loram - shoulder ballast cleaning study with mrs on brazilian railways - mrs sbc

7/29/2019 LORAM - Shoulder Ballast Cleaning Study With MRS on Brazilian Railways - MRS SBC

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StudyingtheEffectsoftheLoramHPShoulderBallastCleaneronBrazilianHeavyHaul

Railways

Authors:AldoMarconi, FernandoCsar1,DennisMathison

2

1SpecialServiceEngineeringMRSLogstica,Av.Brasil2001,CEP:36006010,JuizdeForaMG

2LoramMaintenanceofWay,Inc.3900ArrowheadDriveHamel,MN55340 USA

emails:[email protected],[email protected],[email protected]

Abstract: Thisstudyfocusesontheimperativenessofwellmaintainedrailwayballastanditseffectsonthe

life of rolling stock, wheels, rail, ties, and other track structure components. If ballast is improperly

maintained, several problems can occur on the track and/or with the rolling stock, including serious

derailmentaccidents. ThisessaypresentstheresultsofutilizingaLoramHighPerformanceShoulderBallast

Cleaner (SBC) to clean railway ballast. Several measurements have been taken by MRSLogistics to

determine theeffectsof shoulderballastcleaning, including the rateofcontamination in theballast, the

trackmodulus,trackgeometry,andtrackquality index. Measurementsweretakenbothbeforeandafter

shoulderballastcleaning,aswellasbeforeandafterheavyrainevents. Presented through thecollected

dataoutlinedinthefollowingsections,shoulderballastcleaningisproventobeanexcellentmethodinthe

restorationoftrackdrainage,particularlyintropicalareasthatexperienceheavyrainsonanannualbasis.

KeysWords:TrackQualityIndex;ShoulderBallastCleaner;ManagementComponents

1.INTRODUCTION

Properperformanceofballastisessentialtothe

safe,efficientoperationof"heavyhaul" railways.

Throughproperdrainagemaintenance, arailroad

canoptimizethelifeofitscomponentsofthetrack

androllingstock. Severalissuescanarisewith

rails,signals,fasteners,and/or tiesthatare

attributabletounstabletrackduetodegradation

ofballast. Ifleftunattended,theseissuescaneventuallyleadtotheweakeningoftheballastto

thepointthatitsnolongerabletowithstandthe

loadsofthetrains.

To maintain its strategic position as a premier

supplier of rail transport services in Brazil, MRS

Logistics must design and execute track

maintenancestrategiesthatextendthe lifeofthe

assetswhilebeingperformedinamannerthathas

littledisruptiontocustomershipments. Sincethe

beginning of 2007, MRSLogistics, has used a

LoramHighPerformanceShoulderBallastCleaner(SBC) as the exclusive method of ballast

maintenance. Over800kmofmain linehasbeen

cleaned with the SBC with minimal track

occupancy(lessthan400hours).

2. RAILWAYBALLAST

Therailwayballastsectionisalayerofstones

placedbelowthesuperstructureofthetrackand

abovethesubballasttoprovidestabilitytothe

track. Standardballastismadeupofvariousgrain

sizes(usuallyamixofcrushedrock,slag,or

volcanicash)whichareuniformlygradedand

angled,freefromdirt,andfreeofcementing

properties.

Therailwayballasthasmultiplefunctionsthatcontributetothelifeandperformanceofthe

railwayline. Manyresearchershavepresentedin

detailthemanyfunctionsofballast. Thefollowing

highlightthemostimportantfunctionsofthe

ballastlayer[1]:

Keepsthetrackinthedesiredposition,resistingvertical,lateral,andlongitudinal

loading

Provideselasticityandresistancetodynamicsofthethetrack

Evenlydistributestheforcesexertedbytherollingstocktothelayersoftheinfrastructure

Ensurestheimmediatedrainageofrainwater

Theballastmustallowrecoveryofthegeometryof

theline,especiallythelongitudinalandtransverse

levelingresponsibleforsmoothnessandride

quality. Theballastmustalsohavethefollowing

qualities:

Resiliencetotheshocks


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Dimensionsthatallowtheinterpositionbetweenandundertheties

Abilitytofillthedepressionsoftheplatformorsubballastandallowfor

perfectlevelingoftherails

Resistanceofatmosphericagents Permeabilitytoachievedrainageofrain

water

3.DEGRADEDBALLAST

Overtime,degradationoftheballastoccursdueto

anumberoffactors. Thefollowingarethemain

factors[3]:

Chemicaldeteriorationoftheparticlesduetonaturalweatherconditions

Contaminationofmaterialstransported(ironore,coal,sand)becauseofthemigrationof

finematerialstothebottomoftheballast Mechanicaldegradationofparticlesdueto

trafficandtrainsovertime,especiallyduring

geometriccorrections

When2%ofitsweightiscomposedofparticles

lessthanorequalto6.0mmindiameter,the

ballastlayerisconsideredtobecontaminated[4].

