Quality of Service Improvement for High-Speed Railway Communications

With the fast development of highspeed railways,a call for fulfilling the notion of communication at "anytime,anywhere" for high-speed train passengers in the Train Operating Control System is on the way.In order to make a realization of that,new railway wireless communication networks are needed.The most promising one is the Long Term Evolution for Railway which will provide broadband access,fast handover,and reliable communication for high mobility users.However,with the increase of speed,the system is subjected to high bit error rate,Doppler frequency shift and handover failure just like other system does.This paper is trying to solve these problems by employing MIMO technique.Specifically,the goal is to provide higher data rate,higher reliability,less delay,and other relative quality of services for passengers.MIMO performance analysis,resource allocation,and access control for handover and various services in a two-hop model are proposed in this paper.Analytical results and simulation results show that the proposed model and schemes perform well in improving the system performances.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Reflection on methodology of the correlation between electromagnetic interference and safety in high-speed railway

Purpose – In the continuous development of high-speed railways, ensuring the safety of the operation controlsystem is crucial. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) faults in signaling equipment may cause transportationinterruptions, delays and even threaten the safety of train operations. Exploring the impact of disturbances onsignaling equipment and establishing evaluation methods for the correlation between EMI and safety isurgently needed.Design/methodology/approach – This paper elaborates on the necessity and significance of studying theimpact of EMI as an unavoidable and widespread risk factor in the external environment of high-speed railwayoperations and continuous development. The current status of research methods and achievements from theperspectives of standard systems, reliability analysis and safety assessment are examined layer by layer.Additionally, it provides prospects for innovative ideas for exploring the quantitative correlation between EMIand signaling safety.Findings – Despite certain innovative achievements in both domestic and international standard systems andrelated research for ensuring and evaluating railway signaling safety, there’s a lack of quantitative and strategic research on the degradation of safety performance in signaling equipment due to EMI. A quantitativecorrelation between EMI and safety has yet to be established. On this basis, this paper proposes considerationsfor research methods pertaining to the correlation between EMI and safety.Originality/value – This paper overviews a series of methods and outcomes derived from domestic andinternational studies regarding railway signaling safety, encompassing standard systems, reliability analysisand safety assessment. Recognizing the necessity for quantitatively describing and predicting the impact ofEMI on high-speed railway signaling safety, an innovative approach using risk assessment techniques as abridge to establish the correlation between EMI and signaling safety is proposed.

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.

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.

A time-space network-based model for transportation service optimization of China Railway Express

This paper describes the development and optimization plans for the China Railway Express(CR Express).As a new type of international land transport organization,CR Express has emerged with the continuous expansion of China toward European investment and trade,and in particular,has expanded with the continuous progress of the One Belt and One Road(OBOR)initiative.In addition to improving the service quality of CR Express,the operating costs must be reduced for developing“smart railways”that serve“smart cities”.We propose a dualobjective-based function mathematical optimization model;the satisfaction of the cargo owner is considered,and the timeliness,transportation capacity,and goods category constraints of CR Express transportation are designed.Moreover,we present the normalized equivalent method of the two-objective function of the model.Finally,a case study is conducted against the background of certain trains in the western corridor of CR Express to validate the effectiveness of the model and research methods proposed in this study.

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.

Accumulative deformation in railway track induced by high-speed traffic loading of the trains

Prediction and control of the permanent settlement of a track caused by traffic loading from trains is crucial to high-speed railway design and maintenance. In this study, a unified prediction model of accumulative deformation of geomaterials used in railway construction subjected to cyclic loadings is introduced and calibrated using physical model testing. Based on this versatile model, a calculation approach to determine the track structure settlement under repeated loadings caused by the movement of the wheel axle of the train is proposed. Regression analysis on the physical model testing is adopted to determine the parameters involved in the computational approach. Comparison of model test data and computed results shows that the parameters obtained from the back-analysis are consistent throughout the various testing conditions, and the proposed calculation approach is capable of satisfactorily predicting the accumulative settlement of the railway roadbed and subgrade soil for various axle loads and loading cycles. A case study of a high-speed railway is performed to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach in realistic engineering applications. The computation results from the settlement development of a roadbed and subgrade soil are presented and discussed.

Deformation characteristics and safety assessment of a high-speed railway induced by undercutting metro tunnel excavation

Stratum deformation(settlement) is a challenging issue in tunnel engineering, especially when construction of metro tunnels has to undercut high-speed railway. For this purpose, we used the FLAC30 software to analyze the stratum settlement characteristics of high-speed railway at different crossing angles intersected by metro tunnel, in terms of ground settlement trough, stratum slip line and irregularity of ballastless tracks. According to the evolution of the stratum settlement at different angle regions, an optimized angle is proposed for the actual project design. In order to reduce the influence of stratum settlement on the safety of high-speed railway, an approach of safety assessment is proposed for the shield engineering undercutting high-speed railway, as per Chinese specifications using numerical results and on-site conditions. A case study is conducted for the shield tunnel section crossing the Wuhan-Guangzhou High-speed Railway between the Guangzhou North Railway Station and the Huacheng Road Station, which represents the first metro tunnel project passing below a high-speed railway in China. A series of measures is taken to ensure the safe excavation of the shield tunnel and the operation of the high-speed railway. The results can provide a technical support for performing a safety evaluation between high-speed railways and metro tunnels.

