Field test investigation and numerical analysis of ballasted track under moving locomotive

This paper is devoted to investigating of dynamic behavior of a ballasted railway track by field tests and numerical analyses. In this regard, at first in a field test program, two different sections in a ballasted track including concrete and wooden sleepers with good quality are selected and their dynamic vertical deflections are measured due to moving locomotive. In continuation, the numerical model of vehicle track interaction is developed and its results are verified using the measured values in the field tests and the previous research studies. Finally, using the verified model, a series of sensitivity analyses are accomplished on effecting parameters including sleeper type and track modulus. Results indicate that the dynamic behavior of the ballasted track under moving locomotive is linear with concrete sleepers while non-linear with wooden sleepers.