The ballast of a railway track needs to bear significant horizontal and vertical loads.

Therefore, the ballast must be very dense. If this is not the case – i.e., after tamping or when the railway track is new – speed restrictions are required.

To avoid these restrictions, the ballast can alternatively be compacted with the Dynamic Track Stabilizer (DTS).

Currently, ballast compaction is evaluated using single sleeper push tests. These tests are time consuming and can only provide local information about the state of ballast compaction.  

Consequently, the aim of the research project is to develop a continuous system for assessing the ballast stiffness based on dynamic measurements on the DTS. Furthermore, an optimization of the ballast compaction process with the DTS is intended in the ongoing research project.

Project related publications in reposiTUm, opens an external URL in a new window.