Longitudinal forces of continuously welded track on high-speed railway cable-stayed bridge considering impact of adjacent bridges

A proven beam-track contact model was used to analyze the track-structure interaction of CWR (continuously welded track) on bridge. Considering the impact of adjacent bridges, the tower-cable-track-beam-pier-pile finite element model of the cable-stayed bridge was established. Taking a bridge group including 40-32m simply-supported beam and (32+80+112)m single-tower cable-stayed bridge and 17-32m simply-supported beam on the Kunming-Shanghai high-speed railway as an example, the characteristics of CWR longitudinal force on the cable-stayed bridge were studied. It is shown that adjacent bridges must be considered in the calculation of the track expansion force and bending force on cable-stayed bridge. When the span amount of adjacent bridges is too numerous, it can be simplified as six spans; the fixed bearing of adjacent simply-supported beams should be placed on the side near the cable-stayed bridge; the track expansion device should be set at the bridge tower to reduce the track force near the bridge abutment.

Beam-track interaction of high-speed railway bridge with ballast track

Based on the construction bridge of Xiamen-Shenzhen high-speed railway(9-32 m simply-supported beam + 6×32 m continuous beam),the pier-beam-track finite element model,where the continuous beam of the ballast track and simply-supported beam are combined with each other,was established.The laws of the track stress,the pier longitudinal stress and the beam-track relative displacement were analyzed.The results show that reducing the longitudinal resistance can effectively reduce the track stress and the pier stress of the continuous beam,and increase the beam-track relative displacement.Increasing the rigid pier stiffness of continuous beam can reduce the track braking stress,increase the pier longitudinal stress and reduce the beam-track relative displacement,Increasing the rigid pier stiffness of simply-supported beam can reduce the track braking stress,the rigid pier longitudinal stress and the beam-track relative displacement.

Developments and Prospects of Long-Span High-Speed Railway Bridge Technologies in China

With the rapid developments of the high-speed railway in China, a great number of long-span bridges have been constructed in order to cross rivers and gorges. At present, the longest main span of a constructed high-speed railway bridge is only 630 m. The main span of Hutong Yangtze River Bridge and of Wufengshan Yangtze River Bridge, which are under construction, will be much longer, at 1092 m each. In order to overcome the technical issues that originate from the extremely large dead loading and the relatively small structural stiffness of long-span high-speed railway bridges, many new technologies in bridge construction, design, materials, and so forth have been developed. This paper carefully reviews progress in the construction technologies of multi-function combined bridges in China, including com- bined highway and railway bridges and multi-track railway bridges. Innovations and practices regarding new types of bridge and composite bridge structures, such as bridges with three cable planes and three main trusses, inclined main trusses, slab-truss composite sections, and steel-concrete composite sections, are introduced. In addition, investigations into high-performance materials and integral fabrication and erection techniques for long-span railway bridges are summarized. At the end of the paper, prospects for the future development of long-span high-speed railwav bridges are provided.

Optimization of high-speed railway pantographs for improving pantograph-catenary contact

A crucial system for the operation of high-speed trains is the pantograph catenary interface as it is the sole responsible to deliver electrical power to the train. Being the catenary a stationary system with a long lifespan it is also less likely to be redesigned and upgraded than the pantographs that fit the train vehicles. This letter proposes an optimization procedure for the improvement of the contact quality between the pantograph and the catenary solely based on the redesign of the pantograph head suspension characteristics. A pantograph model is defined and validated against experimental dynamic characteristics of existing pantographs. An optimization strategy based on the use of a global optimization method, to find the vicinity of the optimal solution, followed by the use of a deterministic optimization algorithm, to fine tune the optimal solution, is applied here. The spring stiffness, damping characteristics and bow mass are the design variables used for the pantograph optimization. The objective of the optimal problem is the minimization of the standard deviation of the contact force history, which is the most important quantity to define the contact quality. The pantograph head suspension characteristics are allowed to vary within technological realistic limits. It is found that current high-speed railway pantographs have a limited potential for mechanical improvements, not exceeding 10% 15% on the decrease of the standard deviation of the contact force. C 2013 The Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. [doi：10.1063/2.1301306]

Applicability of small resistance fastener on long-span continuous bridges of high-speed railway

Ballastless tracks have been widely applied in high-speed railway (HSR). The adaptability research between continuous welded rails (CWR) and long-span bridges of HSR is of great practical engineering significance. Based on the HSR long-span continuous bridges, the integrative spatial finite element model of track-bridge-pier-foundation system was established with the nonlinear spring element simulating the longitudinal resistance between track and bridge. Comparative study on the various additional longitudinal forces of CWR using the common fasteners and small resistance fasteners was carried out. Analysis results indicate that the additional expansion forces and additional rail-breaking forces in long-span ballastless continuous girders can be reduced evidently by 40% 50% after adopting small resistance fasteners, but lead to greater rail broken gap. The small resistance fasteners have little influence on the additional force only caused by vertical load, but can reduce the additional force caused by vertical load combined with braking load by over 10%. Besides, transient analysis method is proved to be more accurate and safe in calculating additional longitudinal forces when the train running or braking on the bridge, compared with the traditional static method.

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.