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Railway formation condition assessment using seismic surface waves

Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2016.

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Other Authors: Grabe, P.J. (Hannes)
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2018
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Grabe, P.J. (Hannes)
author_browse Grabe, P.J. (Hannes)
author_facet Grabe, P.J. (Hannes)
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2018 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2016.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:37:52.763Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2018
publishDateRange 2018
publishDateSort 2018
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/66239 Railway formation condition assessment using seismic surface waves Grabe, P.J. (Hannes) afonsoronda@hotmail.com Heymann, Gerhard Ronda, Afonso Jose UCTD Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09 SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-11 SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-13 SDG-13: Climate action Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2016. The demands of railway transport have been changing over the 150 years of existence of this type of transport in South Africa, specifically the performance requirements of the formation to cater for new traffic requirements. As such, it is important to assess the condition of this vital part of a railway track. This dissertation covers a research project conducted on two railway lines in which measurements of ground vibration were conducted in order to perform geophysical analysis and characterise the formation based on the results obtained. Measurements were taken on a 26 ton axle load track (Coal line, at Bloubank) and on a 20 ton axle load track (at Amandelbult) in South Africa. Planning and implementation of several test procedures to characterise track formation require considerable effort to minimize the impact on railway operations. Coupled with track occupation and the destructive nature of some of the test procedures, it is relevant to investigate alternative testing techniques to address the issues stated above. The use of surface waves for geotechnical characterization of sites is increasing worldwide. Applications to railway engineering have so far been limited to light load, high speed lines to minimize the use of poor geomaterials with reduced Rayleigh wave velocity. Four sites were identified where trains are operated at heavy loads, with the formation condition varying from poor to good. Seismic testing (geophysical) and conventional testing (deflection measurements) were performed at the identified sites. Seismic measurements were recorded using geophones as receivers, coupled to an amplifier and a computer. The source of the seismic events was the trains operating on the track and a hammer for impact testing. For the deflection measurements, the Remote Video Monitoring (RVM) technique was adopted. Dispersion analysis of the ground vibration experimental data was conducted using the multiple receiver method. The main conclusions reached with the analysis indicated that: __ Dispersion analysis had a good correlation with the formation deflection analysis; __ Phase velocity can be used as an indicator of the quality of a certain site; __ There are limitations when using trains as the energy source in terms of the generation of excitation frequency, which greatly reduces the phase velocity information in individual layers in the formation (i.e. wavelengths are not short enough). Civil Engineering MSc Unrestricted 2018-08-17T09:42:46Z 2018-08-17T09:42:46Z 4/19/18 2016 Dissertation Ronda, AJ 2016, Railway formation condition assessment using seismic surface waves, MSc Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/66239> A2018 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/66239 en © 2018 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-11
SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-13
SDG-13: Climate action
Railway formation condition assessment using seismic surface waves
title Railway formation condition assessment using seismic surface waves
title_full Railway formation condition assessment using seismic surface waves
title_fullStr Railway formation condition assessment using seismic surface waves
title_full_unstemmed Railway formation condition assessment using seismic surface waves
title_short Railway formation condition assessment using seismic surface waves
title_sort railway formation condition assessment using seismic surface waves
topic UCTD
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-11
SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-13
SDG-13: Climate action
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/66239