Influence of pier height on the safety of trains running on high-speed railway bridges during earthquakes

Sudden earthquakes pose a threat to the running safety of trains on high-speed railway bridges,and the stiffness of piers is one of the factors affecting the dynamic response of train-track-bridge system.In this paper,a experiment of a train running on a high-speed railway bridge is performed based on a dynamic experiment system,and the corresponding numerical model is established.The reliability of the numerical model is verified by experiments.Then,the experiment and numerical data are analyzed to reveal the pier height effects on the running safety of trains on bridges.The results show that when the pier height changes,the frequency of the bridge below the 30 m pier height changes greater;the increase of pier height causes the transverse fundamental frequency of the bridge close to that of the train,and the shaking angle and lateral displacement of the train are the largest for bridge with 50 m pier,which increases the risk of derailment;with the pier height increases from 8 m to 50 m,the derailment coefficient obtained by numerical simulations increases by 75% on average,and the spectral intensity obtained by experiments increases by 120% on average,two indicators exhibit logarithmic variation.

Field survey and analysis on near-fault severely damaged high-speed railway bridge in 2022 M6.9 Menyuan earthquake

The 2022 M6.9 Menyuan earthquake caused severe damage to a high-speed railway bridge,which was designed for high-speed trains running at speeds of above 250 km/h and is located right next to the fault.Bridges of this type have been widely used for rapidly constructing the high-speed railway network,but few bridges have been tested by near-fault devastating earthquakes.The potential severe impact of the earthquake on the high-speed railway is not only the safety of the infrastructure,trains and passengers,but also economic loss due to interrupted railway use.Therefore,a field survey was carried out immediately after the earthquake to collect time-sensitive data.The damage to the bridge was carefully investigated,and quantitative analyses were conducted to better understand the mechanism of the bridge failure.It was found that seismic action perpendicular to the bridge’s longitudinal direction caused severe damage to the girders and rails,while none of the piers showed obvious deformation or cracking.The maximum values of transverse displacement,out-of-plane rotation and twisting angle of girders reached 212.6 cm,3.1 degrees and 19.9 degrees,respectively,causing severe damage to the bearing supports and anti-seismic retaining blocks.These observations provide a basis for improving the seismic design of high-speed railway bridges located in near-fault areas.

Eddy current quantitative evaluation of high-speed railway contact wire cracks based on neural network

Purpose–The purpose of this study is to study the quantitative evaluation method of contact wire cracks by analyzing the changing law of eddy current signal characteristics under different cracks of contact wire of high-speed railway so as to provide a new way of thinking and method for the detection of contact wire injuries of high-speed railway.Design/methodology/approach–Based on the principle of eddy current detection and the specification parameters of high-speed railway contact wires in China,a finite element model for eddy current testing of contact wires was established to explore the variation patterns of crack signal characteristics in numerical simulation.A crack detection system based on eddy current detection was built,and eddy current detection voltage data was obtained for cracks of different depths and widths.By analyzing the variation law of eddy current signals,characteristic parameters were obtained and a quantitative evaluation model for crack width and depth was established based on the back propagation(BP)neural network.Findings–Numerical simulation and experimental detection of eddy current signal change rule is basically consistent,based on the law of the selected characteristics of the parameters in the BP neural network crack quantitative evaluation model also has a certain degree of effectiveness and reliability.BP neural network training results show that the classification accuracy for different widths and depths of the classification is 100 and 85.71%,respectively,and can be effectively realized on the high-speed railway contact line cracks of the quantitative evaluation classification.Originality/value–This study establishes a new type of high-speed railway contact wire crack detection and identification method,which provides a new technical means for high-speed railway contact wire injury detection.The study of eddy current characteristic law and quantitative evaluation model for different cracks in contact line has important academic value and practical significance,and it has certain guiding significance for the detection technology of contact line in high-speed railway.

