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International Journal of Railway Technology
ISSN 2049-5358
IJRT, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2016
Discrete Element Method Simulation as a Key Tool Towards Performance Design of Ballasted Tracks
C. Voivret1, V.-H. Nhu2 and R. Peralès3

1Innovation and Research SNCF, Paris, France
2Vibrateam, France
3AD'missions, Paris, France

Full Bibliographic Reference for this paper
C. Voivret, V.-H. Nhu, R. Peralès, "Discrete Element Method Simulation as a Key Tool Towards Performance Design of Ballasted Tracks", International Journal of Railway Technology, 5(1), 83-98, 2016. doi:10.4203/ijrt.5.1.4
Keywords: ballasted track, under sleeper pad, multi-unit tamping, discrete element simulation.

Abstract
The capacity of discrete element simulation to provide useful insight for the railway track manager, from both the design and maintenance points of view, is highlighted. After a brief introduction of the discrete element method called the Contact Dynamics method used here, an investigation about the impact of the Under Sleeper Pad (USP) stiffness on the load transmission firstly is reported. It shows that in parallel to decreasing the contact pressure, USP also modifies the contact force distribution. Secondly an evaluation of the multi unit tamping process performance is proposed.

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