Novel sustainable base material for concrete slab track

The use of scrap rubber in ballasted tracks has shown promising results in terms of vibration reduction, enhancement of damping ratio, and so on, but its use in slab tracks has not been explored yet. The present study investigates the use of scrap rubber in the form of ground and granulated rubber mixed with soil and treated with Polyurethane Foam Adhesive (PFA). The optimum content of rubber and PFA were obtained from static direct simple shear test. This optimum rubber and PFA dosage were then used to prepare triaxial specimens and tested cyclically to assess the performance of the treated and untreated soil. A novel base layer for a slab track comprising soil, scrap rubber and PFA is proposed. The novel base material shows superior performance in terms of the reduced settlement, decreased excess pore water pressure and enhanced damping ratio.

Automated summary

The use of scrap rubber in ballasted tracks has shown promising results in terms of vibration reduction, damping ratio enhancement, etc. However, its application in slab tracks has not been explored yet. This study investigates the use of ground and granulated rubber mixed with soil and treated with Polyurethane Foam Adhesive (PFA). The optimal content of rubber and PFA is determined through static direct simple shear test. Triaxial specimens prepared with the optimal rubber and PFA dosage are cyclically tested to assess the performance of the treated and untreated soil. A novel base layer for a slab track incorporating soil, scrap rubber, and PFA is proposed, showing improved settlement reduction, decreased excess pore water pressure, and enhanced damping ratio.