Assessment of Performance of Recycled Ballast Aggregate Subjected to Drop-Weight Impact Loading Considering Effect of Crumb Rubber Incorporation
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 34, Issue 5
Abstract
Degradation of ballast aggregate subjected to applied train loads can adversely influence the performance of ballasted railway tracks. Meanwhile, replacement of degraded aggregate with fresh material can engender some environmental concerns due to the necessity of implementing a scheduled maintenance program on ballasted railway tracks. Therefore, using recycled ballast material combined with fresh aggregate derived from rock quarries is characterized as an appropriate maintenance strategy. In the present study, various percentages of recycled ballast are combined with fresh aggregate, then the performance of prepared specimens against degradation is investigated by conducting a large-scale drop-weight impact loading test. Furthermore, the effect of addition of discarded crumb rubber particles on the degradation resistance of the prepared specimens is evaluated. Generally, the recycled aggregate exhibits higher level of degradation due to spitting individual particle, although the generation of fine particles considerably decreases. Likewise, the combination of various portions of recycled and fresh aggregate shows that further reduction of proportion of recycled material leads to the exacerbation of the fouling level and reduction of the breakage of single aggregate. Furthermore, the incorporation of discarded crumb rubber particles among prepared mixtures of recycled and fresh ballast aggregate evidently enhances the performance of recycled/fresh mixtures of aggregate especially for lower percentages of recycled aggregate.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 34 • Issue 5 • May 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 19, 2020
Accepted: Sep 14, 2021
Published online: Feb 23, 2022
Published in print: May 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Jul 23, 2022
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