Flextural performance of ultra-high performance concrete ballastless track slabs

Weina Meng, Kamal Henri Khayat

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ballastless track slab offers excellent stability and durability and has been well accepted in high-speed railways worldwide. Rails are typically laid on precast concrete slabs that are subjected to dynamic load transferred from the rails. Cracks can be induced by shrinkage and mechanical loading in concrete, which accelerates the degradation and affects the performance of the track slab. As tens of thousands of miles of ballastless track are constructed, effective and efficient maintenance for the concrete slabs has become an issue. In this paper, ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is proposed to fabricate ballastless track slab. UHPC is a superior fiberreinforced, cementitioius mortar, which has greatly-improved mechanical strengths and durability. A recently-developed UHPC is evaluated in terms of the flowability, durability, shrinkage, and mechanical properties. A functionally-graded slab design is proposed with the consideration of initial material cost. The slab is cast with two layers: a layer of conventional concrete at the bottom, and a layer of UHPC on the top. A three-dimensional finite element model is developed for ballastless track slab whose flexural performance is investigated and compared with that of slab made with conventional concrete. Concrete damage plasticity model is incorporated to consider the post-cracking behavior. The results indicate that the proposed UHPC is promising for fabricating ballastless track slab with superior performance.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2016 Joint Rail Conference, JRC 2016
ISBN (Electronic)9780791849675
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016
Event2016 Joint Rail Conference, JRC 2016 - Columbia, United States
Duration: 12 Apr 201615 Apr 2016

Publication series

Name2016 Joint Rail Conference, JRC 2016

Conference

Conference2016 Joint Rail Conference, JRC 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityColumbia
Period12/04/1615/04/16

Keywords

  • Ballastless track slab
  • Concrete damage plasticity (CDP) model
  • Finite element model
  • Functionally-graded composite
  • Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC)

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