

Thompson

Sussmann

et al. 2022

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

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The Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) is working to build on and extend existing mechanics-based track geometry deterioration forecasting models to support improved safety and reliability of ballasted tracks. This paper demonstrates how the railway track lifecycle model (RTLM) ballast model performs against field data and makes recommendations for improvement. Overall, the demonstration showed the mechanics-based model matches the general field behavior and its variations well, and it also identified potential improvements. The field data reinforced ballast fouling index (BFI) as a key factor in track geometry degradation. Additional factors that can cause variation in the BFI–track geometry degradation relationship were also identified, along with proposed curves that are easier to fit with field data. Linear track geometry degradation, with reference to mid-chord offset measurement with tonnage, fits the field data better than a logarithmic curve, which, historically, has been used to fit settlement as a function of tonnage. Using these improvements to the model, future work will focus on making the model as flexible as possible. This means identifying and incorporating key variables, in addition to BFI, that affect track geometry deterioration and allowing the model to either give general projections in situations with little historical data or become site-specific to a particular track section by incorporating historic data.

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Fouled Ballast Definitions and Parameters

Cited by 18 publications

References 8 publications

Railway ballast fouling, inspection, and solutions - A review

Railway ballast fouling, inspection, and solutions - A review

Novel performance-based technique for predicting maintenance strategy of bitumen stabilised ballast

Demonstration of Mechanics-Based Track Geometry Deterioration Models

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