• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.395-403
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• 2007

Railroad track consists of relatively simple structures such as rail, sleeper, ballast. Roadbed shares vertical pressure by train load which passed through rail to ballast as base that supports the track. For evaluating stress and displacement of roadbed due to the railroad load is an important role on the track as a basic data for estimation of the durability and design of the roadbed thickness. GEOTRACK program applied multi-layered theory was developed for analyzing railroad track structure. GEOTRACK program is a sort of numerical analysis program which has advantage that can analysis component of track by simple method. In this study, this program was used to preform the numerical analysis by changing track conditions and roadbed conditions such as tie, reinforced roadbed, dynamic wheel load, Resilient modulus and so on. Further detail will be presented on the paper.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.1188-1195
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• 2007

The vertical forces in rail fasteners at areas of bridge transitions near the embankment and on the pier will occur due to different deformations of adjoining bridges caused by the trainloads, the settlement of supports, and the temperature gradients. The up-lifting forces is not large problem in the blast track because the elasticity of blast and rail pad buffs up-lifting effect. But, it is likely to be difficult to ensure the serviceability of the railway and the safety of the fastener in the end in that concrete slab track consist of rail, fastener, and track in a single body, delivering directly the up-lifting force to the fastener if the deck is bended because of various load cases, such as the end rotation of the overhang due to the vertical load, the bending of pier due to acceleration/braking force and temperature deviation, the settlement of embankment and pier, the temperature deviation of up-down deck and front-back pier, and the rail deformation due to wheel loads. The analysis of the rail fastener is made to verify the superposed tension forces in the rail fastener due to various load cases, temperature gradients and settlement of supports. The potential critical fasteners with the highest uplift forces are the fastener adjacent to the civil joint. The main influence factors are the geometry of the bridge such as, the beneath length of overhang, relative position of bridge bearing and fastener, deflection of bridge and the vertical spring stiffness of the fastener.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.283-289
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• 2004

According to continuos welded rails on a bridge, temperature changes bring about the expansion of the bridge deck adding axil forces on the track. Moreover, the ballast on the bridge deck expansion joint is moved due to the bridge deck. If bridge decks are longer, the influence is greater, loosening ballast, causing track irregularities, and deteriorating passengers' comfort. Considering structure of bridge itself and tolerance of track irregularities caused by the loosened ballast on bridges, the maximum length of a deck should be less than 80m, which is the same as the standard of the French railway. In this study, an interaction between the expansion related to the bridge length and irregularity in longitudinal level referring to measurements and maintenance works performed in the high-speed railways was analyzed. This research shows that installation of sliding plate or vertical ballast stopper is not a good option since it is difficult to install. On the other hand, installation of movable fastener or gluing is easy but its influence is insignificant. To conclude, switch tie tamping or manual tamping is more effective than others.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.467-478
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• 2019

Running safety and ride comfort of high speed railway largely depend on the track geometry that is dependent on the bridge deformation. This study presents a theoretical study on mapping the bridge vertical deformations to the change of track geometry. Analytical formulae are derived through the theoretical analysis to quantify the track geometry change, and validated against the finite element analysis and experimental data. Based on the theoretical formulae, parametric studies are conducted to evaluate the effects of key parameters on the track geometry of a high speed railway. The results show that the derived formulae provide reasonable prediction of the track geometry change under various bridge vertical deformations. The rail deflection increases with the magnitude of bridge pier settlement and vertical girder fault. Increasing the stiffness of the fasteners or mortar layer tends to cause a steep rail deformation curve, which is undesired for the running safety and ride comfort of high-speed railway.

• International Journal of Railway
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.107-111
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• 2013

In order to constrain the railway roadbed settlement which causes track irregularity, and thus threats running stability and ride quality, advanced Back-to-Back (BTB) reinforced retaining wall was numerically analyzed as railway roadbed structure. This study is intended to improve conventional Back-to-Back reinforced retaining wall as the technology which would reduce the roadbed settlement in a way of constraining the lateral displacement of its prestressed vertical facing and inducing arching effects in roadbed (backfill) placed between masonry diaphragm wall and vertical facing. As a result of numerical analysis, it was found that the roadbed settlement was reduced by 10% due to the prestressed vertical facing and embedded masonry diaphragm wall of the advanced Back-to-Back reinforced retaining wall system.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.1519-1524
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• 2009

