• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.713-723
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• 2017

As a new type of ballastless track, longitudinal continuous slab track (CST) has been widely used in China. It can partly isolate the interaction between the ballastless track and the bridge and thus the rail expansion device would be unnecessary. Compared with the traditional track, CST is composed of multi layers of continuous structures and various connecting components. In order to investigate the performance of CST on a long-span bridge, the spatial finite element model considering each layer of the CST structure, connecting components, bridge, and subgrade is established and verified according to the theory of beam-rail interaction. The nonlinear resistance of materials between multilayer track structures is measured by experiments, while the temperature gradients of the bridge and CST are based on the long-term measured data. This study compares the force distribution rules of ballasted track and CST as respectively applied to a long span bridge. The effects of different damage conditions on CST structures are also discussed. The results show that the additional rail stress is small and the CST structure has a high safety factor under the measured temperature load. The rail expansion device can be cancelled when CST is adopted on the long span bridge. Beam end rotation caused by temperature gradient and vertical load will have a significant effect on the rail stress of CST. The additional flexure stress should be considered with the additional expansion stress simultaneously when the rail stress of CST requires to be checked. Both the maximum sliding friction coefficient of sliding layer and cracking condition of concrete plate should be considered to decide the arrangement of connecting components and the ultimate expansion span of the bridge when adopting CST.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.83-99
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• 2023

The temperature prediction approaches of three important locations in an operational longitudinal slab track-bridge structure by using three typical neural network methods based on the field measuring platform of four meteorological factors and internal temperature. The measurement experiment of four meteorological factors (e.g., ambient temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, and humidity) temperature in the three locations of the longitudinal slab and base plate of three important locations (e.g., mid-span, beam end, and Wide-Narrow Joint) were conducted, and then their characteristics were analyzed, respectively. Furthermore, temperature prediction effects of three locations under five various meteorological conditions are tested by using three neural network methods, respectively, including the Artificial Neural Network (ANN), the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), and the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). More importantly, the predicted effects of solar radiation in four meteorological factors could be identified with three indicators (e.g., Root Means Square Error, Mean Absolute Error, Correlation Coefficient of R2). In addition, the LSTM method shows the best performance, while the CNN method has the best prediction effect by only considering a single meteorological factor.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.40-46
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• 2013

Based on Korean railway design standards, the thicknesses of the reinforced roadbeds of conventional and high speed railways are different, and so too, for the size distribution of the ballast particles. Accordingly, considerable cost would be required to increase operating speeds of conventional lines, in particular related to changing from a ballasted track system to a ballastless one. In this study, applicability of a roadbed which supports conventional ballasted track, for use as a ballastless track for a high speed rail line was examined. A reinforced roadbed for a conventional railway is 20cm thick, and the type of material used for a conventional reinforced roadbed is M-40 (crushed gravel for road embankments). A dynamics test was conducted to evaluate the occurrence of the permanent settlement of the track substructure. These results suggest that, without changes to the track substructure, an operational speed of 400km/h is feasible with a ballastless track. This result; however, is from laboratory experiments. Further studies, such as numerical analyses or field validation, are required.

• International Journal of Railway
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.46-56
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• 2014

The superstructure of the railway track undertakes the forces that develop during train passage and distributes them towards its seating. The track panel plays a key role in terms of load distribution, while at the same time it maintains the geometrical distance between the rails. The substructure and ballast undergo residual deformations under high stresses that contribute to the deterioration of the so-called geometry of the track. The track stiffness is the primary contributing factor to the amount of the stresses that develop on the substructure and is directly influenced by the fastening resilience. Four methods from the international literature are used in this paper to calculate the loads and stresses on the track substructure and the results are compared and discussed. A parametric investigation of the stresses that develop on the substructure of different types of railway tracks (i.e. balastless vs ballasted) is performed and the results are presented as a function of the total static track stiffness.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.81-89
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• 2023

A simplified calculation method of natural vibration characteristics of high-speed railway multi-span bridge-longitudinal ballastless track system is proposed. The rail, track slab, base slab, main beam, bearing, pier, cap and pile foundation are taken into account, and the multi-span longitudinal ballastless track-beam-bearing-pier-cap-pile foundation integrated model (MBTIM) is established. The energy equation of each component of the MBTIM based on Timoshenko beam theory is constructed. Using the improved Fourier series, and the Rayleigh-Ritz method and Hamilton principle are combined to obtain the extremum of the total energy function. The simplified calculation formula of the natural vibration frequency of the MBTIM under the influence of vertical and longitudinal vibration is derived and verified by numerical methods. The influence law of the natural vibration frequency of the MBTIM is analyzed considering and not considering the participation of each component of the MBTIM, the damage of the track interlayer component and the stiffness change of each layer component. The results show that the error between the calculation results of the formula and the numerical method in this paper is less than 3%, which verifies the correctness of the method in this paper. The high-order frequency of the MBTIM is significantly affected considering the track, bridge pier, pile soil and pile cap, while considering the influence of pile cap on the low-order and high-order frequency of the MBTIM is large. The influence of component damage such as void beneath slab, mortar debonding and fastener failure on each order frequency of the MBTIM is basically the same, and the influence of component damage less than 10m on the first fourteen order frequency of the MBTIM is small. The bending stiffness of track slab and rail has no obvious influence on the natural frequency of the MBTIM, and the bending stiffness of main beam has influence on the natural frequency of the MBTIM. The bending stiffness of pier and base slab only has obvious influence on the high-order frequency of the MBTIM. The natural vibration characteristics of the MBTIM play an important guiding role in the safety analysis of high-speed train running, the damage detection of track-bridge structure and the seismic design of railway bridge.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.1222-1229
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• 2011

