Unsaturated Characteristics of Fouled Ballast to Support In Situ Identification of Fouling Using Ground Penetrating Radar – Phase II

Details

• Creators:
  Kulesza, Stacey ; Barry, Michelle L ; Sarker, Debojit ; Feng, Ruimin ; Radnor, William ; Parr, Kyle
• Corporate Creators:
  Texas State University--San Marcos ; Kansas State University ; University of Arkansas
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Railroad Policy and Development ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research, Development and Technology
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Ballast (Railroads)
  • Fouling (Naval architecture)
  • Deterioration by environmental action
  • Direct shear tests
  • Railroad tracks Ballast stability detection technology
  • Suction water characteristic curves
  • Complex impedance
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT/FRA/ORD-23/18
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Contracting Officer:
  Thompson, Hugh
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Railroad Policy and Development ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research, Development, and Technology
• Abstract:
  The Federal Railroad Administration funded researchers from Kansas State University and the University of Arkansas to establish the electromagnetic, suction, and strength characteristics of fouled ballast as a function of the fouling material and volumetric water content. The team previously established the unsaturated characteristics of various fouling materials and preliminary large scale strength measurements in Phase I. In Phase II, researchers developed a custom electromagnetic sensor. The two research teams conducted experiments from October 2020 through January 2022. They worked with two types of clean ballast and specimens of fouled granitic ballast comprised of various percentages of four fouling materials over a range of volumetric water contents. Ultimately, the team showed the potential for broad spectrum complex impedance measurements to support ground penetrating radar in the field with a full wave form inversion to rapidly identify the type of fouling, degree of fouling, and loss of strength due to fouling.
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/68246/dot_68246_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.48 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Federal Railroad Administration
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9e43979d1a171ade7fc50c5fdd492a6692ee72ae830504834edaf5bdb14ef5e9805d5c3fe12e9fbc45fbc0e66d7746323647f5a3c34e6a766bbc16fa0e3c76a8