Dynamic analysis of ballasted-ballastiless track transition section on high speed railway bridge

Based on the living example of transition section between ballasted track and CRTS II ballastless track on the super large bridge of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, a finite element vehicle-track coupling model was established, and the influences of different structural measures on dynamic characteristics of the transition section were studied. The results show that the overall stiffness of the ballasted track is greater than that of ballastless track when the under-rail pads stiffness of ballasted track is 55~75 MN/m and that of ballastless track is 20~30 MN/m. The overall stiffness of ballasted and ballastless track are roughly identical when the rail pad stiffness of ballasted track is 55~75 MN/m while that of ballastless track is 40~50 MN/m. Transition sleeper and wide sleeper are unsuitable to be used in the transition section when the ballasted track stiffness is greater than that of ballastless track. The ballast glue improves the integrity of ballast bed and the stability of track structure in transition section but it also increases the track stiffness. In order to reduce the wheel-rail forces caused by the increased track stiffness, the rail pad stiffness has to be decreased. The auxiliary rails enhance the stability of track structure but it has little impact on the track stiffness. ©, 2015, Chinese Vibration Engineering Society. All right reserved.