Railway bridges are divided into ballastless and ballast track bridges. The ballast abrasion occurs on the ballast track upon bridges more than soil roadbed because the track vibration occurs a lot in the ballast track upon bridges due to girder vibration when a train's weight is loaded onto track even though the identical ballast is used. The phenomena of mud pumping especially, which occurs when drainage is not properly secured for heavy rain, leads to the increase of maintenance work load and the decline of ride comfort. There are countermeasures such as ballast change, installation of cross-drainage for poor drainage, gutter establishment, ballast lifting methods, ballast mats and resilient sleepers laying for the mud pumping. The ballast thickness range in domestic railroad construction rule is uniformly set up according to the design speed of railroad and passing tonnage of train without considering field conditions which is considered in foreign railroad companies. The purpose of this study is to verify the effect of vibration decrease by measuring the acceleration, displacement and ride comfort of ballast track with the change of ballast thickness on the ballast track bridges and to suggest the optimal height of ballast on the Yocheon Bridge built for the test in Honam Line.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.481-492
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• 2020

To study the rail mapped deformation caused by the pier settlement of simply - supported bridges with China Railway Track System III (CRTS III) slab ballastless track (SBT) system under the mode of non-longitudinal connection ballastless track slab, this study derived an analytical solution to the mapped relationships between pier settlement and rail deformation based on the interlayer interaction mechanism of rail-pier and principle of stationary potential energy. The analytical calculation results were compared with the numerical results obtained by ANSYS finite element calculation, thus verifying the accuracy of analytical method. A parameter analysis was conducted on the key factors in rail mapped deformation such as pier settlement, fastener stiffness, and self-compacting concrete (SCC) stiffness of filling layer. The results indicate that rail deformation is approximately proportional to pier settlement. The smaller the fastener stiffness, the smoother the rail deformation curve and the longer the rail deformation area is. With the increase in the stiffness of SCC filling layer, the maximum positive deformation of rail gradually decreases, and the maximum negative deformation gradually increases. The deformation of rail caused by the pier settlement of common-span bridge structures will generate low-frequency excitation on high-speed trains.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.75 no.4
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• pp.497-506
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• 2020

CA mortar layer disengagement will give rise to the overall structural changes of the track and variation in the vibration form of the ballastless track. By establishing a vehicle-track-viaduct coupling analysis and calculation model, it is possible to analyze the CRTS-I type track structure vibration response while the track slab is disengaging with the power flow evaluation method, to compare the two disengaging types, namely partial contact loss at one edge beneath track slab and partial contact loss at midpoint beneath track slab. It can also study how the length of disengaging influences the track structures vibration power. It is showed that when the partial contact loss beneath track slab, and the relative vibration energy level between the rail and the track slab increases significantly within [10, 200]Hz with the same disengaging length, the partial contact loss at one edge beneath track slab has more prominent influence on the vibration power than the partial contact loss at midpoint beneath track slab. With the increase of disengaging length, the relative vibration energy level of the track slab grows sharply, but it will change significantly when it reaches 1.56 m. Little effect will be caused by the relative vibration energy level of the viaduct. The partial contact loss beneath the track slab will cause more power distribution and transmission between the trail and track slab, and will then affect the service life of the rail and track slab.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.261-274
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• 2021

In a railway bridge, the CRTS II slab ballastless track is subjected to interlayer connection failures, such as void under slab, mortar debonding, and fastener fracture. This study investigates the influences of interlayer connection failure on the safe operation of high-speed trains. First, a train-track-bridge coupled vibration model and a bridge-track deformation model are established to study the running safety of a train passing a deformed bridge with interlayer connection failure. For each type of the interlayer connection failure, the effects of the failure locations and ranges on the track irregularity are studied using the deformation model. Under additional bridge deformation, the effects of interlayer connection failure on the dynamic responses of the train are investigated by using the track irregularity as the excitation to the vibration model. Finally, parametric studies are conducted to determine the thresholds of additional bridge deformations considering interlayer connection failure. Results show that the interlayer connection failure significantly affects the running safety of high-speed train and must be considered in determining the safety thresholds of additional bridge deformation in the asset management of high-speed railway bridges.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2010

The track systems installed in Korea railway consist of two types on ballasted track or ballastless track. In this study, it was compared with difference of the behaviors at roadbed with cyclic loading through full scale model test. From the results of model tests, loading distribution ratio of the concrete slab track become more widely distributed than ballasted track, and loading distribution ratio at concrete track was about 30:20:15. The concrete slab track is likely to behavior of the rigid plate, while ballasted track is such as flexible pavement. The vertical stresses of upper roadbed with traffic cyclic loading in concrete track were measured about 30 kPa or less. It was a scene very similar to the results of the field train running test. The vertical stress at concrete track was occurred approximately 4 times smaller than ballasted track. Also, the soil velocities with cyclic loading at the slab track were occurred about 0.3 cm/sec or less, its 8 times smaller than ballasted track.