Development of quick-hardening infilling materials for composite railroad tracks to strengthen existing ballasted track

Abstract

A composite railroad track is a rigid track system that is developed using quick-hardening infilling materials, and has the advantages of a reduced maintenance cost compared to a conventional ballasted track. Quick-hardening infilling materials were developed in this study, which does not require the processes of cleaning the aggregates crushed due to the repeated load imposed by rolling stock, and thus the materials can strengthen existing ballasted tracks with an enhanced level of efficiency and speed. Theoretical reviews of pore size, permeability, pore channel length and tortuosity depending on the size of the aggregate in ballasted tracks were conducted first to predict the influence of filling parameters of infilling materials for composite railroad tracks. Based on the theoretical filling performance analysis of ballasted tracks, a thermosetting polymer was developed, which is a 3D cross linking agent that performs redox radical polymerization reaction at room temperature. The polymer was used as a primary filling material to fill the lower ballast layer, which could not be filled by conventional cement-based filling materials. A double-layered composite was formed by filling the upper ballast layer with the ceramic based secondary filling material using the reaction between dead-burned magnesia and acid ammonium phosphate. The performance of infilling materials was validated through strength measurement and microscopic analysis.