Prof. Buddhima Indraratna
Prof. Buddhima Indraratna is currently Professor of Civil Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Wollongong. Concurrently, Buddhima is also the Research Director, Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering; Program Leader, ARC Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical Science and Engineering; and Node Coordinator, CRC for Rail Innovation.
Since his PhD from the University of Alberta in 1987, his significant contributions to geotechnical and railway research have been acknowledged through numerous national and international awards, including the 2009 EH Davis Memorial lecture, regarded as one of the highest accolades within the Australian Geomechanics Society. Honoured as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) and as a recipient of the 2011 Engineers Australia Transport Medal and 2009 Business Higher Education Round Table (BHERT) award by Australian Commonwealth for Rail Track Innovations, his contributions to Transportation Geotechnics and Ground Improvement have been further acclaimed. He has published over 500 peer-reviewed articles (200+ Journal papers) and 5 research-based Books, and successfully supervised over 40 PhD graduates. His research income is approx. $1.2 M/year. He is the Founding Director of the Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering (GRE). In this Centre, he is mentoring over a dozen full-time staff and overseeing the progress of over 30 PhD students. GRE is one of the three research centres forming the ARC Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical Sciences and Engineering (ARC-CGSE) funded recently (with Newcastle and UWA), of which he is a Program Leader. He is also the node coordinator of the CRC for Rail Innovation at UOW in charge of several rail track innovation projects including a real track design at Singleton, near Newcastle, NSW.The National Rail Testing Facility will be soon established at the University of Wollongong under his leadership through funding by the Australian Research Council.
Dr. Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn
Dr Cholachat is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Geomechanics and Railway engineering, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong. He received his B Eng (1st Class Honours) from the Khonkaen University, Thailand in 2000 with a Masters (M Eng) from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand in 2002. He obtained his PhD in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Wollongong in 2006. He received the Australian Geomechanics Society Thesis Award in 2006. In 2009, he received an award twice from the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IACMAG) for an outstanding paper by an early career researcher, and the 2006 Wollongong Trailblazer Award for innovations in soft soil stabilisation for transport infrastructure. Recently he received the 2012 DH Trollope award and the 2013 ISSMGE Young Member award for academic achievements and outstanding contributions to the field of geotechnical engineering. He recently secured an early Career Researcher Award through the ARC Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical Science and Engineering with a grant of $680k for 3 years. His key areas of expertise include ground improvement for transport infrastructure and soft soil engineering. He has published over 140 articles in international journals and conferences. While maintaining a strong focus on quality teaching, to date, he has secured over $2 Million in research funding, mostly from external sources. He is currently a CI of two ARC-DP projects, 3 ARC-LP projects and a CRC-Rail project. He is currently the supervisor/co-supervisor of 10 HDR students and 4 Research Associates.
PREFACE
This Special Issue of the Geotechnical Engineering Journal of the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society & Association of Geotechnical Societies in Southeast Asia on the Geotechnics for Advancing Transport Infrastructure is the result of keen discussion among various experts, for highlighting the key geotechnical issues encompassing modern transport infrastructure. This special issue includes a dozen invited papers from around the globe, including numerical and analytical methods, design parameters, field and laboratory testing, and case studies.
The issue begins with an invited paper by Tatsuoka et al titled “Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Structures for Railways: Twenty Five Year Experiences in Japan.” It draws our attention to the importance of the application of Geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls constructed for high-speed train lines considering for both high seismic loads and subsequent over-topping tsunami current.
The article on the “Enhancement of Rail Track Performance through Utilisation of Geosynthetic Inclusions” by Indraratna et al. proposes the use of artificial inclusions such as polymeric geosynthetics and rubber shock mats with the aim of reducing particle breakage as a cost-effective option. The relative performance of different types of geogrids, geocomposites and shock mats installed in fully instrumented field tracks has been evaluated in the towns of Bulli and Singleton in the State of New South Wales, Australia.
