Investigation into rail corrugation in high-speed railway tracks from the viewpoint of the frictional self-excited vibration of a wheel–rail system

A finite element vibration model of a multiple wheel-rail system which consists of four wheels, one rail, and a series of sleepers is established to address the problem of rail corrugation in high-speed tracks. In the model, the creep forces between the wheels and rail are considered to be saturated and equal to the normal contact forces times the friction coefficient. The oscillation of the rail is coupled with that of wheels in the action of the saturated creep forces. When the coupling is strong, self- excited oscillation of the wheel-rail system occurs. The self-excited vibration propensity of the model is analyzed using the complex eigenvalue method. Results show that there are strong propensities of unstable self-excited vibrations whose frequencies are less than 1,200 Hz under some conditions. Preventing wheels from slipping on rails is an effective method for suppressing rail corrugation in high-speed tracks.

Characteristics of wheel-rail vibration of the vertical section in high-speed railways

In order to analyze the characteristics of wheel-rail vibration of the vertical section in a high-speed railway, a vehicle-line dynamics model is established using the dynamics software SIMPACK. Through this model, the paper analyzes the influence of vertical section parameters, including vertical section slope and vertical curve radius, on wheel-rail dynamics interaction and the acting region of wheel-rail vibration. In addition, the characteristics of wheel- rail vibration of the vertical section under different velocities are investigated. The results show that the variation of wheel load is not sensitive to the vertical section slope but is greatly affected by the vertical curve radius. It was also observed that the smaller the vertical curve radius is, the more severe the interaction between the wheel and rail be- comes. Furthermore, the acting region of wheel-rail vibration expands with the vertical curve radius increasing. On another note, it is necessary to match the slope and vertical curve radius reasonably, on account of the influence of operation speed on the characteristics of wheel-rail vibration. This is especially important at the design stage of vertical sec- tions for lines of different grades.

Image-Aided Analysis of Ballast Particle Movement Along a High-Speed Railway

As a core infrastructure of high-speed railways,ballast layers constituted by graded crushed stones feature noteworthy particle movement compared with normal railways,which may cause excessive settlement and have detrimental effects on train operation.However,the movement behavior remains ambiguous due to a lack of effective measurement approaches and analytical methods.In this study,an image-aided technique was developed in a full-scale model test using digital cameras and a colorbased identification approach.A total of 1274 surface ballast particles were manually dyed by discernible colors to serve as tracers in the test.The movements of the surface ballast particles were tracked using the varied pixels displaying tracers in the photos that were intermittently taken during the test in the perpendicular direction.The movement behavior of ballast particles under different combinations of train speeds and axle loads was quantitatively evaluated.The obtained results indicated that the surface ballast particle movements were slight,mainly concentrated near sleepers under low-speed train loads and greatly amplified and extended to the whole surface when the train speed reached 360 km.h-1.Additionally,the development of ballast particle displacement statistically resembled its rotation.Track vibration contributed to the movements of ballast particles,which specifically were driven by vertical acceleration near the track center and horizontal acceleration at the track edge.Furthermore,the development trends of ballast particle movements and track settlement under long-term train loading were similar,and both stabilized at nearly the same time.The track performance,including the vibration characteristics,accumulated settlement,and sleeper support stiffness,was determined to be closely related to the direction and distribution of ballast particle flow,which partly deteriorated under high-speed train loads.

Prediction of high-speed train induced ground vibration based on train-track-ground system model

The development of analysis on train-induced ground vibration is briefly summarized. A train-track- ground integrated dynamic model is introduced in the paper to predict the ground vibration induced by high-speed trains. Representative dynamic responses of the train-track-ground system predicted by the model are presented. Some major results measured from two field tests on the ground vibration induced by two high-speed trains are reported. Numerical prediction with the proposed train-track-ground model is validated by the high-speed train running experiments. Research results show that the wheel/rail dynamic interaction caused by track irregularities has a significant influence on the ground acceleration and little influence on the ground displacement. The main frequencies of the ground vibration induced by high-speed trains are usually below 80 Hz. Compared with the ballasted track, the ballastless track structure can produce much larger train-induced ground vibration at frequencies above 40 Hz. The vertical ground vibration is much larger than the lateral and longitudinal components.

