Application of Recycled Rubber Mats for Improved Performance of Ballasted Tracks

This paper summaries the results of a study on the use of recycled rubber mats for improved performance of ballasted tracks. One solution used to minimise ballast degradation (breakage) is to use an innovative recycled rubber mat, known as rubber-energy-absorbing drainage mat (READ), manufactured from end-of-life tires to provide a cost-effective solution to conventional tracks. When placed underneath the ballast, the energy-absorbing nature of the rubber mats decreases the load that is transferred to the ballast, so the ballast experiences less deformation and breakage. In this study, a series of large-scale triaxial tests are conducted to investigate the performance of the READS in the attenuation of cyclic and dynamic loads and subsequent reducing of ballast degradation. Numerical modelling using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) is conducted to investigate the improved performance of ballast in a micromechanical perspective. Evolutions of contact forces and contour stress distributions during cyclic tests are investigated through coupled DEM-FEM model.