Tomeasuretherateofcontaminationinthe

ballast,SeligandWaters(1994)createdthe

FoulingIndex(FI). Theformulaforcontamination

oftheballastisexpressedasfollows:

FI=P4+P200 (1)

whereP andP arethebystandersinweight

percentages,respectively insize4and200sieves.

Thefollowingaretheclassifications:

FI


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Fig.

1

(a)

Highly

contaminated

ballast

Fig.1(b)Contaminatedballast

Fig.1(c)Moderatelycleanballast

Fig.1(d)Cleanballast

6. THE LORAMHIGH PERFORMANCE SHOULDER

BALLASTCLEANER(SBC)

InApril2007,theMRSstartedtheprocessof

shoulderballastcleaningwiththeLoramHigh

PerformanceShoulderBallastCleaner(SBC).

Usingtheleasttrackoccupancypossible,theSBC

hasthecapacitytocleanat2.0milesperhourand

iscompletelycontrolledbyaPLCsystem,reducing

maintenanceandoperationalcosts. Figure2

showsaphotographofthemachineinthe

courtyardofthecompanyinJuizdeForaMG.

Fig.2LoramShoulderBallastCleaner

Inlessthantwoyearsofuse,theMRSSBChashad

anoutputofapproximately500miles,operating

onavariety ofrailwaysandthroughouthigh

densitytraffic. TheSteelLinehasbeenachallenge

becauseofthehighvolumeoftraffic,andthe

CenterLinebecauseofitshighlycontaminated

ballastandage.

Figure3illustrateswherethemachineworkedon

MRSLines.

Fig.3SBCcoveragein2007&2008

AfterutilizingtheSBContheballastshoulderon

theSteelLinewichcontainsalargeamountof

mudspots,theroutehasasignificantlybetter

appearanceafterarainfall(seeFigure4).

Fig.4(a).SteelLine km105+980

Fig.4(b).SteelLinekm110+300

7.FIELDTESTS

Undisturbedsampleswerecollectedatthree

pointsoftheSteelLineforcharacterizationofthe

layersofsubballastandsubbed.

36mm/hr

Clean Contaminated

150mm/hr

Clean

2007 2008

Before After

Before After

0.44 mm/hrHighly

Contaminated

Clean

Contaminated

8 mm/hr


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Thepointsweredefined:

Km18+732(QuatisRJ) Km105+450(BomJardimMG) Km258+915(SoJooDelReiMG)

Aftercharacterizationoftheinfrastructure,

samplesweretakenfromtheballastshoulderateachpointbeforeandimmediatelyaftercleaning.

Alsocollectedweresamplesoftheshoulder

ballasttomeasurethecompositionoftheballast

afteraperiodofrain(seeFigure5).

Fig.5(a).ComparegraincurvesfromQuatisRJ

Fig.5(b).ComparegraincurvesfromBomJardim MG

Fig.5(c).ComparegraincurvesfromSoJooDelRei

MG

Alongwiththecollectionofgrainsamples,the

behaviorofthemoduluspathwasobtainedbythe

useofDDL DynamicDeflectometreLaser. The

trackmodulus,inturn,wasobtainedusinga

retroanalysistoolcalledFERROVIA1.0.

Themethodologyforobtainingthisparameterwill

not

be

addressed

in

this

work;

Silva

and

Paiva

discussacomprehensiveapproachonthisissue

[7].

Thehistoricalbehaviordataofthetrackmodulus

wereusedatcertainpointsbeforethestartofthe

shoulderballastcleaningprocess,andthen

trackedovertime,andagainaftertheraincycleat

thesesamepoints.

8.BALLASTBEHAVIOR

Atallmeasuredpoints,thetrackmodulus

remainedabovetheminimumparametersforan

idealroute. Themodulusvaluesobtainedsoon

afterthepassageoftheequipmentatthelocation

BonJardinandQuatiswere73MPa,and165MPa,

respectively.

ThemodulusvalueviatheSoJooDelReihas

notyetbeencompleted.

