Abstract
Despite the fact railways are seen as an environmentally friendly and sustainable form of transport, however, the train-induced vibration has been seen as a negative environmental consequence. The ballasted ladder track is one type of ballasted track with longitudinal sleepers. The elastic elements can not only protect the track structure but also control the vibration. To investigate the vibration mitigation effects of ballasted ladder track with elastic elements, a finite element - infinite element (FE-IFE) model was built considering the elastic elements of under-sleeper pads (USPs) and under-ballast mats (UBMs). This model was validated by a laboratory test. Then, the moving train load was obtained based on the multi-body dynamics (MBD)-finite elements method (FEM) analysis. The vibration mitigation effects of the ballasted ladder track with different types of elastic elements were calculated compared with the ballasted tracks without elastic elements. The results indicate that: (1) the ballasted ladder track has the advantage of vibration reduction at low frequencies, with a maximum vibration attenuation of 25.2 dB and an averaged vibration attenuation of 19.0 dB between 5 and 20 Hz through the ballast. (2) The ballasted ladder track with USPs or UBMs can provide better vibration attenuation between 30 and 100 Hz, but it induces a vibration amplification between 5 and 30 Hz. (3) The ballasted ladder track with elastic elements in different cases can provide different vibration mitigation effects. The ballasted ladder track with both USPs and UBMs can provide the best mitigation effect with an average vibration mitigation of approximately 15 dB and a maximum vibration mitigation of 30 dB between 30 and 100 Hz.
Highlights
The ladder track is a type of longitudinal sleeper track
Three types of the ladder track have been developed: the tubular modular track was developed by Peter Kusel, the floating ladder track and the ballasted ladder track were developed by the Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI) of Japan, and the specialised track system was developed in South Africa
To control the vibration for the traditional ballasted track, rail pads, under-sleeper pads (USPs) and under-ballast mats (UBMs), which are widely used as typical elastic elements, can decrease the supporting stiffness of the track system and leads vibration attenuation
Summary
The ladder track is a type of longitudinal sleeper track. Two longitudinal pre-stressed concrete beams, which are connected by steel pipes, are designed to fix and support the rails. To control the vibration for the traditional ballasted track, rail pads, under-sleeper pads (USPs) and under-ballast mats (UBMs), which are widely used as typical elastic elements, can decrease the supporting stiffness of the track system and leads vibration attenuation This vibration- mitigation methods can enhance sustainability and efficacy in the railway industry. One can find there are few piece of research on, but it is very interesting to investigate, the dynamic behavior and vibration mitigation effects of the ballasted ladder track with elastic elements, e.g., USPs and UBMs. In the present study, firstly, a finite element-infinite element (FE-IFE) model was built by ABAQUS including the rail, fasteners, ballasted ladder track and soil.
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