Vibration Prediction of Box Girder Bridges Used in High-Speed Railways Based on Model Test

Abstract

In order to predict more accurately the structural vibration and noise of elevated tracks induced by moving trains, a new prediction method based on the scaled model test is proposed in this paper. A 32-m simply supported box girder bridge used in the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway is selected as the prototype for designing and constructing a scaled model test with 10:1 geometric similarity ratio. Both experimental tests and finite element analyses were carried out to verify the similarity relationship between the model and prototype. The test result shows that the scaled model can predict the structural vibration and noise of the prototype, as long as the similarity constants between the prototype and scaled model are correctively determined. Furthermore, a standard finite element analysis model for the scaled model is built. Based on the sensitivity analysis, the model parameters for finite element analysis are updated by minimizing the errors between the measured and calculated modes. The computational results show that the updated model based on the local parameters partitioning works best, and the precision of the modal frequency calculated is noticeably improved after updating, with the average relative error reduced from 5.46% to 3.09%, and the difference of the peak values reduced from [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m/s2 to [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m/s2. The calculated dynamic response of the finite element model after updating is basically in line with experimental results, indicating that the updated model can better reflect the dynamic properties of the scaled box girder model. The updated finite element model is useful both for verification with the model test result and for reliable prediction of the dynamic characteristics of the prototype.