Effect of Random Lateral Ballast Resistance on Force-Deformation Characteristics of CWR with a Small-Radius Curve

Abstract

To address the randomness of lateral ballast resistance in the field and its effect on the force-deformation behavior of Continuous Welded Rail (CWR) with small-radius curves, field tests were first conducted to investigate longitudinal and lateral ballast resistance on a 250 m-radius curve. It was found that the lateral ballast resistance follows a normal distribution based on the Shapiro–Wilk test. A finite element model of a small-radius curve CWR track was then established based on actual field conditions, and the force-deformation characteristics were analyzed under thermal loading. The results showed that it is of great significance to incorporate the randomness of the lateral ballast resistance as the deformation mode is closer to the actual field situation. In particular, attention should be given to areas where the lateral ballast resistance is weak. The research presented here has significant implications for railway maintenance practice.

Determining the Deformation Characteristics of Railway Ballast by Mathematical Modeling of Elastic Wave Propagation

“…Figure 6 displays the deformation gradient of the ballast layer, which illustrates how its deformation changes with depth. The obtained numerical results correspond to the expected values and are consistent with those presented in other studies, such as [32,33]. In this paper, they are obtained to compare the deformation characteristics of the ballast under different conditions.…”