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 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.

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.

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.