Dynamic mechanical analysis of rubber based products in under ballast mat rail applications

Rubber has long been a material used for vibration isolation in railroad applications due to the attractive material performance and environmental stability. In addition to the inherent sustainability benefits relative to alternatives, rubber in particular offers the opportunity for further material engineering by controlling particle size distribution, density, binder properties etc. at the manufacturing stage and has found widespread use globally in under ballast mat applications from tramway to heavy-haul/mainline track types. In this paper we explore in detail the basic vibration isolation properties of a variety of rubber based ballast mats via dynamic mechanical analysis and connect fundamental properties such as dynamic modulus, natural frequency, degree of damping to the relevant design criteria defined in widely accepted industry standards DIN 45673-5 and the more recent EN 17282.