A method for support stiffness failure identification in a steel spring floating slab track of urban railway: a case study in China

The extensive use of steel spring floating slab tracks has effectively addressed the challenge of alleviating the environmental vibrations induced by urban rail transit systems.However,under the combined action of train dynamic loads and complex environmental factors,problems,such as the fracture of steel spring vibration isolators and suspension vibrations induced by the uneven settlement of the base,often occur.The failure of isolator support stiffness is often hidden in its early stages and is challenging to identify by conventional detection methods.At the same time,it will aggravate the wheel-rail interaction,accelerate the deterioration of track structure,and even affect the driving safety.This study first establishes a detailed coupled train-floating slab track-foundation analytical model.Then the influence of the vibration isolator support stiffness failure on the dynamic indices of the floating slab track system response is analyzed.A set of defect identification methods that can detect the number of failed steel springs,severity of damage,and their location is proposed.Finally,an intelligent monitoring system for support stiffness of floating slab track is built by combining the density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise algorithm and statistical data analysis and is applied to a rail line in southern China.During a three-year monitoring campaign,a suspension failure and a fracture of a steel spring were each successfully detected and detailed failure information was obtained.Field investigation results were consistent with the damage identification results.After repair,the track structure dynamic response returned to the average pre-damage level and further deterioration had been arrested.The proposed damage identification methods and monitoring system provide an approach for intelligent identification of track structure support stiffness failures.

Vibration response analysis of floating slab track supported by nonlinear quasi-zero-stiffness vibration isolators

To improve the low-frequency vibration reduction effect of a steel spring floating slab track(FST),nonlinear quasizero-stiffness(QZS)vibration isolators composed of positive stiffness elements(PSEs)and negative stiffness elements(NSEs)were used to support the FST.First,considering the mechanical characteristics of the nonlinear QZS vibration isolators and the dynamic displacement limit(3 mm)of the FST,the feasible parameter groups were studied with the nonlinear stiffness variation range and bearing capacity as evaluation indices.A vertical vehicle quasi-zero-stiffness floating slab track(QZS-FST)coupled dynamic model was then established.To obtain a reasonable nonlinear stiffness within a few millimeters,the original length of the NSEs must be analyzed first,because it chiefly determines the stiffness nonlinearity level.The compression length of the NSEs at the equilibrium position must be determined to obtain the low stiffness of the floating slab without vehicle load.Meanwhile,to meet the dynamic displacement limit of the FST,the PSE stiffness must be increased to obtain a higher stiffness at the critical dynamic displacement.Various stiffness groups for the PSEs and NSEs can provide the same dynamic bearing capacity and yet have a significantly different vibration reduction effect.Excessive stiffness nonlinearity levels cannot effectively improve the vibration reduction effect at the natural frequency.Furthermore,they also significantly amplify the vibrations above the natural frequency.In this paper,the vertical vibration acceleration level(VAL)of the floating slab and the supporting force of the FST can be decreased by 6.9 dB and 55%,respectively,at the resonance frequency.

Low frequency vibration tests on a floating slab track in an underground laboratory

Low frequency vibrations induced by underground railways have attracted increasing attention in recent years. To obtain the characteristics of low frequency vibrations and the low frequency performance of a floating slab track (FST), low frequency vibration tests on an FST in an underground laboratory at Beijing Jiaotong University were carried out. The FST and an unbalanced shaker SBZ30 for dynamic simulation were designed for use in low frequency vibration experiments. Vibration measurements were performed on the bogie of the unbalanced shaker, the rail, the slab, the tunnel invert, the tunnel wall, the tunnel apex, and on the ground surface at distances varying from 0 to 80 m from the track. Measurements were also made on several floors of an adjacent building. Detailed results of low frequency vibration tests were reported. The attenuation of low frequency vibrations with the distance from the track was presented, as well as the responses of different floors of the building. The experimental results could be regarded as a reference for developing methods to control low frequency vibrations and for adopting countermeasures.

Critical Velocity of Short Floating Slab Track Using Alterable Element Method Considering Wheel-Rail Contact Loss

In actual line operation,the critical velocity is one of the key physical quantities of rail design owing to its great infuence on the riding comfort and safety of vehicles due to the wheel-rail contact loss caused by the abrupt change of rail foundation rigidity,rail wear,or abruptness irregularities on rail.In this study,the short floating slab track(SFST)structure is regarded as a double-layer system.The Euler beam and the rigid body model are adopted for the rail and the floating slab,respectively.and the dispersion equation and the theoretical critical velocity of the rail structure under ideal conditions are deduced.Besides,this st udy considers the implementation of the SFST in the vehicle-structure coupling system.The alterable element method is introduced for accurately simulating the change of the whee-rail contact state and coding a vehicle-structure dynamic analysis program(VSDAP)to calculate the critical velocity of rail structures from the dynamic response of vehicles and rail structures.The principle of its design at the beginning of the design is given on the basis of the theoretical value of the critical velocity and the simulation of the dynamic response,which can provide reference for practical engineering design.

Research on Railway Engineering Experiment Teaching Principles Based on Virtual Simulation Experiment Teaching——Taking the Floating Slab Vibration Damping Track Virtual Experiment as an Example

Virtual simulation teaching is an addendum to the experimental teaching mode of railway engineering,and the two teaching methods complement each other and merge with each other.In view of the current research,there is little discussion about the integration path of the two above.Based on the connotation and design of virtual simulation teaching,this research systematically expounds the integration of the real path and path optimization problems,and puts forward the railway engineering experimental teaching principles based on virtual simulation teaching.On the basis of this research,a virtual simulation experiment platform for vibration mechanics and its application in the floating slab vibration damping track was developed to make full use of three-dimensional modeling,virtual reality,human-computer interaction and other technologies,which can realistically simulate the vibration law and vibration damping effect of the rail transit system,and in the hope that the virtual simulation teaching can be widely used in the experimental teaching mode of railway engineering in the future.