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Dynamic Response of Underground Structures at Railway Transition Zones
Oral Presentation , Page 278-292 (15)
Full Text (1.23 MB)
Volume Title: 3rd International Conference on Civil Engineering: Development & Sustainability
Authors
1Building and construction department, Engineering facality, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and maritime transport
2Building and Construction Department , Engineering facality, Arab academy for Science, Technology and maritime transport
3Building and Construction department, Engineering Facality, arab Academy for Science , Technology and maritime Tranport
Abstract
Transition zones are places where the railway embankment is interrupted by structures such as bridges, culverts, and tunnels. Maintenance of transition zones is one of the main concerns for railway infrastructure management due to the need for more frequent additional maintenance. The characteristics of the backfill and the stiffness of culverts have a significant impact on the performance of railway tracks. This study investigates the effect of culvert slab stiffness on soil dynamic response under a twin-block sleeper, concrete sleeper, and timber sleeper. A validated finite element model (FEM) using experimental data was adopted as a main research tool. The stiffness of the culvert slab is represented by the thickness/breadth (T/B) ratio. Peak values of vertical displacement, shear stress, and vertical acceleration were adopted as the key dynamic response indicators. The use of twin-block sleepers proved to be an optimum solution that generated the least dynamic response throughout the soil section for all culvert cases with different values of slab stiffness. At T/B of 0.25 , a reduction of 41% in the peak shear stress was observed. A significant reduction was achieved in both peak vertical displacement and peak vertical acceleration using a slab stiffness T/B of 0.375. The results can help improve railway track performance and durability.
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