Analysis of ground vibrations induced by high-speed train moving on pile-supported subgrade using three-dimensional FEM

The pile-supported subgrade has been widely used in high-speed railway construction in China.To investigate the ground vibrations of such composite foundation subjected to moving loads induced by high-speed trains(HSTs),three-dimensional(3D)finite element method(FEM)models involving the pile,pile cap and cushion are established.Validation of the proposed model is conducted through comparison of model predictions with the field measurements.On this basis,ground vibrations generated by HSTs under different train speeds as well as the ground vibration attenuation with the distance away from the track centerline are investigated.In addition,the effects of piles and pile elastic modulus on ground vibrations are well studied.Results show that the pile-reinforcement of the subgrade could significantly contribute to the reduction of ground vibrations.In particular,the increase of elastic modulus of pile could lead to consistent reduction of ground vibrations.However,when the pile elastic modulus is beyond 10 GPa,this benefit of pile-reinforcement on vibration isolation can hardly be increased further.

Ground-borne vibration generated by high-speed train viaduct systems in soft-upper/hard-lower rock strata

An experimental study and theoretical analysis were carried out to explore the ground-borne vibration generated by elevated high-speed railway in rock strata.Taking a typical rail line constructed on rock area in China as the research object,a set of field tests was performed on Rizhao-Lankao High-Speed Railway,the bridge and ground vibrations were measured as trains passed at 330−340 km/h,then the transferring law and spatial distribution under individual frequencies were investigated.The experiment results indicate that the bridge frequency spectrum exhibited relatively high-frequency vibration peaks caused by short-wavelength irregularity;ground vibration farther than 30 m away can be amplified with a higher frequency and numerous components.Furthermore,the wave propagation equation of a stratified rock strata was established based on direct-stiffness method to explore the vibration attenuation rules via frequency-domain analysis.It is found that the rock area has a weaker correlation between vibration transmissibility and frequency,thicker and harder rock strata loss their vibration attenuation capacity.It can be concluded that the high-speed railways induced vibration on rock strata shows a wide frequency band and large amplitude,the design of reducing vibration aimed at specific frequency is important according to next more detailed numerical study.

Theoretical analysis on ground vibration attenuation using sub-track asphalt layer in high-speed rails

Using a finite element method （FEM） program, a Portland cement concrete slab trackbed （So）, and a sub- track asphalt roadbed （RAC-S） were modeled under high- speed train loads to analyze their responses to ground vibration attenuation, by considering 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 thick sub-track asphalt layer replaced on the top of the upper subgrade. FEM results show that the vibration amplitude of RAC-S is at least three times lower than the vibration for So. The maximum vibration amplitude of RAC-S is linearly increased with train speed. The vertical acceleration is found to be reduced by more than 10 % when the asphalt layer thickness is increased from 10 to 20 cm. However, the reduction in vertical acceleration is only about 1% when the thickness of the asphalt layer changes from 20 to 30 cm. The vibration level is slightly lower if the asphalt layer has higher resilient modulus in the seasons of autumn or winter. This theoretical analysis indicates that a railway substructure that consists of a 10-20 cm thick high modulus asphalt layer located at the top of trackbed shows a good performance in ground vibration control for high-speed rails.

Railway ground vibration and mitigation measures: benchmarking of best practices

Vibration and noise aspects play a relevant role in the lifetime and comfort of urban areas and their resi-dents.Among the different sources,the one coming from the rail transit system will play a central concern in the following years due to its sustainability.Ground-borne vibration and noise assessment as well as techniques to mitigate them become key elements of the environmental impact and the global enlargement planned for the railway industry.This paper aims to describe and compare the different mitigation systems existing and reported in liter-ature through a comprehensive state of the art analysis providing the performance of each measure.First,an introduction to the ground-borne vibration and noise gen-erated from the wheel-rail contact and its propagation through the transmission path is presented.Then,the impact and the different ways of evaluating and assessing these effects are presented,and the insertion loss indicator is introduced.Next,the different mitigation measures at different levels(vehicle,track,transmission path and receiver)are discussed by describing their possible appli-cation and their efficiency in terms of insertion loss.Finally,a summary with inputs of how it is possible to address the future of mitigation systems is reported.