A review of artificial intelligence applications in high-speed railway systems

In recent years,the global surge of High-speed Railway(HSR)revolutionized ground transportation,providing secure,comfortable,and punctual services.The next-gen HSR,fueled by emerging services like video surveillance,emergency communication,and real-time scheduling,demands advanced capabilities in real-time perception,automated driving,and digitized services,which accelerate the integration and application of Artificial Intelligence(AI)in the HSR system.This paper first provides a brief overview of AI,covering its origin,evolution,and breakthrough applications.A comprehensive review is then given regarding the most advanced AI technologies and applications in three macro application domains of the HSR system:mechanical manufacturing and electrical control,communication and signal control,and transportation management.The literature is categorized and compared across nine application directions labeled as intelligent manufacturing of trains and key components,forecast of railroad maintenance,optimization of energy consumption in railroads and trains,communication security,communication dependability,channel modeling and estimation,passenger scheduling,traffic flow forecasting,high-speed railway smart platform.Finally,challenges associated with the application of AI are discussed,offering insights for future research directions.

Noise reduction mechanism of high-speed railway box-girder bridges installed with MTMDs on top plate

The issue of low-frequency structural noise radiated from high-speed railway(HSR) box-girder bridges(BGBs) is a significant challenge worldwide. Although it is known that vibrations in BGBs caused by moving trains can be reduced by installing multiple tuned mass dampers(MTMDs) on the top plate, there is limited research on the noise reduction achieved by this method. This study aims to investigate the noise reduction mechanism of BGBs installed with MTMDs on the top plate. A sound radiation prediction model for the BGB installed with MTMDs is developed, based on the vehicle–track–bridge coupled dynamics and acoustics boundary element method. After being verified by field tested results, the prediction model is employed to study the reduction of vibration and noise of BGBs caused by the MTMDs. It is found that installing MTMDs on top plate can significantly affect the vibration distribution and sound radiation law of BGBs. However, its impact on the sound radiation caused by vibrations dominated by the global modes of BGBs is minimal. The noise reduction achieved by MTMDs is mainly through changing the acoustic radiation contributions of each plate of the bridge. In the lower frequency range, the noise reduction of BGB caused by MTMDs can be more effective if the installation of MTMDs can modify the vibration frequency and distribution of the BGB to avoid the influence of small vibrations and disperse the sound radiation from each plate.

Experimental study on the acoustic roughness spectrum of high-speed railway rails

Purpose–This study aims to investigate the acoustic roughness of rails on China’s high-speed railways,with a focus on short-wavelength irregularities(less than 80 cm),which are known to significantly contribute to noise.The goal is to develop a specific acoustic roughness spectrum tailored for China’s high-speed railway system,as no such spectrum currently exists.Design/methodology/approach–A long-term tracking study was conducted on major railway lines in China,monitoring rail roughness throughout the initial operational period and the rails’service life.Data preprocessing techniques such as peak removal and curvature correction were applied for acoustic adjustments.A spatial-wavelength domain transformation was performed,providing the distribution patterns and statistical characteristics of acoustic roughness on China’s high-speed rails.Based on these analyses,a model for constructing the acoustic roughness spectrum was developed.Findings–The study found that the acoustic roughness of China’s high-speed railway rails follows aχ2 distribution with six degrees of freedom.For wavelengths greater than 8 cm,the acoustic roughness spectrum remains below the ISO specified limits.In the wavelength range of 3.2 cm to 6.3 cm,the roughness is comparable to or within the limits specified by ISO 3095:2005 and ISO 3095:2013.However,for wavelengths shorter than 2.5 cm,the roughness exceeds ISO limits.Originality/value–This research fills the gap in the lack of a specific acoustic roughness spectrum for China’s high-speed railways.By establishing a tailored spectrum based on long-term data analysis,the findings provide valuable insights for noise control and rail maintenance in the context of China’s high-speed rail system.

Research on safety control technology of high-speed railway combined test based on threatening event analysis