In their study on “Railway Track Transition Dynamics and Reinforcement Using Polyurethane GeoComposites,”, Woodward et al. investigate the application of a polyurethane reinforcement technique to control the ballast migration behaviour in the transition zone to reduce dynamic effects from problems like hanging sleepers. The paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the application through numerical simulation and a case study at Tottenham Hale Junction in the United Kingdom.
In the paper “How to Overcome Geotechnical Challenges in Implementing High Speed Rail Systems in Australia,” Khabbaz and Fatahi summarise lessons learnt from other countries experienced with high speed rail. The challenges and the effective solutions associated with implementing HSR systems in Australia are explained including selection and design of proper tracks, geographical issues, environmental concerns, economics and project costs and construction procedures.
In their contributions “Maintenance Model for Railway Substructure,” by Ebrahimi et al. propose a maintenance model for railway substructure to predict the deformation of railway track and to estimate a schedule for ballast maintenance and tamping. A mechanistic-based maintenance planning software program was developed by incorporating the mechanistic empirical deformation model for railway substructure.
In their study “Dynamic Behaviour of Railway Ballasted Track Structures in Shaking Table Tests and Seismic Resistant Performance Evaluation in Japan,” Ishikawa et al. present an experimental and analytical study to explain the dynamic response of ballasted track structures subjected to horizontal seismic motions using small-scale model ballasted tracks with shaking table tests. They show that this technique could roughly assess the seismic performance of ballasted track structures for practical use.
The article “Mechanical Properties of Polyurethane-Stabilized Ballast,” by Keene et al. presents the mechanical properties of Polyurethane-Stabilized Ballast (PSB) compared to other materials commonly used in transportation infrastructure. It is found that PSB has mechanical properties similar to cement-stabilized soil (i.e., displays flexural strength), but has much greater compressive strength than ballast, which is critical for stabilization of track substructure.
“Dependency of Cyclic plastic Deformation Characteristics of Unsaturated Recycled Base Course Material on Principal Stress Axis Rotation” is an experimental study by Inam et al. who present the strength-deformation characteristics of unsaturated recycled crusher-run material, under various loading conditions and saturation degrees using multi-ring shear apparatus. The results from the multi-ring shear tests during repeated axial and shear loading tests can produce the real permanent deformation behaviour inside the base course and such results can be incorporated in practical pavement design.
The paper “Quickness Test Approach for Assessment of Flow Slide Potentials” by Thakur and Degago introduces a novel and pragmatic test procedure referred to as the quickness tests to evaluate remoulded shear strength of the sensitive clays. Based on relevant Norwegian landslides data, a quickness based criteria is proposed to assess the potential for occurrence of flow slides.
“Cement Stabilization for Pavement Material in Thailand” presented by Horpibulsuk et al. is a detailed review on the application of lightweight cemented clay and recycled pavement material, which are commonly used in Thailand. The effects of water content, cement content, air content and curing time play a major role in controlling the field strength development.
The study on “Stone Columns Field Test: Monitoring Data and Numerical Analyses” Almeida et al. presents a case study of a field test performed on a set of sixteen stone columns loaded with iron rails for one month. The numerical calculations of vertical and horizontal displacements reproduced the field measurements with satisfactory accuracy up to limit state conditions. The yield of stone columns provided by 3D analysis appears to be more realistic than that provided by 2D analysis.
“Numerical Analysis of Response of Geocell Confined Flexible Pavement,” by S. Babu and R. Babu investigates the behaviour of geocell reinforcement in the flexible pavement. The paper elaborates on the effects of secant modulus of geocell material, aspect ratio, thickness of geocell-reinforced layer, and type of subgrade material using a series of numerical analyses.
