Dynamic Behaviour of Ballasted Railway Track Foundation under Various Conditions of the Train-Track-Ground System

Md. Abu Sayeed

Abstract

Nowadays, the competition among different public transportation in terms of speed, safety, comfortability, carrying capacity, and cost has significantly increased the demand for faster and heavier trains. This demand indicates probable pressure to build railway tracks appropriate for high-speed trains (HSTs) and heavy wheel loads (HWLs) and they are generally responsible for strong vibrations in the train-track-ground system. They raise the danger of track damages and train derailment. Hence, an investigation into the impact of various parameters that affect the track performance is essential. This study is vital for railway geotechnical engineers to reach an optimum plan for both the railway track design and lifetime maintenance. In this paper, sophisticated three-dimensional finite element modelling has been developed to investigate the impact of various parameters including, train speed, track subgrade thickness, loading amplitude and train geometry on the dynamic responses of the train-track-ground system. The outcomes are critically analyzed and discussed.

Conclusion

In this paper, sophisticated 3D finite elements modelling was performed to simulate the dynamic behavior of ballasted railway track foundation under various conditions of the train-track-ground system including the train speed, subgrade thickness, loading amplitude and wheel spacing. From the obtained results, the following conclusions are drawn: The amplitude of dynamic track response increases with the increase in the train speed; however, the track response increases rapidly when the train speed exceeds around 65% of the critical speed. Consequently, 65% of the critical speed value can be considered as the acceptable speed limit for safe movement of train. The subgrade thickness has a significant influence on the track sleeper displacement and critical speed of the train-track-ground system. The value of the critical speed decreases with the increase in the subgrade thickness. The amplitude of dynamic track response increases uniformly with the amplitude of train loading. On the other hand, the dynamic track response decreases with the increase of wheel spacing. 5. Acknowledgement The author would like to thank the Department of Civil Engineering and Curtin University for their supports to do this study.

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