Method to Quantify Realistic Particle Shape Angularity and Texture of High-Speed Railway Ballast Aggregate

Morphological characteristics of ballast particles, including the shape, angularity (roundness), and surface texture (roughness), affect the mechanical behavior and deterioration mechanism of high-speed railway ballasted track. On the basis of the ballast particles' geometric parameters obtained by the digital image processing (DIP) technique, research on the quantitative description methods of graded aggregate morphological characteristics was carried out. The results show that the Fourier analysis method is capable of reflecting the morphological characteristics of ballast gravel well. Based on the studies, a method to quantify morphological characteristics including surface texture, meso-scale angularity (roundness), and macro shape features in the grading of high-speed railway ballast aggregate is provided, and it is important to do further research on ballast numerical simulation and the mechanical behavior of granular ballast bed.