1st Edition

Mechanics of Ballasted Rail Tracks A Geotechnical Perspective

By Buddhima Indraratna, Wadud Salim Copyright 2005
    248 Pages 153 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    In this book, the authors discuss testing of ballast, including the strength, deformation and degradation aspects of fresh and recycled ballast under monotonic and cyclic loading. The effectiveness of geosynthetics in stabilising recycled ballast has also been examined. A new stress-strain constitutive model for ballast incorporating particle breakage is presented. Finally, a new range of particle gradations, balancing the strength and permeability requirements, has been proposed for future rail tracks. This book is intended as a reference text for final year civil engineering students and postgraduates, and for practicing railway engineers with the task of modernizing existing designs.

    1. Introduction  2. Track Structure and Loading  3. Factors Governing Ballast Behaviour  4. State-of-the-Art Triaxial Testing of Ballast  5. Behaviour of Ballast with and without Geosynthetics  6. Existing Deformation Models  7. A New Constitutive Model for Ballast  8. Track Drainage and Use of Geosynthetics  9. Track Maintenance

    Biography

    Prof. Buddhima Indraratna is Professor of Civil Engineering at University of Wollongong, Wollongong City, Australia. He has been the team leader of a number of Railway Geotechnology research projects in Australia funded by the Australian Research Council and the Cooperative Research Centre for Railway Engineering in Australia.

    Dr. Wadud Salim is a Research Engineer at University of Wollongong. He has been working on railway geotechnology for the last 4-5 years. His special interest includes behaviour of railway ballast under cyclic loading. His research projects were sponsored by the Australian Research Council and Cooperative Research Centre for Railway Engineering, Australia. .

    "...The only book that deals with the degradation of ballast under both static and dynamic loads..." Robert L Smith (Australian Geomechanics, vol 40, December 2005)