Analysis of dynamic behaviour of low vibration track under wheel load drop by a finite element method algorithm

Abstract

According to finite-element method (FEM) analytical solution (based on penalty algorithm) and the control equations of wheel—rail contact (developed from point-to-surface contact elements), the vibration responses were simulated for the two alternative railway track structures impacted by a falling wheel-set. The dynamic behaviour of low vibration track (LVT) is investigated based on this numerical method, which is verified by the field experiments. The results show that, when compared with the conventional short sleeper buried track (SSBT), the LVT is more beneficial for the reduction of track structure vibration levels — thanks to its properly matched stiffness under rail and block. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the proposed wheel-load-drop FEM numerical procedure and field experiment can effectively and economically study the dynamic properties of track structures.