Computational & Technology Resources
an online resource for computational,
engineering & technology publications
Civil-Comp Proceedings
ISSN 1759-3433
CCP: 110
PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RAILWAY TECHNOLOGY: RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE
Edited by: J. Pombo
Paper 279

Railway Ground Vibrations: Influence of Train Geometry And Masses

A. Colaço1, P. Alves Costa1 and D.P. Connolly2

1Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Portugal
2Institute for Infrastructure and Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Full Bibliographic Reference for this paper
, "Railway Ground Vibrations: Influence of Train Geometry And Masses", in J. Pombo, (Editor), "Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Railway Technology: Research, Development and Maintenance", Civil-Comp Press, Stirlingshire, UK, Paper 279, 2016. doi:10.4203/ccp.110.279
Keywords: railway track, vibrations, train-track interaction, train properties.

Summary
This paper uses a sensitivity analysis to quantify the dominant train properties that contribute to ground-borne vibration generation, with the aim of reducing the complexity of train-track numerical models. This research is significant because ground-borne vibration from railways is a growing problem, particularly in urban areas. Despite this, attempting to predict vibration levels is complex because there are many variables that contribute to the overall dynamic response. Therefore a deterministic approach is commonly used, that ignores many of these variables. Thus this paper identifies the variables that can be ignored, while highlighting those that are highly influential on vibration generation. To do so, a previously validated two and a half dimensional finite element-boundary element approach is used to simulate dynamic train-track interaction. It is computed many times for a variety of modelling variables to investigate the effect of each on the ground-borne vibration levels in the far field. It is found that increases in unsprung mass of the train cause a large increase in vibration levels.

purchase the full-text of this paper (price £22)

go to the previous paper
go to the next paper
return to the table of contents
return to the book description
purchase this book (price £85 +P&P)