Papers

@article{alves_steel_2024,

title = {Steel Slag Sub-Ballast for Sustainable Railway Track Infrastructure},

author = {Rubens Alves and Ana Ramos and Alexandre Castanheira-Pinto and Sara Rios and Jesús Fernández-Ruíz},

url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/9/7/106},

doi = {10.3390/infrastructures9070106},

issn = {2412-3811},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-07-01},

urldate = {2026-04-28},

journal = {Infrastructures},

volume = {9},

number = {7},

pages = {106},

publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute},

abstract = {Railway lines require a significant amount of natural raw materials. Industrial by-products can be used instead, reducing the costs of natural aggregate exploration. This work analyzes a ballasted track’s short- and long-term performances when replacing conventional sub-ballast aggregate with steel slag. After an extensive laboratory characterization of the steel slag, the material performance was analyzed in a 3D numerical model of a ballasted track when included in a railway track. An empirical model was implemented and calibrated to predict the long-term permanent deformation induced in the track after many train passages. The results are compared with the allowable deformation limits required for conventional high-speed ballasted track railway lines. An additional analysis was conducted to assess the influence of steel slags on the critical speed of conventional railway tracks when used. The results show a residual impact on the critical speed value compared to the conventional sub-ballast made with natural aggregates.},

keywords = {3D numerical model, critical speed, cyclic triaxial tests, EAF, short- and long-term performances},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{orosa_numerical_2022,

title = {Numerical simulation of the stiffness evolution with curing of pavement sections rehabilitated using cold in-place recycling technology},

author = {Pablo Orosa-Iglesias and Luis Medina-Rodríguez and Jesús Fernández-Ruíz and Ignacio Pérez-Pérez and Ana M. Rodríguez-Pasandín},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950061822011643},

doi = {10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.127487},

issn = {0950-0618},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-06-01},

urldate = {2026-08-10},

journal = {Construction and Building Materials},

volume = {335},

pages = {127487},

abstract = {Cold in-place recycling (CIR) technologies are becoming one of the main bets in the road sector to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This technique also contributes to the circular economy, reusing 100% of the RAP from worn roads. In this research, numerical simulations of CIR sections are presented. The nonlinear behaviour of the CIR-base material is modelled using three predictive models based on triaxial test results. Variations in the performance depending on the type of subbase, the curing of the CIR-base material and its thickness, and the effect of the wearing-course were analysed. The response of the sections with unbound granular subbase proved to be very sensitive to variations in the parameters studied, and the increase in CIR base thickness was beneficial, while the opposite occurred with a cement-treated subbase.},

keywords = {3D numerical model, Bitumen emulsion, Bitumen stabilised material (BSM), Cold in-place recycling (CIR), Nonlinear elastic behaviour, Reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), Rutting, Triaxial testing},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{fernandez-ruiz_benchmarking_2021,

title = {Benchmarking of two three-dimensional numerical models in time/space domain to predict railway-induced ground vibrations},

author = {Jesús Fernández-Ruíz and Luis Medina-Rodríguez and Pedro Alves Costa and Margarita Martínez-Díaz},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s11803-021-2017-8},

doi = {10.1007/s11803-021-2017-8},

issn = {1993-503X},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-01-01},

urldate = {2021-01-01},

journal = {Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration},

volume = {20},

number = {1},

pages = {245–256},

abstract = {In the last 30 years, the scientific community has developed and proposed different models and numerical approaches for the study of vibrations induced by railway traffic. Most of them are formulated in the frequency/wave number domain and with a 2.5D approach. Three-dimensional numerical models formulated in the time/space domain are less frequently used, mainly due to their high computational cost. Notwithstanding, these models present very attractive characteristics, such as the possibility of considering nonlinear behaviors or the modelling of excess pore pressure and non-homogeneous and non-periodic geometries in the longitudinal direction of the track. In this study, two 3D numerical approaches formulated in the time/space domain are compared and experimentally validated. The first one consists of a finite element approach and the second one of a finite difference approach. The experimental validation in an actual case situated in Carregado (Portugal) shows an acceptable fitting between the numerical results and the actual measurements for both models. However, there are some differences among them. This study therefore includes some recommendations for their use in practical soil dynamics and geotechnical engineering.},

keywords = {3D numerical model, finite difference method, implicit finite element method, railway vibrations, time/space domain},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}