The effect of ground borne vibrations from high speed train on overhead line equipment (OHLE) structure considering soil-structure interaction

Abstract

At present, railway infrastructure experiences harsh environments and aggressive loading conditions from increased traffic and load demands. Ground borne vibration has become one of these environmental challenges. Overhead line equipment (OHLE) provides electric power to the train and is, for one or two tracks, normally supported by cantilever masts. A cantilever mast, which is made of H-section steel, is slender and has a poor dynamic behaviour by nature. It can be seen from the literature that ground borne vibrations cause annoyance to people in surrounding areas especially in buildings. Nonetheless, mast structures, which are located nearest and alongside the railway track, have not been fully studied in terms of their dynamic behaviour. This paper presents the effects of ground borne vibrations generated by high speed trains on cantilever masts and contact wire located alongside railway tracks. Ground borne vibration velocities at various train speeds, from 100 km/h to 300 km/h, are considered based on the consideration of semi-empirical models for predicting low frequency vibration on ground. A three-dimensional mast structure with varying soil stiffness is made using a finite element model. The displacement measured is located at the end of cantilever mast which is the position of contact wire. The construction tolerance of contact stagger is used as an allowable movement of contact wire in transverse direction. The results show that the effect of vibration velocity from train on the transverse direction of mast structure is greater than that on the longitudinal direction. Moreover, the results obtained indicate that the ground bourn vibrations caused by high speed train are not strong enough to cause damage to the contact wire. The outcome of this study will help engineers improve the design standard of cantilever mast considering the effect of ground borne vibration as preliminary parameter for construction tolerances.

Seismic metamaterial barriers for ground vibration mitigation in railways considering the train-track-soil dynamic interactions

“…A is the roughness constant ( As the most efficient infinite boundary, perfectly matched layers (PML) method is used to prevent spurious wave reflections from the truncated boundary [32,33,34,35,36,37]. while the left side of ground has the same mesh but with ground soils inside.…”

“…Train-induced ground vibrations can negatively affect surrounding residents, buildings, tunnels, drainage systems, overhead wiring structures, and so on [4,5,34,35,36]. Effective and efficient vibration mitigation solutions are desperately needed for high speed rail networks.…”

Experimental Investigations into Earthquake Resistance of Steel Frame Retrofitted by Low-Yield-Point Steel Energy Absorbers

“…The influence of an earthquake on building structures can tremendously cause the losses of either lives or investments. Any landmark engineering structure can be destroyed in an instant because of the occurrence of extreme motions caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes and strong winds, or even by high-speed traffic motions [7,8].…”

Condition Monitoring of Overhead Line Equipment (OHLE) Structures Using Ground-Bourne Vibrations from Train Passages

“…1), which is very slender and flexible (Beagles et al, 2016). Hence, condition monitoring of railway track and its overhead line components is needed for maintenance planning (Ngamkhanong et al, 2018). Besides, ground bourne vibration from train passage is also one of the serious concern as it affects property and cause annoyance to people in surrounding area (Suhairy, 2000;Lopes et al, 2016;Connolly et al, 2016).…”

“…Ground borne vibrations are computed by the classical formulation based on the semiempirical model for predicting low frequency vibration on soft ground condition (Kurzeil, 1979;Madshus et al, 1996). The frequencies of ground borne vibration between 0Hz and 100Hz are considered to cover all possible frequencies of ground vibration and the first-eight fundamental mode of mast vibration (Kouroussis et al, 2014;Kouroussis et al, 2015;Ngamkhanong et al, 2018). This study presents the maintenance index which can be used for maintenance planning and inspection of support condition of mast and OHLE structures.…”