Influence of the ground/structure interaction on the calculation of the force at the wheel/rail contact

Paper in proceeding, 2016

The prediction of ground vibration from railway traffic represents a major challenge for railway operators, especially with regard to the increasing number of new lines built close to residential buildings. In this context, it becomes essential to have a model that accounts on the one hand for ground/structure interaction and on the other hand for wheel/rail interaction. In this paper, such a model is developed by combining two existing models. The model for ground/structure interaction, SIPROVIB, is an analytical model of a slab with Kirchhoff-Love hypothesis coupled to the ground in 3D. The model for wheel/rail interaction is a computationally efficient time-domain model, where vehicle and track are represented by pre-calculated Green's functions. The wheel/rail contact is modelled as 3D, non-linear and non-Hertzian. Both models are combined by replacing the track Green's function by a Green's function representing the ground and slab coupled to a simplified rail model. Numerical results showed that the influence of slab and ground on the dynamic wheel/rail contact forces increases for thinner slabs and softer grounds, but is generally of secondary importance. Deviations in contact force did not exceed 2 dB for frequencies up to 200 Hz. © 2016, German Acoustical Society (DEGA). All rights reserved.