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RESEARCH
Granular Matter (2025) 27:53
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-025-01530-x
1 Introduction
Ballast is a critical component of railway tracks, serving
primary functions such as distributing train loads to the
subgrade, providing a stable platform for superstructures
(e.g., sleepers and rails), and ensuring ecient drainage of
the track bed [1–4]. However, under repeated train loading,
ballast particles degrade over time, leading to a reduction in
bearing capacity and compromised track performance [5–
8]. In light of the increasing demand for faster and heavier
haul capacities, the need for improved bearing performance
of railway ballast has become more critical.
Various geotechnical approaches, such as the utiliza-
tion of geosynthetics and geotextiles, have been proposed
and implemented in railway tracks to enhance track per-
formance [9–11]. Among these methods, geogrids have
Rui Gao
Gaorui@whu.edu.cn
1 The Key Laboratory of Safety for Geotechnical and
Structural Engineering of Hubei Province, School of Civil
Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
2 Transport Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering and
Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney,
Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
3 Dept. of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang Univ.,
Hangzhou 310000, China
Abstract
Geogrid is one of the most widely used geoinclusions in railway engineering to improve the bearing capacity of ballasted
tracks. However, its eectiveness in mitigating ballast degradation, recognized as the most critical engineering challenge,
remains limited, particularly in the context of the increasing demand for faster and heavier haul transportation nowadays.
Rubber granules (RG), manufactured from waste rubber tires, possess high energy-absorbing properties that dampen
vibration, reducing the stresses on ballast particles and helping to prevent ballast degradation. In order to explore the
practical methods to delay the degradation of ballast and improve the performance of track bed, in this study, a series of
large-scale direct shear tests were conducted on ballast aggregates with dierent geogrid-inclusion conditions and vari-
ous RG content to investigate the shear behavior and performance of ballast under dierent congurations. The results
show that while the RG eectively reduces the breakage of ballast particles, it negatively impacts the development of
shear strength in aggregates, with or without geogrid reinforcement. As RG content increases, ballast aggregate exhibits
lower peak shear strength, smaller maximum volumetric dilation, and greater volumetric contraction during shearing. For
geogrid-reinforced ballast, incorporating 5% rubber granules (by volume) results in a reduction of aggregate shear strength
by approximately 12%, while simultaneously mitigating ballast breakage by more than 30%. By balancing the enhance-
ment of ballast durability with the maintenance of adequate shear strength, a 5% RG content by volume is recommended
as a suitable proportion for practical applications. Based on experimental observations, a set of empirical equations has
been proposed to estimate the shear strength and volumetric deformation of geogrid-reinforced ballast in the presence of
RG. The ndings from this study provide valuable insights for improving the design and performance of ballasted railway
tracks, particularly in addressing ballast degradation and ensuring track resilience under modern loading demands.
Keywords Railway ballast · Rubber granules · Geogrid-reinforcement · Shear behavior · Ballast breakage
Received: 6 January 2025 / Accepted: 22 April 2025
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Experimental study on the combined inuence of geogrid and rubber
granules on the shear behavior of railway ballast
ZihanYan1· JingChen2,3· QihangHu1· ChangLi1· RuiGao1
1 3
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