Purpose–Safety management is a key point and poses a challenge in joint testing.To detect and address potential accidents’hidden dangers early,this paper conducts research on the safety control technology for high-speed railway joint tests by incorporating the concept of hazardous events.Design/methodology/approach–Aiming at ensuring the safety of high-speed railway combined inspections and trials,this paper starts from the dual prevention mechanism.It introduces the concept of threatening events,defines them and analyzes the differences between threatening events and railway accidents.The paper also proposes a cause model for threatening events in high-speed railway combined inspections and trials,based on three types of hazard sources.Furthermore,it conducts research on the control strategies for these threatening events.Findings–The research on safety control technology for high-speed railway combined operation and testing,based on the analysis of threatened events,offers a new perspective for safety management in these operations.It also provides theoretical and practical support for the transition from passive prevention to active risk pre-control,which holds significant theoretical and practical value.Originality/value–The innovation mainly includes the following three aspects:(1)Building on the traditional dual prevention mechanism,which includes risk hierarchical management and control as well as hidden danger investigation and management,a triple prevention mechanism is proposed.This new mechanism adds the management of threatening events as the third line of defense.The aim is to more comprehensively identify and address potential security risks,thereby enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of security management.(2)In this paper,the definition of a railway threatening event is clarified,and the causative model of a high-speed railway threatening event based on three kinds of danger sources is proposed.(3)This paper puts forward the control strategy of the high-speed railway combined operation and trial,which includes five key links:identification,reporting,analysis,rectification and feedback,which provides a new perspective for the safety management of the high-speed railway combined operation and trial and has important theoretical and application value.

Risk assessment of high-speed railway CTC system based on improved game theory and cloud model

Purpose-In order to solve the problem of inaccurate calculation of index weights,subjectivity and uncertainty of index assessment in the risk assessment process,this study aims to propose a scientific and reasonable centralized traffic control(CTC)system risk assessment method.Design/methodologylapproach-First,system-theoretic process analysis(STPA)is used to conduct risk analysis on the CTC system and constructs risk assessment indexes based on this analysis.Then,to enhance the accuracy of weight calculation,the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process(FAHP),fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory(FDEMATEL)and entropy weight method are employed to calculate the subjective weight,relative weight and objective weight of each index.These three types of weights are combined using game theory to obtain the combined weight for each index.To reduce subjectivity and uncertainty in the assessment process,the backward cloud generator method is utilized to obtain the numerical character(NC)of the cloud model for each index.The NCs of the indexes are then weighted to derive the comprehensive cloud for risk assessment of the CTC system.This cloud model is used to obtain the CTC system's comprehensive risk assessment.The model's similarity measurement method gauges the likeness between the comprehensive risk assessment cloud and the risk standard cloud.Finally,this process yields the risk assessment results for the CTC system.Findings-The cloud model can handle the subjectivity and fuzziness in the risk assessment process well.The cloud model-based risk assessment method was applied to the CTC system risk assessment of a railway group and achieved good results.Originality/value-This study provides a cloud model-based method for risk assessment of CTC systems,which accurately calculates the weight of risk indexes and uses cloud models to reduce uncertainty and subjectivity in the assessment,achieving effective risk assessment of CTC systems.It can provide a reference and theoretical basis for risk management of the CTC system.

High-speed railway track components inspection framework based on YOLOv8 with high-performance model deployment

Railway inspection poses significant challenges due to the extensive use of various components in vast railway networks,especially in the case of high-speed railways.These networks demand high maintenance but offer only limited inspection windows.In response,this study focuses on developing a high-performance rail inspection system tailored for high-speed railways and railroads with constrained inspection timeframes.This system leverages the latest artificial intelligence advancements,incorporating YOLOv8 for detection.Our research introduces an efficient model inference pipeline based on a producer-consumer model,effectively utilizing parallel processing and concurrent computing to enhance performance.The deployment of this pipeline,implemented using C++,TensorRT,float16 quantization,and oneTBB,represents a significant departure from traditional sequential processing methods.The results are remarkable,showcasing a substantial increase in processing speed:from 38.93 Frames Per Second(FPS)to 281.06 FPS on a desktop system equipped with an Nvidia RTX A6000 GPU and from 19.50 FPS to 200.26 FPS on the Nvidia Jetson AGX Orin edge computing platform.This proposed framework has the potential to meet the real-time inspection requirements of high-speed railways.

Study on the Influence of Lanzhou-Urumqi High-Speed Railway on Regional Accessibility and Economic Development

The Lanzhou-Urumqi high-speed railway is an important part of the railway network connecting Gansu,Qinghai,and Xinjiang,and it is of far-reaching significance in facilitating China’s western development.An accessibility model and a double difference model were built to analyze the impact of the Lanzhou-Urumqi high-speed railway on regional accessibility and economic development of the areas along the line before(2012-2014)and after(2017-2019)its opening.The results show that the regional accessibility remains unchanged before and after the operation of this railway line.However,there is a spatial difference in improvement,that of central cities being better.The opening of the high-speed railway is conducive to driving the overall economic development of the region and promoting the comprehensive and coordinated development of regional economies.

