Engineering Test Research of XPS Insulation Structure Applied in High Speed Railway of Seasonal Frozen Soil Roadbed

AbstractDynamic performance and thermal properties of insulation materials are the key parameters during the insulation application for high-speed railway subgrade. This paper conducted field tests and field monitoring for the materials, especially for thermal performance, elastic deformation, and accumulated deformation of insulation materials. Experiment results show that mechanical properties of full section insulation layer structure is stable, which satisfies the requirements of the high speed railway

Performance Test and Stability Analysis of Jute Ecological Bag on Subgrade Slope

Ecological bags have been gradually adopted for ecological protection on the subgrade slope because of their good soil fixation effect, strong water retention performance, fast construction and other advantages. Ecological bags made of natural jute have obvious attributes in environmental protection and economic efficiency. In this study, the tensile and the tearing strength of the common-used jute cloth have been tested. The result shows that the strength meet the requirements of the standards. Compared with current frequently-used ecological bag made of non-woven cloth, the jute ecological bag has large apertures, which is suitable for the growth of dicotyledon plants. Moreover, its high friction coefficient with the soil is beneficial to the structure stability on the slope. On the other hand, a stability evaluation method has been established for the jute ecological bags on the subgrade slope under natural and heavy rainfall conditions. Then the steel wire mesh fixed by the anchor rods is used to enhance the stability of the jute ecological bags, which constitute the ecological protection system for the subgrade slope. Also, the stability of the protection system is analyzed and calculated

Investigation on Interface Damage between Cement Concrete Base Plate and Asphalt Concrete Waterproofing Layer under Temperature Load in Ballastless Track

The interfacial bond between cement concrete base plate (CCBP) and asphalt concrete waterproofing layer (ACWL) is a weak portion in the newly developed Chinese high-speed railway ballastless track. The interface damage caused due to fluctuating temperature load and dynamic train load is one of the most critical problems in Northern China. This paper aims to investigate the interface damage evolution process under temperature load via experimental and simulation analysis. Full-scale transverse shear tests were performed to explore the interface bond-slip mode of the adjacent ACWL and CCBP. Then, a finite element model of a ballastless track structure was built and a cohesive zone model (CZM) was utilized to model the interface damage initiation, crack propagation, and delamination process under uniform/gradient temperature load. Furthermore, the dynamic response of the ballastless track where CCBP and ACWL were partly/totally debonded was investigated and compared with the perfectly bonded structure. The results demonstrate that bilinear CZM is capable of revealing the interface damage initiation, crack propagation, and delamination process under temperature load. The interface state between the adjacent CCBP and ACWL was greatly affected by temperature changes and the interface bonding state had a great impact on the dynamic response of ballastless track

Dynamic Responses of Asphalt Concrete Waterproofing Layer in Ballastless Track

The application of asphalt concrete waterproofing layer (ACWL) for the subgrade has been a trend in Chinese high-speed railway. The purpose of this research is to discuss the dynamic characteristics of full cross-section ACWL in the ballastless track structure under the train loads. The laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of the asphalt mixtures for the ACWL and a test section of ACWL was constructed on the high-speed railway in north China. The linear viscoelastic behavior of the asphalt concrete obtained from the test section was characterized by the generalized Maxwell model according to the results of dynamic modulus test. Then a 3D finite element model for the interaction system of vehicle and ballastless track structure was presented and validated by field measured data. The results indicated that the tensile strain at the bottom of the ACWL was at a relatively low level and the vertical dynamic responses of each structural layer are obviously reduced due to the application of ACWL. Therefore, the full cross-section ACWL helps to reduce the vibration of the track structure and maintain the long-term stability of the subgrade

Study on Intelligent Compaction-Equipment Logistics Scheduling and Propagation Characteristics of Vibration Wave in Nonlinear Systems with Multistability Based on Field Test

