Abstract
Abstract In strong wind area, wind vibration on key railway catenary components may lead to safety hidden danger like fatigue failures. In this work, a load identification approach was proposed by decoupling the wind-induced suspension attitude to acquire the hard-to-get environmental wind load and evaluate the catenary fatigue damage on railway catenary. In theoretical modeling, mechanical relation between wind load and registration displacement is formulated in pure lateral and vertical loading by finite element analysis. Wind load is identified via suspension attitude decoupling into displacement under individual load. Nodal forces, as the external load acting on catenary connections between supporting beams, are further correlated with the identified wind load to calculate the structural stress of catenary components. In experiment, visual detection is used to measure the wind-induced attitude of catenary suspension in wind area, where maximum wind speed climbs up to 41 m/s. Experimental results are transferred into wind loads and nodal forces using the proposed model. Stress spectra and fatigue damage evaluation of connection components are carried out adopting the rain-flow counting method and damage accumulation rule. Research outcome certifies that the proposed methodology provides an effective means to evaluate the fatigue behavior of railway catenary in wind area.
Highlights
Wind safety remains a top concern when the railway catenary system is subjected to strong alternating wind vibrations [1], especially for railway lines in wind areas like Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China, where its historical maximum wind speed can reach 64 m/s
An approach of wind load identification and fatigue evaluation was proposed from the overall catenary system to local connection components
Several conclusions are drawn as follows: (1) Wind load identification is presented by simulating the mechanical relation between wind pressure and 2D displacement at registration point
Summary
Wind safety remains a top concern when the railway catenary system is subjected to strong alternating wind vibrations [1], especially for railway lines in wind areas like Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China, where its historical maximum wind speed can reach 64 m/s. For electrified railways in wind area, wind-induced mechanical failures [3,4] at key catenary components, if not found and treated timely, may give rise to hidden danger to railway operation safety. Related research on railway catenary safety was performed in terms of aerodynamic behavior of catenary wire, wind-induced movement of catenary suspension, and fatigue evaluation [12] by pantograph-catenary dynamics and stochastic wind filed simulation. Catenary fatigue research based on stochastic wind simulation considers the probability distribution of historical wind speed in local area, but fails to represent the real wind-induced loads on catenary suspension.
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