MmWave extra-large-scale MIMO based active user detection and channel estimation for high-speed railway communications

The current High-Speed Railway(HSR)communications increasingly fail to satisfy the massive access services of numerous user equipment brought by the increasing number of people traveling by HSRs.To this end,this paper investigates millimeter-Wave(mmWave)extra-large scale(XL)-MIMO-based massive Internet-of-Things(loT)access in near-field HSR communications,and proposes a block simultaneous orthogonal matching pursuit(B-SOMP)-based Active User Detection(AUD)and Channel Estimation(CE)scheme by exploiting the spatial block sparsity of the XLMIMO-based massive access channels.Specifically,we first model the uplink mmWave XL-MIMO channels,which exhibit the near-field propagation characteristics of electromagnetic signals and the spatial non-stationarity of mmWave XL-MIMO arrays.By exploiting the spatial block sparsity and common frequency-domain sparsity pattern of massive access channels,the joint AUD and CE problem can be then formulated as a Multiple Measurement Vectors Compressive Sensing(MIMV-CS)problem.Based on the designed sensing matrix,a B-SOMP algorithm is proposed to achieve joint AUD and CE.Finally,simulation results show that the proposed solution can obtain a better AUD and CE performance than the conventional CS-based scheme for massive IoT access in near-field HSR communications.

Challenges of the Performance Standards of the International Finance Corporation in Financing the African Integrated High-Speed Railway Network and the Way Forward: The Case of Standard Gauge Railway in Tanzania

Financing of the African Integrated High-Speed Railway Network (AIHSRN) through Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Projects is very expensive. As a result, most of the African countries seek financial supports from the International Financial Institutions (IFIs). However, conditions provided by the IFIs through the Performance Standards (PS) of the International Financial Corporation (IFC) increase cost of the projects and thus, it becomes a burden to most of the African countries. This study aimed to explore the causes of IFC-PS through the SGR Projects that escalate costs and how to address them. The Tanzania SGR Lot 1 Project that covered 205 km from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro was selected as a case study. The methods used for data collection involved literature review, focus group discussions and interviews. The results and findings show a gap between the IFC-PS and the National Laws and Regulations that escalates costs of the projects if funds from the IFIs were to be secured. To bridge the gap, it is recommended that the African countries should engage into negotiations with the IFIs to agree to waive IFC-PS conditions that escalate costs provided they are adequately covered in the national laws and regulations;engagement of locally established national and regional financial institutions;and the responsible government institutions in the African countries should sit together for assessment and review of the IFC-PS against the national laws and regulations.

Transformer-Based Macroscopic Regulation for High-Speed Railway Timetable Rescheduling

Unexpected delays in train operations can cause a cascade of negative consequences in a high-speed railway system.In such cases,train timetables need to be rescheduled.However,timely and efficient train timetable rescheduling is still a challenging problem due to its modeling difficulties and low optimization efficiency.This paper presents a Transformer-based macroscopic regulation approach which consists of two stages including Transformer-based modeling and policy-based decisionmaking.Firstly,the relationship between various train schedules and operations is described by creating a macroscopic model with the Transformer,providing the better understanding of overall operation in the high-speed railway system.Then,a policy-based approach is used to solve a continuous decision problem after macro-modeling for fast convergence.Extensive experiments on various delay scenarios are conducted.The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in comparison to other popular methods.

