Influence of environment-induced bridge vibration on high-speed train’s driving performance

Abstract

When railways traverse densely populated industrial areas, the periodic operation of large-scale factory equipment can produce consistent and regular environmental excitation on bridge structures. This excitation, if resonant with the structure, may cause significant vibration of the bridge, posing a threat to trains’ running safety. For the first time, this paper tackles this practical concern by combining field measurements with an analysis of how environment-induced bridge vibrations impact the operational performance of high-speed trains. The environmental vibration was equivalently incorporated into the analysis of the train-bridge coupled vibration system, examining the effects of structural vibration amplitude, frequency, and environmental influence range. The effect of bridge vibration on the driving performance of high-speed trains was evaluated from the spatial frequency domain properties of dynamic irregularity of track and the trains’ performance sensitivity to different parameters. The field measurements reveal that the environment-induced bridge vibration results in a translational motion of the beam driven by the transverse bending of the pier, resonating at approximately 1.5 Hz with an amplitude of 1.33 mm. The CRH series train, characterized by a prominent lateral mode close to 1.5 Hz (i.e., the wavelength sensitive to the train’s lateral running stability predominantly falls within the 30 m–100 m range at speed of 200∼350 km/h), exhibits a high susceptibility to vibrations induced by the environment in bridges. Among the examined parameters, the amplitude of bridge vibration has the most pronounced impact on the train’s acceleration, showing a linear correlation. The combined effect of bridge vibration and track static irregularity resulted in the lateral acceleration of the car body reaching 0.9 m/s2, which is close to the regulatory limit of 1.0 m/s2. Through parameter analysis, the maximum amplitude of the bridge that can be sustained while ensuring driving stability can be determined.