Mechanical behavior of fouled polyurethane stabilized ballast (PSB).

Details

• Creators:
  Dolcek, Tolga ; Warren, Benjamin ; Tinjum, James M. ; Edil, Tuncer B.
• Corporate Creators:
  National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (U.S.)
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Railroad tracks
  • Ballast (Railroads)
  • Polyurethane resins
  • Flexural strength
  • Compressive strength
  • Maintenance of way
  • Preventive maintenance
  • Mechanical properties
• Publication/ Report Number:
  CFIRE 07-01
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (U.S.)
• Abstract:
  The United State (US) Department of Transportation (DOT) estimates that the demand for rail freight transportation (tonnage) will ; increase 88% by 2035, North American railroads spend about $3.4 billion every year on track substructure maintenance and renewal ; due to track-component degradation. With increase in traffic density and weight will cause more deformation and consequently more ; maintenance of the ballast layer. It is necessary to develop an alternative method in order to decrease maintenance cost. One such ; method is injection of polyurethane resin at critical locations in the ballast. It has been demonstrated that this method is effective on ; clean ballast as a preventive measure. This study is aimed at evaluating its effectiveness in remediating already fouled ballast. Thus, ; clean ballast was mixed with various types of fouling at different amounts, water contents, and sealed in rectangular (76 mm x 76 mm ; x 290 mm) and cylindrical (254 mm x 508 mm) molds. The polyurethane was injected into the molds and the specimens were allowed ; to cure for 24 hours. This testing protocol was developed to quantify plastic deformation, flexural strength and unconfined ; compressive strength of the fouling ballast stabilized by polyurethane. The results show that the injection of polyurethane into fouled ; ballast significantly reduces plastic strain, increase strength, and minimize fines intrusion. Increasing amount of fouling material and ; water content reduces strength and increase plastic strain. Results of this study are also compared with previous study conducted on ; clean ballast induced by polyurethane. It is found that a use of polyurethane injection into the ballast can be a fast and cost effective ; solution for maintenance of the railway systems.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  DTRT06-G-0020
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/27718/dot_27718_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 18.57 MB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:d748872f40f673e7998065a8152850eadc7884bd85a08ca5d355e45658120b53