• Wind and Structures
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.203-213
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• 2019

The topography and geomorphology are complex and changeable in western China, so the railway transition section is common. To investigate the aerodynamic effect of the subgrade-tunnel transition section, including a cutting-tunnel transition section, an embankment-tunnel transition section and two typical scenarios for rail infrastructures, is selected as research objects. In this paper, models of standard cutting, embankment and CRH2 high-speed train with the scale of 1:20 were established in wind tunnel tests. The wind speed profiles above the railway and the aerodynamic forces of the vehicles at different positions along the railway were measured by using Cobra probe and dynamometric balance respectively. The test results show: The influence range of cutting-tunnel transition section is larger than that of the embankment-tunnel transition section, and the maximum impact height exceeds 320mm (corresponding to 6.4m in full scale). The wind speed profile at the railway junction is greatly affected by the tunnel. Under the condition of the double track, the side force coefficient on the leeward side is negative. For embankment-tunnel transition section, the lift force coefficient of the vehicle is positive which is unsafe for operation when the vehicle is at the railway line junction.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.355-380
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• 2008

In this study, the new three-dimensional finite element analysis model of guideway structures considering ultra high-speed magnetic levitation train-bridge interaction, in which the various improved finite elements are used to model structural members, is proposed. The box-type bridge deck of guideway structures is modeled by Nonconforming Flat Shell finite elements with six DOF (degrees of freedom). The sidewalls on a bridge deck are idealized by using beam finite elements and spring connecting elements. The vehicle model devised for an ultra high-speed Maglev train is employed, which is composed of rigid bodies with concentrated mass. The characteristics of levitation and guidance force, which exist between the super-conducting magnet and guideway, are modeled with the equivalent spring model. By Lagrange's equations of motion, the equations of motion of Maglev train are formulated. Finally, by deriving the equations of the force acting on the guideway considering Maglev train-bridge interaction, the complete system matrices of Maglev train-guideway structure system are composed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.179-196
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• 2017

The paper focuses on dynamic analyses of a series of simply-supported symmetric composite steel-concrete bridges loaded by an ICE-3 train moving at high speeds up to 300 km/h. The series includes five bridges with span lengths ranging from 15 m to 27 m, with repeatable geometry of the superstructures. The objects, designed according to Polish standards valid from 1980s to 2010, are modelled on the bridges serviced on the Central Main Line in Poland since 1980s. The advanced, two-dimensional, physically nonlinear model of the bridge-track structure-high-speed train system takes into account unilateral nonlinear wheel-rail contact according to Hertz's theory and random vertical track irregularities equal for both rails. The analyses are focused on the influence of random track irregularities on dynamic response of composite steel-concrete bridges loaded by an ICE-3 train. It has been pointed out that certain restrictions on the train speed and on vertical track irregularities should be imposed.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2019

Five key items were used to create an economical and physically small impact test device for concrete panels subject to high speed collision: an air-compressive system, carbon steel pipe, solenoid valve, carrier and carrier-blocking, and velocity measurement device. The impact test device developed can launch a 20 mm steel spherical projectile at over 200 m/s with measured impact and/or residual velocity. Purpose for development was to conduct preliminary materials tests, prior to large-scale collision experiments. In this paper, the design process of the small impact test device was discussed in detail.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.5
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• pp.587-594
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• 2022

Behavior of concrete elements under the effect of high-speed projectiles has gain increasing interest recently. It's necessary to understand how far the concrete can absorb the effect of bullets in order to save the occupants when design security and military infrastructures. This study presents a total of 18 concrete slabs casted and tested under reinforcement ratios, 0%, 0.35% and 0.7%. Parameters interested were slab thickness, (50 mm, 100 mm, and 150 mm) and type of weapon. All specimens tested to investigate their response under the effect of attacking by two common types of weapon. In general, it was found that projectile penetration was controlled by their thickness regardless the steel reinforcement ratio. However, the steel reinforcement controls the damage.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.2
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• pp.265-274
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• 2023

The spherical steel bearings (SSBs) has been gradually replaced traditional rubber bearings and extensively applied to high-speed railway (HSR) bridges in China, due to their durability and serviceability. Nevertheless, SSB is generally simplified to the ordinary constraints in the finite element model, which cannot reflect its detailed mechanical characteristics, especially its seismic performance. To provide a more precisely simulation, an innovative and simplified finite element simulation method is proposed and the combined element group is developed in ANSYS. The primary parameters were determined by means of the performance test of SSB. The finite element model of SSB applied to a single-span HSR simply supported girder bridge was established through the proposed method. The seismic performance of the SSB was further investigated. A shake table test was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed simulation method. It is found that the numerical results could have a good agreement with the experiment, namely, the proposed method is feasible and efficient.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.421-431
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• 2022

