scholarly journals Analysis of Influencing Mechanism of Subgrade Frost Heave on Vehicle-Track Dynamic System

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (22) ◽  
pp. 8097
Author(s):  
Liang Gao ◽  
Wenqiang Zhao ◽  
Bowen Hou ◽  
Yanglong Zhong

Uneven subgrade frost heave has been a severe problem for the operation of high-speed railways in cold regions. In order to reveal the influencing mechanism of frost heave on the vehicle-track system, a novel FEM (finite element method) model based on an explicit algorithm was proposed. In the novel model, the existence of the leverage effect in slab track, which was caused by frost heave, was realistically reproduced at first, and then the vehicle model started running for evaluating the influence of the frost heave on the whole dynamic system. Results show that the leverage effect plays a key role in analyzing the influence of frost heave on the vehicle-track system, besides for track irregularity and contact loss. Specifically, the leverage effect decreases the stability of the slab track and causes an increase in dynamic irregularity. The roles of the track irregularity and the contact loss in the influencing mechanism were also revealed. With the ratio of wavelength to amplitude increasing, the track irregularity is gradually dominant in the influence mechanism of frost heave on the vehicle-track system. The research could provide a reference for the management and maintenance of the slab track in cold regions.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 3520
Author(s):  
Xiaopei Cai ◽  
Qian Zhang ◽  
Yanrong Zhang ◽  
Qihao Wang ◽  
Bicheng Luo ◽  
...  

In order to find out the influence of subgrade frost heave on the deformation of track structure and track irregularity of high-speed railways, a nonlinear damage finite element model for China Railway Track System III (CRTSIII) slab track subgrade was established based on the constitutive theory of concrete plastic damage. The analysis of track structure deformation under different subgrade frost heave conditions was focused on, and amplitude the limit of subgrade frost heave was put forward according to the characteristics of interlayer seams. This work is expected to provide guidance for design and construction. Subgrade frost heave was found to cause cosine-type irregularities of rails and the interlayer seams in the track structure, and the displacement in lower foundation mapping to rail surfaces increased. When frost heave occured in the middle part of the track slab, it caused the greatest amount of track irregularity, resulting in a longer and higher seam. Along with the increase in frost heave amplitude, the length of the seam increased linearly whilst its height increased nonlinearly. When the frost heave amplitude reached 35 mm, cracks appeared along the transverse direction of the upper concrete surface on the base plate due to plastic damage; consequently, the base plate started to bend, which reduced interlayer seams. Based on the critical value of track structures’ interlayer seams under different frost heave conditions, four control limits of subgrade frost heave at different levels of frost heave amplitude/wavelength were obtained.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Li ◽  
Qian Su ◽  
Kang Shao ◽  
Jie Liu

As a newly appeared defect under slab tracks in high-speed railways, mud pumping weakens the support ability of the subgrade to slab track, bringing about deviations on the vibration responses of the vehicle, slab track, and subgrade. Therefore, this paper proposes a vehicle-slab track-subgrade coupled model based on the multibody simulation principle and the finite element theory to highlight the influences of mud pumping defect. As an external excitation to this model, random track irregularity is considered. In order to simulate the mud pumping defect, the contact between the concrete base and subgrade is described as a spring-damper system. This model is validated by field test results and other simulation results, and a very good agreement is found. The vibration responses of the vehicle, slab track, and subgrade under different mud pumping lengths and train speeds are studied firstly. The deviations of vibration responses in high-speed railways induced by mud pumping are then obtained, and the limited mud pumping length is put forward finally to provide a recommendation for maintenance works of high-speed railways in practice.


Author(s):  
Blaine O. Peterson

This paper discusses general High Speed Rail (HSR) track geometry, construction and maintenance practices and tolerances. The discussion will reference several key international projects and highlight different construction methods and the track geometry assessments used to establish and ensure serviceability of a typical HSR system. Historically, established tighter tolerances of “Express” HSR (i.e. operating speeds greater than 240 km/h or 150 mph) systems have favored the use of slab track systems over ballasted track systems. Slab track systems offer greater inherent stability while ballasted track systems generally require more frequent track geometry assessments and anomaly-correcting surfacing operations. The decisions related to which system to use for a given application involve numerous considerations discussed only briefly in this paper. In many cases, the optimal solution may include both track forms. Rolling stock considerations and their influence on track infrastructure design are considered beyond the scope of this paper. This paper will focus predominantly on two slab track systems widely used in international HSR projects: the Japanese J-slab track system; and the German Rheda slab track system. The French track system will be referenced as the typical ballasted track HSR design. The practices discussed in this paper generally apply to systems which are either primarily or exclusively passenger rail systems. In the U.S., these types of systems will necessarily exclude the systems the Federal Railway Administration (FRA) refers to as “Emerging” or “Regional” HSR systems which include passenger train traffic to share trackage on, what are otherwise considered, primarily freight lines.


