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Spectral Analysis Of Train-Rail-Bridge Coupling System Considering Frequency-Dependent Stiffness Of Rail Fastening Systems, Linya Liu, Jialiang Qin, Quanmin Liu, Jong-Dar Yau, Rui Song

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

A rubber rail-pad is typically inserted between the rail and the sleeper to attenuate wheel/rail vibrations for conventional train-rail-bridge (TRB) system. For mathematical modeling, a rail-fastener with rubber pad is simplified as a spring-dashpot unit, whose spring stiffness is related to the exciting frequency of external loads. To exhibit such characteristics of rail-pads on TRB dynamics, based on dynamic flexibility method, two computational models of constant/frequency-dependent stiffness (FDS) are considered for comparison. Numerical studies reveal that the FDS model provides a strengthening benefit for the wheelrail vibration, from which the shifted dominant frequencies in spectral response are observed.