Shigeaki ONO, Makoto ISHIDA, Masao UCHIDA
The quantification of gradual progress of ballast settelemnt is one of the main issues for reducing maintenance costs. This paper describes the possibility of prediciting gradual progress of ballast settlement by using a track dynamic model. The sleeper-ballast force for each sleeper is estimated under certain initial track irregularities. Then ballast settlement is predicted with a ballast settlement law experimentally obtained by the authors. Thus, the longitudinal extension of the track geometry irregularity can be predicted. The influence fo train speed, rail type and track stiffness upon track irregularity growth is also discussed.
Copyright (c) 2001 Railway Technical Research Institute