Search results for "Strade"
showing 10 items of 396 documents
Novel performance-based technique for predicting maintenance strategy of bitumen stabilised ballast
2018
Abstract Despite being the most used worldwide, railway ballasted tracks presents high maintenance cost related to ballast settlement and particle degradation. With the aim of reducing life cycle costs, bitumen stabilised ballast (BSB) has been recently proposed as a relatively cheap alternative maintenance solution to be applied to existing tracks. This study aims at assessing the potential advantages of this technology, defining a novel maintenance strategy of traditional ballasted track-beds. A protocol for the application of the BSB technology and its associated maintenance strategy is defined. To estimate minor and major maintenance operations of BSB scenario in comparison to tradition…
A New High-Efficiency Procedure for Aggregate Gradation Determination of the Railway Ballast by Means Image Recognition Method
2013
Abstract The mechanical characteristics of the railway superstructure are related to the properties of the ballast, and especially to the particle size distribution of its grains. Under the constant stress-strain of carriages, the ballast can deteriorate over time, and consequently it should properly be monitored for safety reasons. The equipment which currently monitors the railway superstructure (like the Italian diagnostic train Archimede) do not make any “quantitative” evaluation of the ballast. The aim of this paper is therefore to propose a new methodology for extracting railway ballast particle size distribution by means of the image processing technique. The procedure has been teste…
Digital image analysis technique for measuring railway track defects and ballast gradation
2018
Abstract In order to guarantee safety and driving comfort and to maintain an efficient railway infrastructure, the first step is to carefully monitor the track geometry and wear level of the materials constituting the superstructure. To that end diagnostic trains are widely used on main lines, in that they can detect several geometric track parameters and rail wear, but under no circumstances they can yet detect ballast gradation. Due to the practical implications for the planning of maintenance operations on the railway network, this article presents a “DIP” digital image processing technique for measuring the transverse profile and corrugations of the rails as well as ballast gradation. T…
Effect of temperature and traffic on mix-design of bituminous asphalt for railway sub-ballast layer
2017
A wide integrated research has been carried out to assess the suitability of bituminous mixtures as the sub-ballast layer in railways. The influence of temperature on the mechanical characteristics and thermal susceptibility of the bituminous conglomerate—which forms sub-ballast layer of railway lines—has provided the motivation for carrying out a measurement of the thermal cycles in this layer. The evaluation of the average seasonal temperatures has proven to be well interpolated by sinusoidal functions, of which characteristic parameters are determined. To expand the validity of the study in different weather situations apart from Sicily, where the experiment was held, we proceeded to app…
Asphalt mixtures modified with basalt fibres for surface courses
2018
Abstract This paper shows the results of an experimental study concerning the effect of introduction of basalt fibres in asphalt mixtures for surface course, mainly with regard to those to be used in urban areas, for dedicated bus lanes. Surface layers, where tire-pavement interactions occur, have to provide different properties such as high friction (very important for users’ safety), stability, resistance to meteorological agents, and contribution to the overall pavement performances. Considering that basalt fibres provide considerable physical and mechanical properties and above all high abrasion resistance, scope of the study is to evaluate the effects of these fibres on mixtures proper…
Evaluación del efecto rejuvenecedor de bio-materiales sobre ligantes para mezclas con alto contenido de asfalto recuperado
2017
The interest in using bio-materials in pavement engineering has grown significantly over the last decades due to environmental concerns about the use of non-recoverable natural resources. In this paper, bio-materials are used together with Reclaimed Asphalt (RA) to restore some of the properties of the aged bitumen present in mixtures with high RA content. For this purpose, two bio-materials are studied and compared to conventional and polymer modified bitumens. Blends of these materials with RA bitumen were produced and studied to simulate a 50% RA mixture. The rejuvenating effect of the two bio-materials on RA has been assessed and compared with the effect of the conventional binders. App…
Evaluation of the laboratory prediction of surface properties of bituminous mixtures. Construction and Building Materials. Volume 23. Issue 2. Elsevi…
2009
An experimental and analytical investigation was carried out both in laboratory and in situ on wearing courses. The approach presented in this paper aims to predict the in situ density and surface properties of bituminous layers, during the phase of mix design in laboratory. Therefore, the main attempt of this study is to identify, amongst the commonly available laboratory equipments, the most adequate for producing specimens that, used for carrying out simple and reliable laboratory test, allow the prediction of the surface characteristics of the mixture as laid on site. This is done by comparing the data collected from an experimental site with those calculated from laboratory specimens c…
A comparative life-cycle assessment of asphalt mixtures for railway sub-ballast containing alternative materials
2018
Abstract Bituminous sub-ballast in railway track-bed can mitigate the variation of the moisture content in the subgrade and reduce vertical stiffness variations of the track leading to a more durable infrastructure. Nevertheless, durability is only one of the aspects that affects the sustainability of an infrastructure. Other relevant aspects are related to the environmental and economic issues. This research work joins the worldwide effort towards a paradigm shift in civil engineering devoted to assess the sustainability of infrastructures at the design stage. With this in mind, in this study different alternative bituminous sub-ballast mixtures containing recycled materials, namely crumb …
Effect of two novel bio-based rejuvenators on the performance of 50% RAP mixes - a statistical study on the complex modulus of asphalt binders and as…
2019
An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of two bio-additives as rejuvenators on the properties of asphalt mixtures containing 50% RAP and their binder constituents containing 37% RAP binder. Before mixing, the rejuvenators were blended with fresh bitumen and the extracted and recovered RAP bitumen, and changes in the rheological properties of the binders were assessed using performance grading (PG) criteria. The results showed that both rejuvenators could improve the low-temperature performance of the aged RAP binder and restore its low-temperature properties. Master curves for the unaged, RTFO-aged, and PAV aged blends were constructed using both the Christensen-A…
Full-scale validation of bio-recycled asphalt mixtures for road pavements
2019
Abstract Recycling of asphalt has become a well-established practice in many countries, however the road pavement industry remains a bulk consumer of extracted raw materials. Novel solutions that find root in circular economy concepts and life-cycle approaches are needed in order to enable optimisation of infrastructure resource efficiency, starting from the design stage and spanning the whole value chain in the construction sector. Itis within this framework that the present study presents a full-scale validation of asphalt mixtures specifically designed to ensure durability of flexible road pavements and at the same time enabling the reuse of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) through the i…