Fromthedataobtainedfromthegranulometric

curves,itwaspossibletogenerateacomparative

chartofcontaminationoftheshoulder(Fig.6):

Fig.6.FoulingIndex(FI)

AccordingtothegraphinFigure6,thefouling

indexforballastwasveryhighbeforecleaningthe

shoulder,preventingtheballastfromensuring

properdrainage. Aftercleaningandanongoing

Curva Granulomtrica

Quatis - km 18+732

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0,001 0,01 0,1 1 10 100

Dimetro dos Gros (mm)

Porcentagemq

uePassa%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

PorcentagemR

etida%

PEDREGULHOAREIAARGILA SILTE

GROSSOMDIOFINOGROSSAMDIAFINAABNT

PENEIRAS: 200 100 60 40 2030 10 8 4 3/8 3/4 1 1 1/2

OD - 1 ciclo de atividadesOE - 1 ciclo de atividadesTD - Antes da passagemda limpadoraTE - A ntes da passagemda limpadoraTD - 2 ciclo de atividadesTE - 2 ciclo de atividadesTD - 3 ciclo de atividadesTE - 3 ciclo de atividadesLastro-padro (EB-655)

Curva Granulomtrica

Bom Jardim de Minas - km 105+450

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0,001 0,01 0,1 1 10 100


Porcentagemq

uePassa%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Porcentag

emR

etida%



PENEIRAS: 200 100 60 40 2030 10 8 4 3/8 3/4 1 1 1/2

OD - Antes da passagemda limpadoraOE - Antes da passagemda limpadoraOD - 1 ciclo de atividadesOE - 1 ciclo de atividadesTD - Antes da passagemda limpadoraTE - A ntes da passagemda limpadoraTD - 2 ciclo de atividadesTE - 2 ciclo de atividadesTD - 3 ciclo de atividadesTE - 3 ciclo de atividadesTD - 4 ciclo de atividades

TE - 4 ciclo de atividadesLastro-padro (EB-655)

Curva Granulomtrica

So Joo Del Rey - km 258+915

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0,001 0,01 0,1 1 10 100


Porcentagemq

uePassa%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Porcentagem

Retida%



PENEIRAS: 200 100 60 40 2030 10 8 4 3/8 3/4 1 1 1/2

OD - 1 ciclo de atividadesOE - 1 ciclo de atividadesTD - Antes da passagemda limpadoraTE - A ntes da passagemda limpadoraTD - 2 ciclo de atividadesTE - 2 ciclo de atividadesTD - 3 ciclo de atividadesTE - 3 ciclo de atividadesLastro-padro (EB-655)

FI - Fouling Index

0.005.00

10.0015.0020.0025.0030.0035.0040.0045.0050.0055.00

1 Obs (antes) 2 Obs (aps) 3 Obs 4 Obs

Ciclo de Observaes

FI(%) So J oo Del Rei

BomJardim

Quatis

Ncleo - So Joo Del Rei

FI (%) Intervalo ClassificaoApr-07 (antes) 34.95 FI >40 CApr-07 (aps) 2.76 1


5/6

cycleofrainfall,thewaterbegantocarryoutthe

finecontaminatedparticlesfromtheballast,

depositingthemontotheshoulder.

Thisexplainstheincreaseinthefoulingindexof

theshoulderballastovertheperiodof

measurement.

Table1showstheclassificationsuggestedbySelig

(1994)totheshoulderoftheballastduringthe

observations:

Table1(a). FoulingClassificationofQuatisRJ

Table1(b). FoulingClassificationofBomJardim MG

Table1(c). FoulingClassificationSoJooDelRei MG

ThephotoshowninFigure7showshowfinesare

carriedinballast.Whentheshoulderisclear,it

meansthefoulingindexislow. Thefinescanthen

becarriedoutbyrainwater.

Fig.7.FinematerialcarrieddownbyrainwaterBon

JardimMG

Figure8showstheamountofcontamination

accumulatedduringtherainyseasonbeforeand

aftercleaning. Beforecleaning,thefoulmaterial

wouldjustbuildupinthetrackstructurebecause

theendsofthetiesweresealedwithmud,not

allowingforthedaytodaycontaminationto

escapethetrackstructureduringthewetseason.

Aftershoulderballastcleaning,contamination

ratessignificantlydropped. Thisdataisfrom

greatercumulativerainfallintensitybefore(Dec.

06,Jan.07,andFeb.07)andafterthepassageof

ShoulderBallastCleaningMachine(Dec.07,Jan.

08,Feb.08),timeoftropicalrains.

Fig.8.OccupancyOccurrenceforunduefoulingballast

ofMRSLogistic

9.TRACKGEOMETRYCONDITIONS

Toverifythebehaviorofthegeometryofthe

track,anindicatorwasusedthatassessedthe

conditionsofthetrackthroughgeometrical

parameters.

