Alternative Prüfverfahren zur Qualitätssicherung von Gleisschotter.

The terms of supply of the majority of European railway companies include testing methods for railway ballast on wear and fragmentation resistance. However, alternative testing methods for this propose are imaginable. In cooperation with the technical department of the Infrastructure company of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) three alternative testing methods have been evaluated at Graz University of Technology which are being introduced and critically appreciated in this paper. The Swiss test "Compressive strength on the stack" can be described as a large-scale compression test with a test device like an oedometer. Two testing methods deal with the tool wear rate of cutting tools in tunneling. These are the 'Abrasiveness and GrindabilityTest' (Abroy-Test) and the 'Scratching Test with a Pointed Tool' (Cerchar-Test). However, conclusions on the abrasivity can also be interpreted as a measure of the wear-resistance. All tests were carried out for different kinds of the rock decisive for ballast of rail superstructure. Furthermore, the correlations to established procedures were analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]