Construction of high-speed concrete track embankments over soft ground needs many of the ground improvement techniques. Drains, surcharge loading, and geosynthetic reinforcement, have all been used to solve the settlement and embankment stability issues associated with construction on soft soils. However, when time constraints are critical to the success of the project, another measures should be considered. Especially, since the design criteria of residual settlement is limited as 30mm for concrete track embankment, it is very difficult to satisfy this allowable settlement by using the former construction method. Pile net method consist of vertical columns that are designed to transfer the load of the embankment through the soft compressible soil layer to a firm foundation and one or more layers of geosynthetic reinforcement placed between the top of the columns and the bottom of the embankment. In this paper, three cases with different embankment height and number of geosynthetic reinforcement, were studied through FEM analysis for efficient use of pile net method.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.473-488
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• 2022

A high-speed railway (HSR) bridge may undergo long-term deformation due to the degradation of material stiffness, or foundation settlement during its service cycle. In this study, an analytical model is set up to evaluate the influence of this long-term vertical bridge deformation on the track geometry. By analyzing the structural characteristics of the HSR track-bridge system, the energy variational principle is applied to build the energy functionals for major components of the track-bridge system. By further taking into account the interlayer's force balancing requirements, the mapping relationship between the deformation of the track and the one of the bridge is established. In order to consider the different behaviors of the interlayers in compression and tension, an iterative method is introduced to update the mapping relationship. As for the validation of the proposed mapping model, a finite element model is created to compare the numerical results with the analytical results, which show a good agreement. Thereafter, the effects of the interlayer's different properties of tension and compression on the mapping deformations are further evaluated and discussed.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.1695-1704
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• 2008

The problems associated with constructing high-speed concrete track embankments over soft compressible soil has lead to the development and/or extensive use of many of the ground improvement techniques used today. Drains, surcharge loading, and geosynthetic reinforcement, have all been used to solve the settlement and embankment stability issues associated with construction on soft soils. However, when time constraints are critical to the success of the project, owners have resorted to another innovative approach. Especially, the design criteria of residual settlement is limited as 30mm for concrete track embankment, it is very difficult to satisfy this standard using the former construction method. Pile net method consist of vertical columns that are designed to transfer the load of the embankment through the soft compressible soil layer to a firm foundation and one or more layers of geosynthetic reinforcement placed between the top of the columns and the bottom of the embankment. This paper will present the guidelines for the design of pile net method to supported embankments. These guidelines were developed based on a review of current design methodologies and a parametric study of design variables using numerical modeling.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.131-157
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• 2014

Special track systems used to divert a train to other directions or other tracks are generally called 'railway turnout'. A traditional turnout system consists of steel rails, switches, crossings, steel plates, fasteners, screw spikes, timber bearers, ballast and formation. The wheel rail contact over the crossing transfer zone has a dip-like shape and can often cause detrimental impact loads on the railway track and its components. The large impact also emits disturbing noises (either impact or ground-borne noise) to railway neighbors. In a brown-field railway track where an existing aged infrastructure requires renewal or maintenance, some physical constraints and construction complexities may dominate the choice of track forms or certain components. With the difficulty to seek for high-quality timbers with dimensional stability, a methodology to replace aged timber bearers in harsh dynamic environments is to adopt an alternative material that could mimic responses and characteristics of timber in both static and dynamic loading conditions. A critical review has suggested an application of an alternative material called fibre-reinforced foamed urethane (FFU). The full-scale capacity design makes use of its comparable engineering characteristics to timber, high-impact attenuation, high damping property, and a longer service life. A field trial to investigate in-situ behaviours of a turnout grillage system using an alternative material, 'fibre-reinforced foamed urethane (FFU)' bearers, has been carried out at a complex turnout junction under heavy mixed traffics at Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia. The turnout junction was renewed using the FFU bearers altogether with new special track components. Influences of the FFU bearers on track geometry (recorded by track inspection vehicle 'AK Car'), track settlement (based on survey data), track dynamics, and acoustic characteristics have been measured. Operational train pass-by measurements have been analysed to evaluate the effectiveness of the replacement methodology. Comparative studies show that the use of FFU bearers generates higher rail and sleeper accelerations but the damping capacity of the FFU help suppress vibration transferring onto other track components. The survey data analysis suggests a small vertical settlement and negligible lateral movement of the turnout system. The static and dynamic behaviours of FFU bearers appear to equate that of natural timber but its service life is superior.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.9 no.3 s.34
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• pp.298-304
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• 2006

An active application of concrete track is being expected for the future constructions of Korean railroad. For the successful concrete track construction and design in earthwork areas, the roadbed behavior should be reasonably estimated using the proper analysis method. In this paper, behaviors of concrete track on the reinforced roadbed constructed with the standard stiffness and depth were estimated thorough numerical analyses and field measurements. A three dimensional finite difference method was employed to model the concrete tracks and subground. The settlement and vertical pressures caused by train load were estimated by the numerical method and compared with the field measurement results. The bearing characteristics of roadbed were presented and the proper method for the analysis of concrete track was proposed.