TheTQITrackQualityIndexisthestandard

deviationoftheappropriateparametersofthe

track,accordingtoitsclass,andtheparameters

foundbyactualvehicleinspection[7].

TheTQIshouldbeusedasadecisionmakingtool

todeterminethelevelandmethodofmaintenance,accordingtotheprinciplesofLCC

LifeCycleCosts.

Guidedbyevolutionarybehavioroftheindex,itis

possibletoassociatetheconditionoftrackwith

thedegreeofmaintenance.

Foreachofthevaiousrailwaysanddemandsfor

railtransport,TQIsetsoutappropriatestandards

ofreliabilityandmaintenanceneededtoensure

thatreliability. Thus,itdefinestheactiontobe

performed.

Table 2 shows the TQI avarage values from the

SteelLinesince2005.

Table2.TrackQualityIndex

Ncleo - BomJardim

FI (%) Intervalo ClassificaoApr-07(antes) 53.99 FI >40 ACApr-07(aps) 3.17 1


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Using the process of Shoulder Ballast Cleaning,

since April 2007, MRS has reversed the loss of

quality of track geometry parameters during a

timeof increasingtraffic indemand for transport

(seeFigure9).

Fig.9.TrackQualityIndex

10.CONCLUSIONSANDSUGGESTIONS

Thesuperstructurehasacriticalinfluenceon

performanceandmaintenanceofassets. The

ballastreceivestheloadsofthewheelsand

distributestothelowerlayersofsoil. Itsstiffness

andelasticbehaviormustbecriticallyevaluatedto

avoidimpairmentofwheelsandrails[10].

Theestablishmentofandmaintenanceof

geometricstandardsisessentialtoensuretrains

cantravelbothsecurelyandwithappropriate

speed.

Itisessentialthattechnologyexistsfor

maintainingtheballast,thus,ensuringthe

superstructureisabletoefficientlyperformits

duties.

Shoulderballastcleaninghasproventobeaquick

andefficientwaytomaintaintherailballast,while

ensuringalowtrackoccupancywhencomparedto

traditionalundercuttingmethods. Itappearstobe

thefutureofmodern trackmaintenance,ensuring

greaterreliabilityandavailabilityofassets.

The shoulder ballast maintenance process is a

preventivetechnique, reducingcostsbywidening

theintervalbetweengeometriccorrections.

Inregionsofheavytropicalrainsandahigh

densityoftraffic,thisprocessishighly

recommended. Inplacesofveryhighfouling

ballast,aswellasinareasthathavehigh

shipmentsoforesandcourtyardlines,

undercuttingmaystillbeneeded.

11.REFERENCES

[1] Ionescu, D. Degradation Characteristics ofBallast in the Field and its Measurement,

Conference on Railway Engineering, May

(2006),pages174179.

[2] Marconi, A.Uma contribuioametodologiade Recebimento,Manuteno eDesempenho

de Lastro , IME Instituto Militar de

Engenharia Especializao de Engenharia deTransportes de Cargas Ferroviria, October

(2006),pages2426.

[3] SuikerA.TheMechanicalBehaviorofBallastedRailway Tracks; Delft University of

Technology;January(2002),pages24.

[4] Selig.E.T.,WatersJ.M.TrackGeotechnologyand Substructure Management; Railway

GeotechnicalConsult;April (1994)pages8.18

8.20.

[5] Hay, W. W. 1982. Railroad Engineering. 2nd

Edtn

[6] Jancks, C. W. Transit Cooperative ResearchProgram, Federal Transit Adminstration;

October(2006);pages58.

[7] J. Stasha Railway Track Quality AssessmentandRelatedDecisionMaking,FacultyofCivil

Engineering & Geosciences, October (2006);

Pages312.

[8] Silva. F.; Paiva. C. ; Aguiar. P. Evaluation ofTrack/BallastBehaviorUnderIncreasedAxle

Load:MeasuringDeflectionsonTrack;IHHA

International HeavyHaul Association (2007);

pages3134.

[9] Zarembski A. The Art and Science of RailGrinding;SimmonsBoardmanBooks(March

2005);pages16.

TQI - Avarage

0,0

2,5

5,0

7,5

10,0

12,5

15,0

Abr/05 Abr/06 Abr/07 Abr/08

Inspections Track Cicles

TrackQualityInd

ex

So J oo Del ReiBom JardimQuatis

loram - shoulder ballast cleaning study with mrs on brazilian railways - mrs sbc

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