A discussion about the limitations of the Eurocode’s high-speed load model for railway bridges

High-speed railway bridges are subjected to normative limitations concerning maximum permissible deck accelerations.For the design of these structures,the European norm EN 1991-2 introduces the high-speed load model(HSLM)—a set of point loads intended to include the effects of existing high-speed trains.Yet,the evolution of current trains and the recent development of new load models motivate a discussion regarding the limits of validity of the HSLM.For this study,a large number of randomly generated load models of articulated,conventional,and regular trains are tested and compared with the envelope of HSLM effects.For each type of train,two sets of 100,000 load models are considered:one abiding by the limits of the EN 1991-2 and another considering wider limits.This comparison is achieved using both a bridge-independent metric(train signatures)and dynamic analyses on a case study bridge(the Canelas bridge of the Portuguese Railway Network).For the latter,a methodology to decrease the computational cost of moving loads analysis is introduced.Results show that some theoretical load models constructed within the stipulated limits of the norm can lead to effects not covered by the HSLM.This is especially noted in conventional trains,where there is a relation with larger distances between centres of adjacent vehicle bogies.

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.

Influence of span-to-depth ratio on dynamic response of vehicle-turnoutbridge system in high-speed railway

For high-speed railways,the smoothness of the railway line significantly affects the operational speed of trains.When the train passes through the turnout on a long-span bridge,the wheel-rail impacts caused by the turnout structure irregularities,and the instability arising from the bridge's flexural deformation lead to a strong coupling effect in the vehicle-turnout-bridge system.This significantly affects both ride comfort and operational safety.For addressing this issue,the present study considered a long-span continuous rigid-frame bridge as an example and established a train-turnout-bridge coupled dynamic model of high-speed railway.Utilizing a selfdeveloped dynamic simulation program,the study analysed the dynamic response characteristics when the train passes through the turnouts on the bridge.It also investigated the influence of different span-to-depth ratios of the bridge on the vehicle dynamic response when the train passes through the main line and branch line of turnouts and then proposed a span-to-depth ratio limit value for a long-span continuous rigid-frame bridge.The research findings suggest that the changes in the span-to-depth ratio have a relatively minor impact on the train’s operational performance but significantly affect the dynamic characteristics of the bridge structure.Based on the findings and a comprehensive assessment of safety indicators,it is advisable to establish a span-to-depth ratio limit of 1/4500 for a long-span continuous rigid-frame bridge.

Evaluation of vertical impact factor coefficients for continuous and integral railway bridges under high-speed moving loads

In the railway bridge analysis and design method,dynamic train loads are regarded as static loads enhanced by an impact factor(IF).The IF coefficients for various railway bridges have been reported as a function of span length or frequency of the bridges in Eurocode(2003).However,these IF coefficient values neglect the effects of very high speeds(>200 km/h)and soil-structure interaction(SSI).In this work,a comprehensive study to assess the impact factor coefficients of mid-span vertical displacements for continuous and integral railway bridges subjected to high-speed moving loads is reported.Three different configurations,each for the three-dimensional(3D)continuous and integral bridge,are considered.Also,single-track(1-T)and two-track(2-T)“real train”loading cases for both these bridge types are considered.Subsequently,finite element analysis of the full-scale 3D bridge models,to identify their IF values,considering the effects of SSI for three different soil conditions,is conducted.The IF values obtained from the study for both bridge types are comparable and are greater than the values recommended by Eurocode(2003).The results reveal that with a loss of soil stiffness,the IF value reduces;thus,it confirms the importance of SSI analysis.

Comparison and Selection of Arch-Rib Construction Schemes for Continuous Beam arch Composite Bridge of High Speed Railway

The paper summarizes the four different construction schemes based on engineering cases for the arch rib construction of continuous beam-arch composite bridges for high-speed railways.These methods include in-situ assembly,segmental lifting,incremental launching and longitudinal moving,and vertical rotation.The temporary structural designs,process methods,and technological equipment for each construction scheme are described in detail.The advantages and disadvantages of each scheme and its application scope under various conditions are analyzed,and opinions and suggestions for guiding the application of each scheme are proposed.The comparison and selection analyses show that the four arch rib construction schemes have certain applicability under different conditions such as bridge site status,bridge span,and construction environment.With the continuous increase of bridge span and progress of construction technological equipment,the arch rib construction technology is developing towards the overall erection direction.This leads to more obvious technical advantages of the segmental lifting method,incremental launching and longitudinal moving method,and vertical rotation method.Therefore,it is necessary to select the best construction scheme according to the construction status and technical conditions during application.

Comparison of Measured and Dynamic Analysis Vertical Accelerations of High-Speed Railway Bridges Crossed by KTX Train

Since high-speed railway bridges are subjected to cyclic loading by the continuous wheel loads traveling at high speed and regular spacing, their dynamic behavior is of extreme importance and has significant influence on the riding safety of the trains. To secure the riding safety of the trains, advanced railway countries have limited the vertical acceleration of the bridge slab below critical values at specific frequency domains. Since these limitations of the vertical acceleration constitute the most important factors in securing the dynamic safety of the bridges, these countries have opted for a conservative approach. However, the Korean specifications limit only the size of the peak acceleration without considering the frequency domain, which impede significantly rational evaluation of the high-speed railway bridges in Korea. In addition, the evaluation of the acceleration without consideration of the frequency domain is the cause of disagreement between the dynamic analysis and measurement results. This study conducts field monitoring and dynamic analysis on high-speed railway bridges to gather the acceleration signals and compare them. Significant difference in the size of the vertical acceleration was observed between the measured and dynamic analysis accelerations when discarding the frequency domain as done in the current specifications. The comparison of the accelerations considering only low frequencies below 30 Hz showed that the dynamic analysis reflected accurately the measured vertical acceleration.

Analysis of rail-bridge interaction of a high-speed railway suspension bridge under near-fault pulse-type earthquakes

Due to the limitations of railway route selection,some high-speed railways are inevitably built near or across fault zones.To study the distribution of rail-bridge interaction under different load history states of suspension bridges under three types of near-fault pulse-type earthquakes,this paper takes China’s longest high-speed railway suspension bridge—Wufengshan Yangtze River Bridge-as the background and establishes a spatial model of the rail-bridge interaction of a suspension bridge.The results show that:under the constant load state,the distribution of additional force under three types of pulse-type earthquakes is generally consistent,and pulse-type earthquakes produce more significant responses than non-pulse-type earthquakes;with fling-step pulse being the largest,it is advised to specifically consider the influence of the fling-step pulse in the calculation.Under the initial condition of the main beam temperature loading history,all rail-bridge additional forces increase significantly,particularly affecting the steel rail system.The value of the rail-bridge interaction additional force under the near-fault earthquake in the initial state of the suspension bridge when the train deflection load is loaded from the tower to the mid-span is more significant and particularly unfavourable.The initial effect of the braking load will weaken the effect of the deflection load loading history.The results of the study indicate that the effect of the initial state of suspension bridges is an important factor influencing the rail-bridge interaction under near-fault pulse-type earthquakes,which needs to be considered in future seismic design.