Modelling of Railway Sleeper Settlement under Cyclic Loading Using a Hysteretic Ballast Contact Model

Ballasted tracks are common in the railway system as a means of providing the necessary support for the sleepers and the rails. To keep them operational, tamping and other maintenance actions are performed based on track geometry measurements. Ballast particle rearrangement, which is caused by train load, is one of the most important factors leading to track degradation. As a result, when planning maintenance, it is vital to predict the behaviour of the ballast under cyclic loading. Since ballast is a granular matter with a nonlinear and discontinuous mechanical behaviour, the discrete element method (DEM) was used in this paper to model the ballast particle rearrangement under cyclic loading. We studied the performance of linear and nonlinear models in simulating the settlement of the sleeper, the lateral deformation of the ballast shoulder and the porosity changes under the sleeper. The models were evaluated based on their ability to mimic the ballast degradation pattern in vertical and lateral direction. The linear contact model and the hysteretic contact model were used in the simulations, and the effect of the friction coefficient and different damping models on the simulations was assessed. An outcome of this study was that a nonlinear model was proposed in which both the linear and the hysteretic contact models are combined. The simulation of the sleeper settlement and the changes in the porosity under the sleeper improved in the proposed nonlinear model, while the computation time required for the proposed model decreased compared to that required for the linear model.

Static Liquefaction Capacity of Saturated Undisturbed Loess in South Jingyang Platform

According to a previous geological investigation, high-speed and long-distance loess landslides in the South Jingyang platform in Shaanxi Province are closely related to the static liquefaction of loess. Considering the typical loess landslides in this area, isotropic consolidated undrained (ICU) triaxial tests and scanning electron microscopy analyses were conducted in this study. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The stress-strain curves indicate strong strain softening under different confining pressures. The pore water pressure increases significantly and then remains at a high level; (2) The liquefaction potential index (LPI) shows an increasing trend followed by stabilization; the larger the LPI is, the smaller the state parameter (Ψ) is. The steady-state points of the loess are in the instability region; however, the steady-state strength is not zero; (3) Based on the ICU test results, the average pore diameter decreases; the shape ratio remains essentially unchanged; and the fractal dimension and roundness show different trends. The proportions of the macropore and mesopore decrease; that of the small pore increases slightly; and that of the micropore increases significantly; (4) The compression deformation of the highly spaced pores causes rapid strain hardening. A rapid strain softening results from the pore throat blockage at the beginning of particle rearrangement and reorganization. A stable strain softening is related to the agglomeration blocking of the reconstructed pore throat in the gradually stable stage of particle rearrangement and reorganization.

A Hybrid Model to Predict the Gyratory Compaction of Hot Mixed Asphalt

The compaction of asphalt mixture is crucial to the mechanical properties and the maintenance of the pavement. However, the mix design, which based on the compaction properties, remains largely on empirical data. We found difficulties to relate the aggregate size distribution and the asphalt binder properties to the compaction behavior in both the field and laboratory compaction of asphalt mixtures. In this paper, we would like to propose a simple hybrid model to predict the compaction of asphalt mixtures. In this model, we divided the compaction process into two mechanisms: (i) visco-plastic deformation of an ordered thickly-coated granular assembly, and (ii) the transition from an ordered system to a disordered system due to particle rearrangement. This model could take into account both the viscous properties of the asphalt binder and grain size distributions of the aggregates. Additionally, we suggest to use the discrete element method to understand the particle rearrangement during the compaction process. This model is calibrated based on the SuperPave gyratory compaction tests in the pavement lab. In the end, we compared the model results to experimental data to show that this model prediction had a good agreement with the experiments, thus, had great potentials to be implemented to improve the design of asphalt mixtures.

Contact-Hardening Behavior of Calcium Silicate Hydrate Powders

Calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) synthesized by a hydrothermal process from lime and siliceous materials was oven-dried and compressed into compacts. The microstructure and compaction properties of the resulting powders were characterized. The results show that the powders containing an amorphous structure become hardened compacts immediately after compression. Compacts with high strength but a relatively lower bulk density were produced. Amorphous C-S-H plays a key role in the bonding formation during powder compaction. According to the Heckel plots, particle rearrangement and plastic deformation were involved in the compaction of C-S-H powders. Point contact between C-S-H particles due to particle rearrangement dominates at a low compression pressure (i.e., <20 MPa). Van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonding are the main bonding types. Plastic deformation occurs at a higher compression pressure (i.e., >60 MPa), which results in surface contact. Consequently, a solid bridge forms, and the strength of compacts increases rapidly. These findings provide novel insight into the utilization of materials containing amorphous calcium silicate hydrate.