ABSTRACT
The cyclic loading submitted by the passage of trains on railway structures, induce a resilient (recoverable) deformation and/or permanent/plastic deformation on the subgrade materials. Indeed, the geomaterials when submitted to this type of loading tend to exhibit an elastoplastic behaviour. The modelling of the materials’ performance can be a challenge due to their complex behaviour, influenced by the 3D character of the problem, the rotation of the principal stresses, etc. Thus, this paper is focused on the study of the permanent deformation phenomena, particularly on mechanistic-empirical approaches since they are able to simulate the response of the materials, are easy to implement, and are less time consuming when compared to the elastoplastic models. Throughout this work, a comparison between several empirical models is presented (identifying the main similarities and differences between them), considering a practical case of a passage of the Alfa Pendular train in a slab track (Rheda system) at 200 km/h in order to evaluate the influence of the subgrade in the response of the railway structure. The obtained results are analysed, discussed and compared.
