Development of a Vibration Attenuation Track at Low Frequencies for Urban Rail Transit

Abstract

Railway-induced vibrations at low frequencies have become an important environmental issue with the rapid development of urban rail transit. In this study, a new vibration attenuation track (VAT) capable of passively mitigating vibrations at low frequencies is developed based on an integrated theoretical and experimental study. The full-scale VAT is built which incorporates a floating slab track (FST) and the attached dynamic vibration absorbers (DVAs) with key parameters determined by the fixed-point theory and modal analysis technique. The vibration attenuation performance of the VAT is investigated under train dynamic loads by establishing a three-dimensional coupled dynamic model of a metro vehicle-VAT-subgrade system, and is further elucidated and validated by carrying out full-scale dynamic tests under different harmonic loadings. Computational and experimental results both show that vibrations of the track are effectively absorbed by the attached DVAs leading to a significant reduction of the subgrade vibrations at the low frequency of 9-16 Hz. C 2017 Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering.

Train–track–bridge dynamic interaction: a state-of-the-art review

“…In continuous models, the rails are usually represented by infinite Euler or Timoshenko beams resting on Winkler elastic foundations [46][47][48] or discrete sleepers along the track [22,42,[46][47][48]64]. Discrete models usually include finite rails modelled using the finite element (FE) method [26,43,[46][47][48][65][66][67]. In FE modelling, two classes of track models can be distinguished: mass-spring-dashpot models (with the rails as beam elements) [31,33,43,68] and solid models (which may also include beams and rigid bodies) [32,43].…”

A 2.5D time-frequency domain model for railway induced soil-building vibration due to railway defects

“…A discretization of elements per sleeper bay is used, resulting in the number of track/foundation configuration parameters n , being ( N ) for the rail and ( N N ) for the subgrade. The following equations of motion are integrated with those of vehicle dynamics: (5) where , and are the mass, stiffness and damping matrices, respectively, while q is the configuration parameter related to track/foundation subsystem. represents the forces acting on the track, including the wheel/rail contact forces.…”

A Comparative Study on Vertical Dynamic Responses of Three Types of Elevated Railway Tracks Subjected to a Moving Train

“…Both the traditional ballasted track and the nonballasted slab track can be simulated. Zhu et al [5,6] developed and tested a new type of slab track of vibration mitigation function especially within the low frequency range, i.e., 9∼16 Hz. Cui and Chew [7] illustrated the effectiveness of floating slab track through a comparison with the fixed slab track system.…”