2014 ◽  
Vol 501-504 ◽  
pp. 474-479
Author(s):  
Workuha Dagnew Assefa ◽  
Juan Juan Ren

With in the development of high-speed railway countrys China is one of the competent use of ballast less track spreader and largely applied on sub grade, in order to ensure high speed, safe and comfortable run of the train, the sub grade structure must provide smoother and more stable support for the upper track structure, but the problems caused by non uniformity sub grade structure performance are increasingly prominent. There have many serious problems such as low precision of measurement, low degree of automation, compaction mechanism, sometimes consolidation time and high interference of human factors. This paper described as the structural characteristics of longitudinal coupled prefabricated slab track System similar to bögl from German, a model for static analysis has been developed. Based on the model, the slab track element is presented. This element includes rail, rail fastening, prefabricated slab, CA mortar, and base plate and sub grade.


Author(s):  
Tuo Lei ◽  
Jian Dai ◽  
Kok Keng Ang ◽  
Kun Li ◽  
Yi Liu

This paper presents a study of the dynamic behavior of a coupled train-slab track system considering discrete rail pads. The slab track is modeled as a three-layer Timoshenko beam. The study is carried out using the moving element method (MEM). By introducing a convected coordinate system moving at the same speed as the vehicle, the governing equations of motion of the slab track are formulated in a moving frame-of-reference. By adopting Galerkin’s method, the element stiffness, mass and damping matrices of a truncated slab track in the moving coordinate system are derived. The vehicle is modeled as a multi-body with 10 degrees of freedom. The nonlinear Hertz contact model is used to account for the wheel–rail interaction. The Newmark integration method, in conjunction with a global Newton–Raphson iteration algorithm, is employed to solve the nonlinear dynamic equations of motion of the vehicle–track coupled system. The proposed MEM model of the system is validated through comparison with available results in the literature. Further study is then made to investigate the vehicle–track system accounting for track irregularities modeled as short harmonic wave forms. Results showed that irregularities with short wavelengths have a significant effect on wheel–rail contact force and rail acceleration, and the dynamic response of the track structure does not increase monotonously with the increase of the vehicle speed.


Transport ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 669-678
Author(s):  
Qinglie He ◽  
Chengbiao Cai ◽  
Shengyang Zhu ◽  
Jiawei Zhang ◽  
Wanming Zhai

This work investigates dynamic performance of a low vibration slab track on a shared high-speed passenger and freight railway, and an optimal modulus of the isolation layer (rubber pad) is proposed to meet the adaptability of the track system under the dynamic actions of high speed passenger and heavy axle-load freight trains. First, detailed finite element models of the slab track with and without the rubber pad between concrete slab and supporting layer are established by using software ANSYS. Further, coupled dynamic models of passenger/freight vehicle–low vibration/tradition slab track system are developed to calculate the wheel–rail forces, which are utilized as the inputs to the finite element model. Finally, the dynamic characteristics of the low vibration slab track, the specific function of the rubber pad, and the optimal modulus of the rubber pad are studied in detail. Results show that the interaction force between the freight vehicle and low vibration slab track is more significant because of the heavy axle-load, which leads to larger vertical stress amplitudes of each track layer. Whereas the accelerations of track components induced by the passenger vehicle are much larger than those induced by the freight vehicle, due to the much faster speed that can generate high wheel–rail interaction frequency. The rubber pad of the slab track does not play a role in attenuating slab vibration; instead it causes an increase of slab acceleration and its surface tension stress. However, the rubber pad can decrease the supporting layer acceleration and the slab compression stress, which plays a significant role in vibration isolation and buffers the direct impact force on the slab caused by vehicle dynamic load. To ensure a reasonable vibration level and dynamic stress of the slab track, the optimal modulus of the rubber pad is suggested to be 3÷7.5 MPa.


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