01596027

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/2545-08

To determine the correlation between water content or fouling of a railroad track and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) signals, a full-scale railway track model was designed and constructed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A track section was simulated by creating a model consisting of rails and ties placed on a ballast layer on a subballast layer. The model was constructed three times with three fouling percentages. Each model was tested with water-content conditions of dry, field capacity, and two points in between these extremes. Frequency antennae of 450 MHz and 2 GHz were used to evaluate the conditions. The design and construction of the full-scale track in addition to the GPR data analysis and interpretation are presented in this paper. The results show that the dielectric permittivity and frequency spectrum can be used as an indicator of percentage of fouling and water content of a track. In addition, a linear correlation was observed between the percentage of fouling and the water content under field capacity conditions.

01595166

16-1568

English

pp 66–78

2016

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

9780309369671

Print

Figures (10) ; References (27) ; Tables (3)

Ballast (Railroads); Electromagnetic properties; Geotechnical engineering; Ground penetrating radar; Moisture content; Railroad tracks

Ballast fouling (Railroads)

Design; Maintenance and Preservation; Railroads

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 12 2016 4:41PM

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