Numerical studies on the influence of column reinforcements with soil-binders on railway tracks

The reinforcement of railway track foundations, through injection of binders, without the need of removal of track components (i.e. rails, sleepers and ballast) has many advantages compared to traditional approaches, which normally are more complex, costly and strongly affect train operations. To contribute to a deeper understanding of issues associated with soil-binder column reinforcements, numerical studies were developed to analyse and compare different column layouts and to assess the effect of such reinforcements on the dynamic train-track interaction. To that aim, two three-dimensional numerical programs were used. Aspects of the train-track interaction and values of stresses and displacements on the track and trackbed layers are analysed and discussed. The results suggest that in similar problems of track platforms with uneven track stiffness, it is important to take into account the non-linear elastic behaviour of the ballast to obtain a more accurate three-dimensional load distribution.