Train loading effects in railway geotechnical engineering: ground response, analysis, measurement and interpretation

Abstract

The engineered support system and the natural ground below a railway track are subjected to potentially many millions of cycles involving the application of moving loads. Thus dynamic, inertial and rate of loading effects, which can reasonably be neglected in many geotechnical applications, may need to be considered – along with the associated response of the geomaterials. Differences in the spacing of wheels along a train (e.g. between axles on the same bogie, and between bogies on the same or adjoining carriages) result in a spectrum of loading frequencies, rather than a single representative value. The dominant loading frequencies within the spectrum may vary with depth or distance from the track, and may be of differing importance in relation to different phenomena. All this has implications for the measurement and interpretation of data, and for the acceptability of simplifications made in testing and analysing the response of the ground and geotechnical structures. This paper summarises and discusses recent developments and thinking in these areas, in relation to the performance of ballasted railway track subjected to moving loads from trains travelling at a range of speeds.

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Identifiers

ORCID for William Powrie: orcid.org/0000-0002-2271-0826

ORCID for Louis Le Pen: orcid.org/0000-0002-4362-3895

ORCID for David Milne: orcid.org/0000-0001-6702-3918

ORCID for David Thompson: orcid.org/0000-0002-7964-5906

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