Mesoscopic Heterogeneous Modeling Method for Polyurethane-Solidified Ballast Bed Based on Virtual Ray Casting Algorithm.

Yang Xu, Zhaochuan Sheng, Jingyu Zhang, Hongyang Han, Xing Ling, Xu Zhang, Luchao Qie

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Article in Materials (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

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7 authors.

Yang XuRailway Engineering Research Institute, China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited, Beijing 100081, China.

Zhaochuan ShengSchool of Mechanics and Civil Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing 100083, China.

Jingyu ZhangRailway Engineering Research Institute, China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited, Beijing 100081, China.

Hongyang HanRailway Engineering Research Institute, China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited, Beijing 100081, China.

Xing LingRailway Engineering Research Institute, China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited, Beijing 100081, China.

Xu ZhangSchool of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.ORCID 0000-0001-7924-9527

Luchao QieRailway Engineering Research Institute, China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited, Beijing 100081, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study introduces a mesoscale modeling methodology for polyurethane-solidified ballast beds (PSBBs) that eliminates reliance on X-ray computed tomography (XCT) and addresses constraints in specimen size, capital cost, and post-processing complexity. The approach couples the Discrete Element Method (DEM) with the Finite Element Method (FEM). A high-fidelity discrete-element geometry is reconstructed from three-dimensional laser scans of ballast particles. The virtual-ray casting algorithm is then employed to identify the spatial distribution of ballast and polyurethane and map this information onto the finite-element mesh, enabling heterogeneous material reconstruction at the mesoscale. The accuracy of the model and mesh convergence are validated through comparisons with laboratory uniaxial compression tests, determining the optimal mesh size to be 0.4 times the minimum particle size (0.4

Indexed as

composite heterogeneous materialsDiscrete Element MethodFinite Element Methodmesoscopic modelingpolyurethane-solidified ballast bedsleeper width optimizationvirtual ray casting

Identifiers

PMID41681164

DOI10.3390/ma19030474

PMCPMC12898722

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