The equipment scheduling and propagation characteristics of vibration wave from vibratory roller ⟶ filling material nonlinear systems with multistability are the core problems of subgrade intelligent construction technology, and the logistics scheduling of the equipment is directly related to the construction efficiency. Aiming at the shortages, one typical subgrade located at the Gu’an station of Beijing-Xiong’an city railway is selected to research and finish the field tests; some findings are shown as follows: first, some valuable suggestions about the logistics scheduling of intelligent equipment are proposed, which can break the barriers between the organizations and improve construction efficiency; second, when the vibration wave propagates from the vibratory roller ⟶ surface of filling material ⟶ different buried depths of filling material, the peak acceleration of vibration wave gradually decreases and is hyperbolic distribution approximately. At the same time, the sensitive of attenuation is shown as follows: Z0.9), and the concrete functional relationship among different amplitudes of harmonics can be summarized as y = Ae−BX; fourth, the vibration energy is mainly concentrated near 10–30 Hz in the vibratory roller, but when the vibration wave propagates from vibratory roller⟶filling material, the vibration energy gradually decreases with the increase in depth, and the marginal spectrum gradually changes from one peak to two peaks, that is, 30–50 Hz and 50–100 Hz; fifth, the vibration energy in the vibrational wheel is distributed averagely in the compaction process, and the effective compaction time is two seconds, which will be helpful for revealing the propagation characteristics of vibration wave, optimizing the compaction quality control models and providing some support for the development of intelligent compaction theory of railway subgrade

Experimental Study on Engineering Characteristics of High-Speed Railway Subgrade Filler in Island Permafrost Regions

The high-speed railway (HSR) subgrade has a strict settlement-control standard at the mm level, but its deformation stability is significantly threatened on permafrost with poor thermal stability and in susceptible-to-thawing settlements. Therefore, the filler suitable for permafrost regions needs to be explored and determined. In this study, the frost heaves, permeabilities and static strength characteristics of three coarse fillers were experimentally investigated, and the optimal subgrade filler was determined for the certain HSR, the first HSR in permafrost regions around the world. The test fillers include pure fillers, 5% cement improved fillers and 5% cement + 3% modifier improved fillers, and the effects of curing time, modifier content and freeze–thaw cycles were analyzed. The test results show that: (1) the frost heave rate and permeability coefficient decrease with the increase of curing time and modifier content, while increasing with the freeze-thaw cycles; (2) After six freeze–thaw cycles, the cement + modifier improved filler’s frost heave rate and permeability coefficient are 0.51 and 0.00331 cm/s, a larger decrease in the frost heave rate (more than 50%) and the permeability coefficient (about one order of magnitude) than that of pure filler; (3) The cement + modifier improved filler shares the highest compressive strength under different curing times and freeze-thaw cycles. In summary, the modifier has a more significant influence on the engineering characteristics than the curing time or freeze-thaw cycles, and the cement + modifier improved filler has the best comprehensive performance. This study will provide a technical reference for the foundation-treatment and disease-prevention of HSRs in island permafrost regions

Study on the Transmission and Evolution Characteristics of Vibration Wave from Vibratory Roller to Filling Materials Based on the Field Test

Compaction quality of railroad subgrade relates directly to the stability and safety of train operation, and the core problem of the Intelligent Compaction of railroads is the transmission and evolution characteristics of vibration wave. Aiming at the shortages in exploring the transmission and evolution characteristics of the vibration signal, the typical subgrade compaction project of Jingxiong Intercity Railway Gu’an Station was selected to carry out the field prototypes tests, and the dynamic response from the vibratory roller to filling materials was monitored in the whole compaction process, and some efficient field tests data will be obtained. Based on this, the transmission and evolution characteristics of the vibration wave from the vibratory roller to filling materials in the compaction process are studied from the time domain, frequency domain, jointed time–frequency domain and energy domain by using one new signal analysis technology—Hilbert–Huang Transform. Some conclusions are shown as follows: first, the vibration acceleration peak gradually decreases with the increase of buried depth, and when the buried depth reaches 1.8 m, the vibration acceleration peak is closed to zero. At the same time, when the vibration wave propagates from the wheel to the surface of filling, the attenuation rate of acceleration gradually increases with the increase of rolling compaction times, while the attenuation rate of other layers in different buried depths gradually decreases. Second, the vibration wave contains fundamental wave and multiple harmonics, and the dominant frequency of the fundamental wave is nearly 21 Hz. With the increase of buried depth, the amplitude of fundamental, primary, secondary, until fifth harmonics decreases exponentially and the concrete functional relationship among different amplitudes of harmonics can be summarized as y = Ae−BX. Third, the vibration energy focuses on the fundamental wave and primary wave, which can increase with the increase of rolling compaction times, and when the rolling compaction time reaches five, their energy reaches maximum. However, when the filling reaches a dense situation, the energy of the primary wave gradually decreases. Therefore, the maximum rolling compaction time is five in the practical engineering applications, which will be helpful for optimizing the compaction quality control models and providing some support for the development of the Intelligent Compaction theory of railway subgrade

