Dynamic Response of Rail Track Analysis Under a Moving Load

Introduction: Dynamic Response of Ballasted Rail Track Analysis

Railway tracks under a moving load experience a dynamic effect which can be represented in the form of a dynamic impact factor (DIF). Therefore, it is important to have rail track analysis. The DIF encapsulates the dynamic effects of moving load, wheel-rail interaction, and track irregularities. DIF is the ratio of dynamic or quasi-static load at a given speed and static or stationary wheel load. In addition, a railway track experiences peak vibrations at some specific moving load speeds. These speeds can be termed as the critical speed of the railway track. This concept of critical speed is quite similar to the resonance frequency. There are other parameters such as the effect of different material properties and the effect of different reinforcement elements that can affect the vibration response of the railway tracks.

All these can be analyzed using the present simulation model. Laboratory experimentation on the railway track analysis and its components can be costly. However, software simulation can be relatively cheap if you have in-house available software. This gives you the freedom to change many parameters at the same time as well.

There are other software apart from ABAQUS that can do similar modeling but they don’t have a big support base. In addition, ABAQUS is the most versatile software considered by industry as well as research.

Ballast Rail Track Model: Analyzing Dynamic Response and Critical Speed of Rail Tracks

The study simulated the layers of the track’s foundation, including ballast, subballast, and subgrade, as elastoplastic material with damping properties and infinite radiation damping layers. The response of the ballast rail track model, measured through stress, displacement, velocity, and acceleration, aimed to pinpoint its critical speed. Various factors were considered in this analysis, such as the application of moving loads, the material model of the primary load-bearing layer (ballast), boundary effects, and the nature of data extracted from output databases. Parametric investigations were conducted on the damping and stiffness of the track’s substructure layers to observe their impact on the dynamic response of the rail track analysis. Additionally, the study scrutinized the influence of shear strength parameters (cohesion and friction) of the subgrade on the track’s critical speed.

The package you will receive will include a CAE and JNL file for the model. I will also include a Python file for the ease of simulation. I am trying to put a VDLOAD or DLOAD subroutine for the simulation of moving load without the wheel. Thus, you might see a lot more things coming up in this package. You can also chat back to me if you have any problems related to the simulation in the given package materials.