Influence of mortar gap on natural vibration frequencies of high-speed railway track-bridge system

Based on Hamilton's principle, the differential equations of free vibration of track-bridge systems with mortar gap are derived. Hence, a method for calculating the natural frequencies of track-bridge systems is proposed. The influence of the flexural stiffness of the track-bridge system, the vertical and longitudinal stiffness of the mortar layer, gap position and gap length on the natural frequencies of a track-bridge system is discussed. The results show that the natural frequencies of the track-bridge system are more sensitive to the change of the flexural stiffness of the bridge layer. The change of the longitudinal stiffness of the mortar layer and gap position has no obvious effect on the trackbridge system's natural frequencies, while the interlayer vertical stiffness has a larger impact. The gap length has a more significant effect on the 4th-5th order natural frequencies of the track-bridge system. The range of the natural frequencies that are affected by the gap widens as the gap length increases.