Application of Mastic Asphalt Waterproofing Layer in High-Speed Railway Track in Cold Regions

Freeze-thaw damage is a typical distress incurred in road and railway engineering in cold regions. Concrete waterproofing layer is commonly used in high-speed railway tracks to prevent the penetration of surface water, however, it cracks easily under thermal stress, especially in cold regions. Recently solutions have been proposed to increase the waterproofing layer’s cracking resistance by using asphalt layers. Nonetheless, the use of emulsified asphalt as well as dense-graded asphalt mixture were not effective enough. To improve the effectiveness, in this study, mastic asphalt was designed for application as the waterproofing layer on the subgrade surface of high-speed railway tracks in cold regions. The overall performance of mastic asphalt was preliminarily evaluated by laboratory tests, then a 200-m test section was constructed for field validation in northeastern China as part of a new high-speed railway line, and water content sensors were placed inside the subgrade to monitor the performance of the mastic asphalt waterproofing layer (MAWL). The subsequent field investigation and monitoring data during the two years operation showed that MAWL dramatically outperformed the conventional concrete waterproofing layer in terms of waterproof performance. Plenty of serious cracks were found in the conventional concrete waterproofing layer, but only a limited number of local cracks were observed in MAWL. As a result, MAWL keeps the water content of subgrade at a stable level. In addition, MAWL showed relatively high stability during the two years investigation period, and no obvious deterioration was observed in the test section

Experimental Study on the Compaction Characteristics and Evaluation Method of Coarse-Grained Materials for Subgrade

Coarse-grained materials are widely used in high-speed railway construction, and it is of great significance to research its compaction characteristics due to the high quality control requirements. In this regard, a field compaction experiment was conducted at a subgrade near Bazhou Station of Beijing-Xiong’an Intercity Railway. The test results of the compaction effect were presented in this study at first. The roller-integrated compaction measurements (i.e., compaction meter value, CMV) were compared with several traditional in-situ tests (i.e., plate load test, light falling weight deflectometer test, and shear wave velocity test). Then the stability of CMV was evaluated by the proposed δ criterion. The spatial uniformity of compaction was further investigated. Based on the analysis, the target value of CMV was preliminarily determined. It showed that Evd was more variable than CMV. The results convincingly indicated that the compaction parameters increased with the increasing number of roller passes at first. A further increase in compaction effort could result in the decompaction of material when the compaction number up to a certain value. The stability analysis method proposed in this study showed its potency of quantifying the percentage of areas with acceptable compaction. The geostatistical analysis could reflect the spatial uniformity of compaction. Overall, the conducted study could provide a useful reference for geo-material compaction control in the transportation engineering

Evolution of Rheological Behaviors of Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene/Crumb Rubber Composite Modified Bitumen after Different Long-Term Aging Processes

In this study, a new type of composite modified bitumen was developed by blending styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) and crumb rubber (CR) with a chemical method to satisfy the durability requirements of waterproofing material in the waterproofing layer of high-speed railway subgrade. A pressure-aging-vessel test for 20, 40 and 80 h were conducted to obtain bitumen samples in different long-term aging conditions. Multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR) tests, linear amplitude scanning tests and bending beam rheometer tests were conducted on three kinds of asphalt binders (SBS modified asphalt, CR modified asphalt and SBS/CR composite modified asphalt) after different long-term aging processes, including high temperature permanent deformation performance, resistance to low temperature thermal and fatigue crack. Meanwhile, aging sensitivities were compared by different rheological indices. Results showed that SBS/CR composite modified asphalt possessed the best properties before and after aging. The elastic property of CR in SBS/CR composite modified asphalt improved the ability to resist low temperature thermal and fatigue cracks at a range of low and middle temperatures. Simultaneously, the copolymer network of SBS and CR significantly improved the elastic response of the asphalt SBS/CR modified asphalt at a range of high temperatures. Furthermore, all test results indicated that the SBS/CR modified asphalt possesses the outstanding ability to anti-aging. SBS/CR is an ideal kind of asphalt to satisfy the demand of 60 years of service life in the subgrade of high speed railway