Use of rubber shreds to enhance attenuation of railway sub-ballast layers made of unbound aggregates

Abstract

ABSTRACT:One of the approaches for solving the problem of induced vibrations in railways is by slightly modifying the materials that form the track. A study is presented of the attenuation capacity of mixes composed of granular soil and rubber shreds when used as sub-ballast (the layer located immediately below the ballast layer). Rubber shreds are obtained from scrap tyres, a troublesome waste material whose reuse and recycling is necessary. A series of mixes of granular soil and rubber shreds with rubber contents of between 1% and 10% are submitted to hammer impact tests to study their response to dynamic excitation. Results reveal that mixing rubber shreds with granular soil increases damping ratios, thus demonstrating the potential of the proposed mixes for attenuating vibration. RESUMEN: Uso de partículas de caucho para mejorar la capacidad de atenuación de capas granulares de subbalasto en ferrocarriles. Una de las posibles formas de resolver el problema de las vibraciones inducidas por el ferrocarril es llevando a cabo una ligera modificación de los materiales que forman la vía. En este artículo, se presenta un estudio de la capacidad de atenuación de mezclas compuestas por zahorras y partículas de caucho para ser usadas como sub-balasto (capa localizada bajo el balasto). Las partículas de caucho se obtienen a partir de neumáticos fuera de uso, un material problemático cuya reutilización y reciclaje es cada vez más necesario. Las mezclas de zahorra-caucho, con un contenido entre el 1% y 10%, se someten a una serie de ensayos dinámicos mediante impacto con martillo, estudiando su respuesta frente a la excitación dinámica. Los resultados revelan que la mezcla de partículas de caucho con zahorras aumenta el coeficiente de amortiguamiento, lo que muestra el potencial que poseen las mezclas propuestas para la atenuación de vibraciones.PALABRAS CLAVE: Tratamiento de residuos; Árido; Proporción de mezcla; Vibración; Aceleración ORCID ID: C. Hidalgo-Signes

Ground Tire Rubber Modified by Elastomers via Low-Temperature Extrusion Process: Physico-Mechanical Properties and Volatile Organic Emission Assessment

“…Waste tires management and recycling are challenging tasks, which are related to their complex composition and the cross-linked structure. Nevertheless, there are some widely used methods for managing waste tires [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. At present, the most popular approach in waste tires utilization is energy recovery or obtaining liquid or gaseous fuel (burning, pyrolysis, gasification, etc.).…”

Structural Changes and Their Implications in Foamed Flexible Polyurethane Composites Filled with Rapeseed Oil-Treated Ground Tire Rubber

“…Ground tire rubber (GTR) is a waste material generated currently in enormous amounts during material recycling of post-consumer car tires. At present, literature works analyzed the application of GTR in the manufacturing of acoustic insulation [1], damping layers [2], asphalts [3], highway embankments [4], or concretes [5]. Moreover, this material can be applied in steelmaking.…”

Experimental and Computational Analyses of Sustainable Approaches in Railways

“…Scrap tires offer several benefits when used in construction, including their low unit weight, effective drainage, excellent thermal insulation, high compressibility, and notable vibration-damping qualities [7,8]. These attributes have led to an increased adoption of rubber granules for various applications, such as subgrade and embankment materials, trench fill material [9,10], drainage layers in highways [11], vibration attenuation in railway tracks [12], asphalt rubber manufacture [13], and subgrade insulation in roads [14], among other uses. It is believed that scrap tires have minimal impact on soil and groundwater quality since they are manufactured using inert (non-reactive) substances.…”