Incompatible thermal deformation of interlayers and corresponding damage mechanism of high-speed railway track structure

In the service period,the instability of ballastless track bed are mostly related to the damage of interlayers which are mainly resulted from the incompatible thermal deformation of interlayers.The temperature field within the ballastless track bed shows significant non-uniformity due to the large difference in the materials of various structure layers,leading to a considerable difference in the force bearing of different structure layers.Unit Ballastless Track Bed(UBTB)is most significantly affected by temperature gradient.The thermal deformation of interlayers within UBTB follows the trend of ellipsoid-shape buckling under the effect of the temperature gradient,resulting in a variation of the contact relationship between structure layers and a significant periodic irregularity on the rail.When the train travels on the periodically irregular rail,the structure layers are locally contacted,and the contact zone moves with the variation of the wheel position.This wheel-followed local contact greatly magnifies the interlayer stress,causes interlayer damage,and leads to a considerable increase in the bending moment of the track slab.Continuous Ballastless Track Bed(CBTB)is most significantly affected by the overall temperature variation,which may cause damage to the joint in CBTB.Under the combined action of the overall temperature rise and the temperature gradient,the interlayer damage continuously expands,resulting in bonding failure between structural layers.The thermal force in the continuous track slabs will cause the up-heave buckling and the sudden large deformation of the track slab,and the loss of constraint boundary of the horizontal stability.For the design of a ballastless track structure,the change of bearing status and structural damage related to the incompatible thermal deformation of interlayers should be considered.

Key technologies and applications of intelligent dispatching command for high-speed railway in China

Purpose–The intelligent Central Traffic Control(CTC)system plays a vital role in establishing an intelligent high-speed railway(HSR)system.As the core of HSR transportation command,the intelligent CTC system is a new HSR dispatching command system that integrates the widely used CTC in China with the practical service requirements of intelligent dispatching.This paper aims to propose key technologies and applications for intelligent dispatching command in HSR in China.Design/methodology/approach–This paper first briefly introduces the functions and configuration of the intelligent CTC system.Some new servers,terminals and interfaces are introduced,which are plan adjustment server/terminal,interface for automatic train operation(ATO),interface for Dynamic Monitoring System of Train Control Equipment(DMS),interface for Power Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition(PSCADA),interface for Disaster Monitoring,etc.Findings–The key technologies applied in the intelligent CTC system include automatic adjustment of train operation plans,safety control of train routes and commands,traffic information data platform,integrated simulation of traffic dispatching and ATO function.These technologies have been applied in the Beijing-Zhangjiakou HSR,which commenced operations at the end of 2019.Implementing these key intelligent functions has improved the train dispatching command capacity,ensured the safe operation of intelligent HSR,reduced the labor intensity of dispatching operators and enhanced the intelligence level of China’s dispatching system.Originality/value–This paper provides further challenges and research directions for the intelligent dispatching command of HSR.To achieve the objectives,new measures need to be conducted,including the development of advanced technologies for intelligent dispatching command,coping with new requirements with the development of China’s railway signaling system,the integration of traffic dispatching and train control and the application of AI and data-driven modeling and methods.

Power supply arm protection scheme of high-speed railway based on wide-area current differential

When fault occurs on cross-coupling autotransformer(AT)power supply traction network,the up-line and down-line feeder circuit breakers in the traction substation trip at the same time without selectivity,which leads to an extended power failure.Based on equivalent circuit and Kirchhoff’s current law,the feeder current characteristic in the substation,AT station and sectioning post when T-R fault,F-R fault,and T-F fault occur are analyzed and their expressions are obtained.When the traction power supply system is equipped with wide-area protection measurement and control system,the feeder protection device in each station collects the feeder currents in other two stations through the wide-area protection channel and a wide-area current differential protection scheme based on the feeder current characteristic is proposed.When a short-circuit fault occurs in the power supply arm,all the feeder protection devices in each station receive the feeder currents with time stamp in other two stations.After data synchronous processing and logic judgment,the fault line of the power supply arm can be identified and isolated quickly.The simulation result based on MATLAB/Simulink shows that the power supply arm protection scheme based on wide-area current differential has good fault discrimination ability under different fault positions,transition resistances,and fault types.The verification of measured data shows that the novel protection scheme will not be affected by the special working conditions of the electrical multiple unit(EMU),and reliability,selectivity,and rapidity of relay protection are all improved.

