• Wind and Structures
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.143-168
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• 2015

A numerical model for analyzing air-train-track interaction is proposed to investigate the dynamic behavior of a high-speed train running on a track in crosswinds. The model is composed of a train-track interaction model and a train-air interaction model. The train-track interaction model is built on the basis of the vehicle-track coupled dynamics theory. The train-air interaction model is developed based on the train aerodynamics, in which the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) method is employed to deal with the dynamic boundary between the train and the air. Based on the air-train-track model, characteristics of flow structure around a high-speed train are described and the dynamic behavior of the high-speed train running on track in crosswinds is investigated. Results show that the dynamic indices of the head car are larger than those of other cars in crosswinds. From the viewpoint of dynamic safety evaluation, the running safety of the train in crosswinds is basically controlled by the head car. Compared with the generally used assessment indices of running safety such as the derailment coefficient and the wheel-load reduction ratio, the overturning coefficient will overestimate the running safety of a train on a track under crosswind condition. It is suggested to use the wheel-load reduction ratio and the lateral wheel-rail force as the dominant safety assessment indices when high-speed trains run in crosswinds.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.48-61
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• 2012

It is of great importance to assure the running safety, ride comfort and serviceability in designing the floating slab track for mitigation of train-induced vibration. In this paper, for this, analyzed are the system requirements for the running safety, ride comfort and serviceability, and then, the behavior of train and track at the floating slab track including the transition zone to the conventional concrete slab track according to several main design variables such as system natural frequency, arrangement of spring at transition, spacing of spring isolators, damping ratio and train speed, using the dynamic analysis technique considering the train-track interaction. The results of this study demonstrate that the discontinuity of the support stiffness at the transition results in a drastic increase of the dynamic response such as wheel-rail interaction force, rail bending stress and rail uplift force. Hence, it is efficient to decrease the spacing of springs or to increase the spring constants at the transition to obtain the running safety and serviceability. On the other hand, the vehicle body acceleration as a measure of ride comfort is little affected by the discontinuity of the stiffness at the transition, but by the system tuning frequency; thus, to obtain the ride comfort, it is of great significance to select the appropriate system tuning frequency. In addition, the effects of damping ratio, spacing of springs and train speed on the dynamic behavior of the system have been discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.195-202
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• 2008

The transition area between a bridge and an earthwork is one of the weakest area of track because of the track geometry deterioration caused unequal settlement of backfill of abutment. In case of a ballastless track, the approach slab could be installed to prevent such a phenomenon. But, if there is occurred the inclined displacement on the approach slab by a settlement of the foundation or formation, the track is also under the inclined displacement. And this defect causes reducing the running stability of a vehicle, the riding comfort of passengers, and increasing the track deteriorations by excessive impact force acting on the track. In this study, parametric studies were performed to investigate the displacement limit on the approach slab to avoid such problems. The length and the amount of unequal settlement of approach slab were adopted as parameter for numerical analysis considering vehicle-track interaction. Car body accelerations, variations of wheel force, stresses in rail, and uplift forces induced on fastener clip were investigated. From the result, resonable settlement limit on the end of an approach slab according to slab length was suggested.