海洋软土修正剑桥模型在海堤工程的应用

通过对海洋软土进行一系列的室内物理力学试验及静三轴试验,拟合了海洋软土平均应力和广义剪应力值,认为海洋软土的状态线呈双曲线形,并将修正的应力罗德角考虑在模型之中,进一步改进剑桥模型理论,使其更加适应海洋软土的静力学特性。实践证明,海洋软土修正剑桥模型能有效模拟海洋软土的应力应变特性,表现为海洋软土材料的非线性特征以及塑性流动的特征。采用海洋软土修正剑桥模型对以海洋软土为基础的海堤的地基沉降进行数值分析,计算结果验证了海洋软土修正剑桥模型的适用性。     

软土地区大型船坞底板优化设计

采用PLAIXS软件分析了船坞开挖卸荷和坞墙侧限对底板承载力的影响,结果表明,目前底板设计没有考虑土体开挖的卸荷效应和坞墙的侧限效应显得过于保守。考虑桩土共同作用,用理论的方法分析了船坞底板的受力特性,得到了不同土层分布对底板沉降和土体荷载分担的影响。计算结果与有限元计算值进行对比分析,验证了该方法的正确性。     

水平荷载作用下斜桩群桩的有限元分析

采用三维有限元数值方法对斜桩群桩在水平荷载作用下的承载特性进行了研究,对比了相同布置形式的3×3直桩和斜桩群桩的各项响应差异.分析结果表明,在3倍桩径桩间距条件下,斜桩群桩中基本不存在与直桩群桩相类似的群桩效应.斜桩群桩由于较好地发挥了基桩的轴向承载特性,故而整体抵抗水平荷载的能力显著高于直桩群桩.     

Simulation of dynamic interaction between train and railway turnout

Dynamic train–track interaction is more complex in railway turnouts (switches and crossings) than that in ordinary tangent or curved tracks. Multiple contacts between wheel and rail are common, and severe impact loads with broad frequency contents are induced, when nominal wheel–rail contact conditions are disturbed because of the continuous variation in rail profiles and the discontinuities in the crossing panel. The absence of transition curves at the entry and exit of the turnout, and the cant deficiency, leads to large wheel–rail contact forces and passenger discomfort when the train is switching into the turnout track. Two alternative multibody system (MBS) models of dynamic interaction between train and a standard turnout design are developed. The first model is derived using a commercial MBS software. The second model is based on a multibody dynamics formulation, which may account for the structural flexibility of train and track components (based on finite element models and coordinate reduction methods). The variation in rail profile is accounted for by sampling the cross-section of each rail at several positions along the turnout. Contact between the back of the wheel flange and the check rail, when the wheelset is steered through the crossing, is considered. Good agreement in results from the two models is observed when the track model is taken as rigid.     

Mathematical modelling of train–turnout interaction

The paper proposes a mathematical model of train–turnout interaction in the mid-frequency range (0–500 Hz). The model accounts for the effects of rail profile variation along the track and of local variation of track flexibility. The proposed approach is able to represent the condition of one wheel being simultaneously in contact with more than one rail, allowing the accurate prediction of the effect of wheels being transferred from one rail to another when passing over the switch toe and the crossing nose. Comprehensive results of train–turnout interaction during the negotiation of the main and the branch lines are presented, including the effect of wear of wheel/rail profiles and presence of track misalignment. In the final part of the paper, comparisons are performed between the results of numerical simulations and line measurements performed on two different turnouts for urban railway lines, showing a good agreement between experimental and numerical results.     

Theoretical and experimental excitation force spectra for railway-induced ground vibration: vehicle–track–soil interaction,irregularities and soil measurements

Excitation force spectra are necessary for a realistic prediction of railway-induced ground vibration. The excitation forces cause the ground vibration and they are themselves a result of irregularities passed by the train. The methods of the related analyses – the wavenumber integration for the wave propagation in homogeneous or layered soils, the combined finite-element boundary-element method for the vehicle–track–soil interaction – have already been presented and are the base for the advanced topic of this contribution. This contribution determines excitation force spectra of railway traffic by two completely different methods. The forward analysis starts with vehicle, track and soil irregularities, which are taken from literature and axle-box measurements, calculates the vehicle–track interaction and gets theoretical force spectra as the result. The second method is a backward analysis from the measured ground vibration of railway traffic. A calculated or measured transfer function of the soil is used to determine the excitation force spectrum of the train. A number of measurements of different soils and different trains with different speeds are analysed in that way. Forward and backward analysis yield the same approximate force spectra with values around 1 kN for each axle and third of octave.     

Vibration control in train–bridge–track systems

To study the problems associated with vibration control of train–bridge–track systems a mathematical model with the capability of representing supplementary vibrational control devices is proposed. The train system is assumed as rigid bodies supported on double-deck suspension mechanism with semi-active features. The bridge system is modeled using the modal approach. Vibration control for bridge responses is provided by tuned mass dampers. A non-classical incremental Eigen analysis is proposed to trace the system characteristics across the time. In an example, the capability of the proposed model in investigating the vibration control prospects of a bridge–train system is shown. The results indicate the effectiveness of active suspension mechanism in reducing train's body movements, particularly the pitching angle and the vertical accelerations. Accordingly, the results also verify the potential of TMD devices in reducing the bridge responses at resonance motions.     

Parallel computing with domain decomposition for the vehicle crashworthiness simulation

The research presented in the paper deals with explicit nonlinear finite element calculation with domain decomposition for vehicle crashworthiness simulation. This is very important for vehicle design. Parallel computing is an efficient solution method to speedup and enhance the solving ability of large-scale numerical simulation. In this paper, a cost-effective domain decomposition method based on contact balance is presented, and the algorithm flowchart including contact computing is provided, and the parallel computing process and communication overhead are analyzed. Furthermore, scalability of the parallel computing method on different hardware platforms, the SGI Onyx 3800 and the ShenWei cluster, is studied. Finally, the effect of different domain decomposition strategy on vehicle crashworthiness simulation computing efficiency is presented. To end users, the research results should provide a reference for vehicle design and choosing appropriate hardware platform and computing software.     

Influence of some vehicle and track parameters on the environmental vibrations induced by railway traffic

A study is performed on the influence of some typical railway vehicle and track parameters on the level of ground vibrations induced in the neighbourhood. The results are obtained from a previously validated simulation framework considering in a first step the vehicle/track subsystem and, in a second step, the response of the soil to the forces resulting from the first analysis. The vehicle is reduced to a simple vertical 3-dof model, corresponding to the superposition of the wheelset, the bogie and the car body. The rail is modelled as a succession of beam elements elastically supported by the sleepers, lying themselves on a flexible foundation representing the ballast and the subgrade. The connection between the wheels and the rails is realised through a non-linear Hertzian contact. The soil motion is obtained from a finite/infinite element model. The investigated vehicle parameters are its type (urban, high speed, freight, etc.) and its speed. For the track, the rail flexural stiffness, the railpad stiffness, the spacing between sleepers and the rail and sleeper masses are considered. In all cases, the parameter value range is defined from a bibliographic browsing. At the end, the paper proposes a table summarising the influence of each studied parameter on three indicators: the vehicle acceleration, the rail velocity and the soil velocity. It namely turns out that the vehicle has a serious influence on the vibration level and should be considered in prediction models.