Concrete slab cracks monitoring of modern high-speed railway is important for safety and reliability of train operation, to prevent catastrophic failure, and to reduce maintenance costs. This paper proposes a curvature filtering improved crack detection method in concrete slabs of high-speed railway via graph-based anomalies calculation. Firstly, large curvature information contained in the images is extracted for the crack identification based on an improved curvature filtering method. Secondly, a graph-based model is developed for the image sub-blocks anomalies calculation where the baseline of the sub-blocks is acquired by crack-free samples. Once the anomaly is large than the acquired baseline, the sub-block is considered as crack-contained block. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method performs better than convolutional neural network method even under different curvature structures and illumination conditions. This work therefore provides a useful tool for concrete slabs crack detection and is broadly applicable to variety of infrastructure systems.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.591-600
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• 2019

Based on the energy-variational principle, a coupling vibration analysis model of high-speed railway simply supported beam bridge-track structure system (HSRBTS) was established by considering the effect of shear deformation. The vibration differential equation and natural boundary conditions of HSRBTS were derived by considering the interlayer slip effect. Then, an analytic calculation method for the natural vibration frequency of this system was obtained. By taking two simply supported beam bridges of high-speed railway of 24 m and 32 m in span as examples, ANSYS and MIDAS finite-element numerical calculation methods were compared with the analytic method established in this paper. The calculation results show that two of them agree well with each other, validating the analytic method reported in this paper. The analytic method established in this study was used to evaluate the natural vibration characteristics of HSRBTS under different interlayer stiffness and length of rails at different subgrade sections. The results show that the vertical interlayer compressive stiffness had a great influence on the high-order natural vibration frequency of HSRBTS, and the effect of longitudinal interlayer slip stiffness on the natural vibration frequency of HSRBTS could be ignored. Under different vertical interlayer stiffness conditions, the subgrade section of HSRBTS has a critical rail length, and the critical length of rail at subgrade section decreases with the increase in vertical interlayer compressive stiffness.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.333-343
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• 2023

Various seismic isolation and reduction devices have been applied to suppress the longitudinal vibration of continuous girder bridges. As representative devices, lead rubber bearing (LRB) and fluid viscous damper (FVD) might suffer from deterioration during the long-term service. This study aims to evaluate the impact of device deterioration on the seismic responses of continuous girder bridges and investigate the seismic behavior of deteriorated LRBs and FVDs. Seismic performance of a simplified bridge model was investigated, and the influence of device deterioration was evaluated by the coefficient of variation method. The contribution of LRB and FVD was assessed by the Sobol global sensitivity analysis method. Finally, the seismic behaviors of deteriorated LRBs and FVDs were discussed. The result shows that (i) the girder-pier relative displacement is the most sensitive to the changes in the deterioration level, (ii) the deterioration of FVD has a greater effect on the structural responses than that of LRB, (iii) FVD plays a major role in energy dissipation with a low degradation level while LRB is more essential in dissipating energy when suffering from high degradation level, (iv) the deteriorated devices are more likely to reach the ultimate state and thus be damaged.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.705-713
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• 2018

High-speed rail (HSR) has been in operation and development in many countries worldwide. The explosive growth of HSR has posed great challenges for operation safety and ride comfort. Among various technological demands on high-speed trains, vibration is an inevitable problem caused by rail/wheel imperfections, vehicle dynamics, and aerodynamic instability. Ride comfort is a key factor in evaluating the operational performance of high-speed trains. In this study, online monitoring data have been acquired from an in-service high-speed train for condition assessment. The measured dynamic response signals at the floor level of a train cabin are processed by the Sperling operator, in which the ride comfort index sequence is used to identify the train's operation condition. In addition, a novel technique that incorporates salient features of Bayesian inference and time series analysis is proposed for outlier detection and change detection. The Bayesian forecasting approach enables the prediction of conditional probabilities. By integrating the Bayesian forecasting approach with time series analysis, one-step forecasting probability density functions (PDFs) can be obtained before proceeding to the next observation. The change detection is conducted by comparing the current model and the alternative model (whose mean value is shifted by a prescribed offset) to determine which one can well fit the actual observation. When the comparison results indicate that the alternative model performs better, then a potential change is detected. If the current observation is a potential outlier or change, Bayes factor and cumulative Bayes factor are derived for further identification. A significant change, if identified, implies that there is a great alteration in the train operation performance due to defects. In this study, two illustrative cases are provided to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method for condition assessment of high-speed trains.