Development of condition‐based tamping process in railway engineering

Abstract

AbstractBallast, rails and sleepers form a quasi‐elastic track system. When the deformations exceed the elastic limit of the system and the track is no longer lying in its correct position, precautions have to be taken. During a technical track examination several parameters are measured. Should the operational tolerance values of these parameters be exceeded, track maintenance needs to be conducted. Track maintenance includes levelling, lifting, lining and tamping of the track, which is performed by a tamping machine, where the tamping tines penetrate the ballast and compact it beneath the sleeper. For the purpose of this research project, a tamping machine was equipped with a number of strategically positioned sensors in order to perform the in‐situ measurements required to describe the interaction of the tamping tines with the ballast and its compaction beneath the sleeper. With a special emphasis on the energy transferred into the ballast and alteration of ballast stiffness during compaction, conclusions concerning efficiency of the tamping process in different ballast conditions are made and presented.