• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.796-804
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• 2008

Various design factors should be considered in order to apply the concrete slab track system on the soil/rock roadbed. One of the important factors is the settlement of roadbed. This settlement of concrete track should be supervised under the allowable settlement limit. If the settlement of roadbed under the concrete track exceed the allowable limit, the train serviceability will considerably come down and furthermore the fatal disaster may happen. Therefore, in this paper we introduced a digitalized grouting method as a settlement restoration method that can be suitably adopted to the concrete slab track. And we also evaluated the train service stability through the analysis of the track behavior according to the difference of the stiffness between the grouted part and the original roadbed.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1149-1155
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• 2007

The transition area between a bridge and an earthwork is one of the weakest area of track because of the track geometry deterioration caused unequal settlement of backfill of abutment. In case of a ballastless track, the approach slab is installed to prevent the phenomenon. But, if there is occurred the inclined displacement on the approach slab by a settlement of the foundation or formation, the track is also under the inclined displacement. And this defect causes reducing the running stability of a vehicle, the riding comfort of passengers, and the deteriorations of track by excessive impact subjected to the track. In this study, parametric studies were performed to know what is the allowable displacement limit on the approach slab to avoid such a bad effect. The length and amount of unequal settlement of the approach slab was adopted as parameter for numerical analysis. And car body accelerations, variations of wheel force and rail stress and uplift force induced on a fastener clip are investigated. From the result, resonable settlement limits of an approach slab according to slab length was suggested.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.195-202
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• 2008

The transition area between a bridge and an earthwork is one of the weakest area of track because of the track geometry deterioration caused unequal settlement of backfill of abutment. In case of a ballastless track, the approach slab could be installed to prevent such a phenomenon. But, if there is occurred the inclined displacement on the approach slab by a settlement of the foundation or formation, the track is also under the inclined displacement. And this defect causes reducing the running stability of a vehicle, the riding comfort of passengers, and increasing the track deteriorations by excessive impact force acting on the track. In this study, parametric studies were performed to investigate the displacement limit on the approach slab to avoid such problems. The length and the amount of unequal settlement of approach slab were adopted as parameter for numerical analysis considering vehicle-track interaction. Car body accelerations, variations of wheel force, stresses in rail, and uplift forces induced on fastener clip were investigated. From the result, resonable settlement limit on the end of an approach slab according to slab length was suggested.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.268-274
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• 2011

In railway, Ballast plays an essential role as intermedium in transmitting train load to subgrade safely. Gyoung-Bu HSL 1st phase consists of ballasted track except for over 5km long tunnels. Ballast track occurred track irregularity by train loads and requires periodic maintenance work. However, Repetitive train operation and tamping work cause to accelerate track irregularity and ballast deterioration such as abrasion and crushing. For these reason, Track irregularity areas had occurred ballast cleaning work to improve track quality. However, for the train to run safety, ballast cleaner working area needs train speed reduction and track stabilization work due to ballast relaxation and initial settlement. In this study, according to train speed-up and cumulative traffic tonnage, we measured and analyzed the track settlement and acceleration of sleepers to evaluate of track stabilization in order to keep the ballast condition stable after cleaning work.

• 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 GEO-environmental Society
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.39-45
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• 2023

In this paper, a track irregularity according to adjacent deep excavation of railway was analyzed using three-dimensional numerical analysis. The construction for excavation adjacent to the railway track is likely to have a negative impact on train operations. Despite mandatory assessments of the stability and impact on adjacent structures during construction, reports continue to indicate ongoing settlement and track irregularity resulting from construction. Changes in the groundwater level and stress state of the ground due to excavation are pointed out as causes for settlement and track irregularity in structures adjacent to the excavation. In this study, therefore, numerical analysis was conducted taking into account factors that induce track irregularity during adjacent excavation work as variables. The KRL-2012 standard train load was applied to simulate operating trains. As a results, The position of the train load, the distance from the excavation point, had a significant impact on track irregularity, and there was a significant occurrence of track misalignment when the train load was applied. The impact of the groundwater level was not significant.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.10 no.3 s.40
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• pp.296-305
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• 2007

A numerical method for the analysis of train/slab-track interaction on the settled roadbed is developed based on the already developed analysis method of train/ballast-track interaction. The concrete slabs composed of the upper track concrete layer and the lower hydraulic bonded layer are modelled by a equivalent beam. The supporting stiffness of roadbed is evaluated with the modified boussinesq method suggested by Eisenmann. The track irregularity and the gap between slab and roadbed induced by settlement of roadbed are calculated by the effective method newly presented in this study. The validation of the developed method is investigated by a numerical example. The effects of train speed on train and slab track on the settled roadbed with sinusoidal shape of wave length 20m and amplitude 20mm are reviewed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.15-25
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• 2018

Post-construction subgrade settlement especially differential settlement, has become a key issue in construction and operation of non-ballasted track on high-speed railway soil subgrade, which may also affect the dynamic performance of passing trains. To estimate the effect of differential subgrade settlement on the mechanical behaviors of the vehicle-slab track system, a detailed model considering nonlinear subgrade support and initial track state due to track self-weight is developed. Accordingly, analysis aiming at a typical high-speed vehicle coupled with a deteriorated slab track owing to differential subgrade settlement is carried out, in terms of two aspects: (i) determination of an initial mapping relationship between subgrade settlement and track deflections as well as contact state between track and subgrade based on a semi-analytical method; (ii) simulation of dynamic performance of the coupled system by employing a time integration approach. The investigation indicates that subgrade settlement results in additional track irregularity, and locally, the contact between the concrete track and the soil subgrade is prone to failure. Moreover, wheel-rail interaction is significantly exacerbated by the track degradation and abnormal responses occur as a result of the unsupported areas. Distributions of interlaminar contact forces in track system vary dramatically due to the combined effect of track deterioration and dynamic load. These may not only intensify the dynamic responses of the coupled system, but also have impacts on the long-term behavior of the track components.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.129-134
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• 2003

It is very important to pay careful attention to construction of bridge/earthwork transition zone for high-speed railway. The transition zone of the railway is the section which roadbed stiffness is suddenly varied. Differences in stiffness have dynamic effects and these increase the forces in the track and the extent of deformation. An abrupt change of stiffness across two adjacent track portions cause irregular settlement of roadbed, track irregularity, lack of girder bending moment and reduction of lateral resistance. Especially on high-speed railway, track irregularity of transition zone cause sincere effect to track stability and train safety. And so continuous maintenance is needed. To verify this effect and to improve transiton zone capacity, In situ test, track irregularity and train acceleration test were performed on high-speed railway bridge/earthwork Transiton Zone.

• 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.