Our invitation to be Guest Editors of this Special Issue is gratefully appreciated. The 11 articles plus the technical note included in this Special Issue covers an array of issues from theory to practice in transport infrastructure development. We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of all Authors who accepted our invitation to submit high quality articles in a timely manner. All papers have been peer-reviewed according to journal guidelines to maintain high standards, and we acknowledge these efforts by all Reviewers.
It is hoped that this Special Issue on Transport Geotechnics would be of immense benefit to both researchers and practitioners alike.
Prof Buddhima Indraratna,
A/Prof Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We are very fortunate to begin Year 2014 with this excellent Issue on Geotechnics for Advancing Transport Infrastructure. Also no one else can be better Guest Editors than Prof. Buddhima Indraratna and A/Prof Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn. Prof. Buddhima Indraratna is currently Professor of Civil Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Wollongong. Concurrently, Buddhima is also the Research Director, Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering; Program Leader, ARC Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical Science and Engineering; and Node Coordinator, CRC for Rail Innovation. Dr Cholachat is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Geomechanics and Railway engineering, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong. In the Preface, the Guest Editors proudly say, “This special issue includes a dozen invited papers from around the globe, including numerical and analytical methods, design parameters, field and laboratory testing, and case studies”. Indeed it is truely remarkable to have such an excellent set of papers, so eloquently presented in a systemmatic manner by the authors in an authoritative manner.
Appropriately the Issue begins with a novel contribution by Prof. Tatsuoka and co-authors on twenty five years of experiences in Japan on Geosynthetic reinfotrced soil structures for railways. The subsequent papers by Prof. Indraratna and Dr. Rujikiatkamjorn on enhancement of rail track performance through utilisation of geosynthetic inclusions; Railway Track Transition Dynamics & Reinforcement Using Polyurethane GeoComposites by P. Woodward, O. Laghrouche and A. El-Kacimi; How to Overcome Geotechnical Challenges in Implementing High Speed Rail Systems in Australia by by H. Khabbaz and B. Fatahi; Maintenance Model for Railway Substructure by Ali Ebrahimi, James M. Tinjum, and Tuncer B. Edil; Dynamic Behaviour of Railway Ballasted Track Structures in Shaking Table Tests and Seismic Resistant Performance Evaluation in Japan by T. Ishikawa, S. Miura and E. Sekine; and Mechanical Properties of Polyurethane-Stabilized Ballast and Infrastructure Materials by A. Keene, J.M. Tinjum, and T.B. Edil; all of them are invaluable contributions related to railways and use of geosynthetics.
The following four papers and a Technical note as described makes this Special Issue a special volume by itself on Geotechnics for Advancing Transport Infrastructure; Dependency of Cyclic Plastic Deformation Characteristics of Unsaturated Recycled Base Course Material on Principal Stress Axis Rotation by A. Inam, T. Ishikawa, and S.A. Miura; Quickness Test Approach for Assessment of Flow Slide Potentials by V. Thakur and S. A. Degago; Cement Stabilization for Pavement Material in Thailand by S. Horpibulsuk, A. Chinkulkijniwat, A. Suddeepong, and A. Neramitkornburee; Stone Columns Field Test: Monitoring Data and Numerical Analyses by Marcio Almeida, Bruno Lima, Mario Riccio, Holger Jud, Maria Cascão, Felipe Roza ; Numerical Analysis of Response of Geocell Confined Flexible Pavement by G. L Sivakumar Babu and Ram Babu.
Grateful thanks are due to all the contributing authors for their dedicated contributions. A very high standard is maintained in the contributions in this Issue and the subsequent three Issues are also expected to be of great value. They will form a very useful contribution to our profession.
K. Y. Yong
N . Phienwej
T. A. Ooi
A. S. Balasubramaniam
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MARCH 2014 SPECIAL ISSUE ON GEOTECHNICS FOR ADVANCING TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
Editors: Prof. Buddhima Indraratna & Dr. Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn
Numerical Analysis of Response of Geocell Confined Flexible Pavement
by G. L Sivakumar Babu and Ram Babu113-117
