Analysis of compaction of railway ballast by different maintenance methods using DEM

Abstract

Railway traffic continuously increasing, ballasted tracks need more efficient maintenance processes. Lines with long welded rails which are prone to buckling during heat waves require stabilisation before being fully operational. Stabilisation is performed either naturally using regular traffic at penalising lower speeds, dynamic stabilisation of sleepers or alternatively crib compaction. The objective of this paper is to apply the NSCD approach of DEM to simulate the processes of dynamic stabilisation and crib compaction as they are realised on site and compare their performance in terms of ballast compaction and lateral resistance. The results showed that NSCD is perfectly appropriate to simulate these maintenance processes and estimate their performance.