Resin recovery and the use of computed tomography for quantitative image analysis of railway ballast
Resin recovery and the use of computed tomography for quantitative image analysis of railway ballast
Over its life cycle, railway ballast undergoes changes to its fabric structure due to train loading and maintenance (e.g. tamping). Understanding these changes and linking them quantitatively to the loading regime has the potential to inform improved designs for new track and more cost-effective maintenance of the existing network. However, a method for recovering samples of ballast from in service track with the fabric structure preserved for detailed examination is required. This paper describes the development and application of such a method using a polyurethane resin, and demonstrates the ability of powerful X-ray scanners and CT (computed tomography) techniques to construct 3D images of recovered samples up to 300 mm in diameter. It is believed that obtaining preserved samples from in-service railway track and using CT scanning on such large samples have not been done before. To demonstrate the quality and versatility of the CT images illustrative results for CT analysis to measure the coordination number and particle orientation of the field samples obtained are also presented.
Le Pen, L.
4a38e256-d113-4bba-b0d4-32d41995928a
Ahmed, S.
8946ec30-34fd-4a8a-b3e9-89f326b57251
Zervos, A.
9e60164e-af2c-4776-af7d-dfc9a454c46e
Harkness, J.
026f02e8-41d9-403f-83be-0d880058ecf1
Powrie, W.
600c3f02-00f8-4486-ae4b-b4fc8ec77c3c
Pombo, J.
0cc58f53-b33b-4d3f-923c-8d6e18045fd0
April 2014
Le Pen, L.
4a38e256-d113-4bba-b0d4-32d41995928a
Ahmed, S.
8946ec30-34fd-4a8a-b3e9-89f326b57251
Zervos, A.
9e60164e-af2c-4776-af7d-dfc9a454c46e
Harkness, J.
026f02e8-41d9-403f-83be-0d880058ecf1
Powrie, W.
600c3f02-00f8-4486-ae4b-b4fc8ec77c3c
Pombo, J.
0cc58f53-b33b-4d3f-923c-8d6e18045fd0
Le Pen, L., Ahmed, S., Zervos, A., Harkness, J. and Powrie, W.
(2014)
Resin recovery and the use of computed tomography for quantitative image analysis of railway ballast.
Pombo, J.
(ed.)
The second International Conference on Railway Technology: Research, Development and Maintenance, Ajaccio, France.
08 - 11 Apr 2014.
15 pp
.
(doi:10.4203/ccp.104.130).
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
Over its life cycle, railway ballast undergoes changes to its fabric structure due to train loading and maintenance (e.g. tamping). Understanding these changes and linking them quantitatively to the loading regime has the potential to inform improved designs for new track and more cost-effective maintenance of the existing network. However, a method for recovering samples of ballast from in service track with the fabric structure preserved for detailed examination is required. This paper describes the development and application of such a method using a polyurethane resin, and demonstrates the ability of powerful X-ray scanners and CT (computed tomography) techniques to construct 3D images of recovered samples up to 300 mm in diameter. It is believed that obtaining preserved samples from in-service railway track and using CT scanning on such large samples have not been done before. To demonstrate the quality and versatility of the CT images illustrative results for CT analysis to measure the coordination number and particle orientation of the field samples obtained are also presented.
More information
Published date: April 2014
Venue - Dates:
The second International Conference on Railway Technology: Research, Development and Maintenance, Ajaccio, France, 2014-04-08 - 2014-04-11
Organisations:
Faculty of Engineering and the Environment
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 366500
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/366500
PURE UUID: b40b0597-af72-4b1e-8afc-5b0538dc3306
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Date deposited: 09 Jul 2014 13:04
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:24
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Contributors
Author:
S. Ahmed
Editor:
J. Pombo
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