Earthquake Emergency Response System of High-speed Railway by Least Square Method

This paper studies the Least Square Method to define high-speed railway(HSR) earthquake risk and solve the problem of its emergency response mechanism. Based on the construction of a monitoring system for HSR earthquake emergency response, the technical operational procedures for HSR seismic emergency response are proposed. The quantity, scale, and location of HSR earthquake emergency response mechanism are defined, and the corresponding emergency response system is built. In particular, the earthquake emergency response system can conduct real-time continuous dynamic monitoring of seismic activity along the railway. When earthquake occurs, the intensity of the ground motion is detected by the system. When the earthquake monitoring value reaches the earthquake alarm threshold, it will send an alarm signal to the dispatch center, and the emergency power supply will be forced to cut off. The earthquake emergency response system will continue to monitor the follow-up ground motion acceleration. The system provides the operation scheduling center with a basis for train operation control to resume operation after stopping. The monitoring result of the system reduces the disaster, and the secondary disaster is caused by the earthquake. This paper improves the HSR response mechanism in detecting earthquake disasters. The result improves the ability of HSR to deal with earthquake disasters, and reduces casualties and economic and property loss caused by earthquake disasters.

Research on revision of relevant provisions of high-speed railway emergency disposal in the regulations on railway technical management(RRTM)

Purpose–This study aims to improve the rules and regulations system of high-speed rail emergency disposal.Design/methodology/approach–Based on the analysis of the demands,rules and regulations of China concerning on-site high-speed rail emergency disposal,basic principles for revising the regulations on railway technical management(RRTM)are proposed and suggestions and evaluation methods according to the main clauses are put forward.Findings–Basic principles for revising the RRTM are proposed,namely“to meet the actual needs of on-site high-speed railway emergency disposal,standardize the emergency disposal process,improve the efficiency of emergency disposal and keep the consistency between provisions of emergency disposal”.Existing provisions related to emergency disposal efficiency,scenarios,safety and service quality are made up for the deficiencies.To make up for the deficiencies of the existing provisions related to emergency disposal efficiency,improvement of emergency disposal scenarios and guarantee of emergency disposal safety and quality,this paper puts forward suggestions on revising 15 emergency disposal provisions of the RRTM with regard to earthquake monitoring and warning,in-station foreign body invasion warning,air conditioning failure of EMU trains and forced parking of trains in sections.A fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model based on the analytic hierarchy process(AHP)is constructed to evaluate the proposed revision scheme and suggestions,which has been highly recognized by experts.Originality/value–This study implements the goal of high-quality railway development.

Dynamic response limit of high-speed railway bridge under earthquake considering running safety performance of train

Due to the wide railway network and different characteristics of many earthquake zones in China,considering the running safety performance of trains(RSPT)in the design of high-speed railway bridge structures is very necessary.In this study,in order to provide the seismic design and evaluation measure of the bridge structure based on the RSPT,a calculation model of RSPT on bridge under earthquake was established,and the track surface response measure when the derailment coefficient reaches the limit value was calculated by referring to 15 commonly used ground motion(GM)intensity measures.Based on the coefficient of variation of the limit value obtained from multiple GM samples,the optimal measures were selected.Finally,the limit value of bridge seismic response based on RSPT with different train speeds and structural periods was determined.

Near-fault directivity pulse-like ground motion effect on high-speed railway bridge

The vehicle-track-bridge(VTB)element was used to investigate how a high-speed railway bridge reacted when it was subjected to near-fault directivity pulse-like ground motions.Based on the PEER NAG Strong Ground Motion Database,the spatial analysis model of a vehicle-bridge system was developed,the VTB element was derived to simulate the interaction of train and bridge,and the elasto-plastic seismic responses of the bridge were calculated.The calculation results show that girder and pier top displacement,and bending moment of the pier base increase subjected to near-fault directivity pulse-like ground motion compared to far-field earthquakes,and the greater deformation responses in near-fault shaking are associated with fewer reversed cycles of loading.The hysteretic characteristics of the pier subjected to a near-fault directivity pulse-like earthquake should be explicitly expressed as the bending moment-rotation relationship of the pier base,which is characterized by the centrally strengthened hysteretic cycles at some point of the loading time-history curve.The results show that there is an amplification of the vertical deflection in the girder's mid-span owing to the high vertical ground motion.In light of these findings,the effect of the vertical ground motion should be used to adjust the unconservative amplification constant 2/3 of the vertical-to-horizontal peak ground motion ratio in the seismic design of bridge.