Effects of Differential Subgrade Settlement on Slab Track Deformation Based on a DEM-FDM Coupled Approach

Slab track structures become deformed under the effects of differential subgrade settlement. According to properties China Railway Track System (CRTS) II slab on a subgrade, three-dimensional (3D) coupled model based both discrete element method (DEM) and finite difference (FDM) was developed. The were simulated using FDM DEM, respectively. verified. deformation contact forces gravel grains in surface layer studied settlement wavelength, amplitude, other types settlements also discussed. results demonstrate that amplitude wavelength have significant deformation. increases nonlinearly with an increasing subgrade. Increases significantly increase maximum value force near boundaries section can reach two three times unsettled condition, which makes it easy accelerate plastic