In-Situ Test on Fatigue Characteristics of Top-Mounted Dividable Pile-Board Subgrade for High-Speed Railway

To simulate the fatigue characteristics of the pile-board structure under long-term dynamic load, using the in-situ dynamic testing system DTS-1, the forced vibration loading was repeated one million times at different cross-sections of the pile-board structure for high-speed railway. The dynamic deformation, permanent deformation and dynamic stress of main reinforcements were measured. The test results show that the dynamic responses of the pile-board structure almost did not vary with the forced vibration times under the simulated trainload. After one million times of forced vibration, the permanent deformations of the midspan section of intermediate span and midspan section of side span were 0.7 mm and 0. 6 mm, respectively, and there was no accumulative plastic deformation at the bearing section of intermediate span.

Mitigation of high-speed trains vibrations by expanded polystyrene blocks in railway embankments

The vibrations induced by the passage of high-speed trains(HSTs)are considered a crucial issue in the field of environmental and geotechnical engineering.Several wave barriers have been investigated to reduce the detrimental effects of HST-induced vibrations.This study is focused on the potential implementation of an innovative mitigation technique to alleviate the developed vibrations.In particular,the use of expanded polystyrene(EPS)blocks as partial fill material of embankment slopes was examined.The efficiency of the proposed mitigation technique was numerically investigated.More specifically,a 3 D soil-track model was developed to study the cross-section of a railway track,embankment,and the underlying soil layers.The passage of the HST,Thalys,was simulated using a moving load method,and the soil response was calculated at several distances from the track.Several parameters influenced the effectiveness of the examined mitigation measure.Therefore,to ensure an optimal design,a robust procedure is necessary which considers the impact of these factors.Hence,the implementation of EPS blocks on several embankments with different geometry,in terms of height and slope angle,was investigated.

RECYTRACK Project： Elastomeric Eco-friendly Material Based on End-of-Life Tires Blended with Organic Bind Resin for Railway Applications

RECYTRACK is a 3.5 year project granted by the European Commission through LIFE＋ 2010 program. The overall objective of the project is to demonstrate the environmental benefits and technical feasibility of the implementation of an elastomeric eco-friendly material made of end-of-life tires with resin for railway applications. Within the project, AV Ingenieros jointly with LEAM, carries out the study of the vibration behavior of the eco-friendly material, which will be applied as a mat for ballasted tracks as well as an isolated block system for slab tracks. Firstly, an analytical model capable to predict the efficiency of the eco-friendly material as a vibration mitigation measure has been developed. Subsequently, and after the implementation of the eco-friendly solutions in real railway infrastructures, its vibration behavior will be measured and validated through in situ measurements during regular service. In this paper the analytical model is defined, the elastomeric material dynamic experimental characterization is described and the under ballast mat Insertion Loss is calculated for two different soil stiffness.

A 2.5D finite element approach for predicting ground vibrations generated by vertical track irregularities

Dynamic responses of track structure and wave propagation in nearby ground vibration become significant when train operates on high speeds. A train-track-ground dynamic interaction analysis model based on the 2.5D finite element method is developed for the prediction of ground vibrations due to vertical track irregularities. The one-quarter car mode,1 is used to represent the train as lumped masses connected by springs. The embankment and the underlying ground are modeled by the 2.5D finite element approach to improve the computation efficiency. The Fourier transform is applied in the direction of train＇s movement to express the wave motion with a wave-number. The one-quarter car model is coupled into the global stiffness matrix describing the track-ground dynamic system with the displacement compatibility condition at the wheel-rail interface, including the irregularities on the track surface. Dynamic responses of the track and ground due to train＇s moving loads are obtained in the wave-number domain by solving the governing equation, using a conventional finite element procedure. The amplitude and wavelength are identified as two major parameters describing track irregularities. The irregularity amplitude has a direct impact on the vertical response for low-speed trains, both for short wavelength and long wavelength irregularities. Track irregularity with shorter wavelength can generate stronger track vibration both for low-speed and high-speed cases. For low-speed case, vibrations induced by track irregularities dominate far field responses. For high-speed case, the wavelength of track irregularities has very little effect on ground vibration at distances far from track center, and train＇s wheel axle weights becomes dominant.