Distribution of stresses under the sleepers of a railway line: A theoretical analysis and application

The most important stresses imposed to the track layers and the subgrade are vertical ones. Depending upon the modulus of elasticity for the subgrade, formation layers may be needed between the ballast bed and subgrade. In this paper, a theoretical analysis for calculating vertical stresses on the various track layers is presented. The analysis is applied for the scenarios of existence or absence of formation layers, for different track characteristics. Results indicate the cases when formation layers are needed between the ballast bed and the subgrade.