TY - JOUR A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - Dynamic axle loads on tracks with and without ballast mats - numerical results of three-dimensional vehicle-track-soil models N2 - Ballast mats are an efficient measure to reduce the vibrations near railway lines. The vehicle-track system gets a low eigenfrequency due to the insertion of an elastic ballast mat under the ballast. For frequencies higher than this low vehicle-track eigenfrequency, the forces, which are generating the vibration of the soil, are considerably reduced. In this contribution, a combined finite-element boundary-matrix method is used to calculate a number of completely three-dimensional track models with and without ballast mats. The influence of the important parameters such as the stiffness of the ballast mat, the unsprung vehicle mass, the mass of the track, and the stiffness of the subsoil is investigated. The numerical results are presented as the transfer functions of the total force that is acting on the soil and generating the vibration of the environment. The effectiveness of ballast mats is achieved by division of two of these force functions. The general tendencies for this insertion loss are discussed and a comparison with measurements is given. To come to an improved practical tool for the design of ballast-mat tracks, the finite-element method results are approximated by a simple two-dimensional model of which the solution is given explicitly. KW - Railway track KW - Track dynamic KW - Ballast mat KW - Vibration isolation KW - Insertion loss KW - Finite-element method KW - Track-soil interaction KW - Vehicle-track interaction PY - 2006 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1243/09544097F00105 SN - 0954-4097 VL - 220 IS - 2 SP - 169 EP - 183 PB - Institution of Mechanical Engineers CY - London AN - OPUS4-13723 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - Dynamic behavior of slab tracks on homogeneous and layered soils and the reduction of ground vibration by floating slab tracks N2 - The dynamics of slab tracks and floating slab tracks are analyzed by multibeam models for the track and by integration in the wave-number domain for the soil, which is modeled as a layered half-space. Frequency-dependent compliances and force transfers are calculated for a great variety of track and soil parameters. The distribution of the load and the displacements along the track is investigated as well as the wave propagation perpendicular to the track and the ground vibration amplitudes. The floating slab track has a dominating plate-mat resonance and a strong high-frequency reduction. A track-soil resonance can also be recognized for an unisolated slab track in the case of layered soils. Generally, there is a strong damping of the track by the soil. The reduction effect of the slab mat is mainly owing to the elimination of this strong damping. The continuous soil yields slightly different rules for the displacements and force densities than those of a Winkler support. The total force transfer from the rail to the soil is the best criterion to judge the effectiveness of a floating slab track in reducing the ground vibration at some distance from the railway line. The total force transfer is easier to calculate than the double Fourier integrals of the ground vibration amplitudes, namely in the far field, and it has the best correlation with the reduction of the ground vibration. KW - Railway track KW - Slab track KW - Floating slab track KW - Track-soil interaction KW - Track vibration KW - Ground vibration KW - Force transfer PY - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EM.1943-7889.0000407 SN - 0733-9399 SN - 1943-7889 VL - 138 IS - 8 SP - 923 EP - 933 PB - Soc. CY - New York, NY, USA AN - OPUS4-26860 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Auersch, Lutz T1 - Static and dynamic behaviours of isolated and unisolated ballast tracks using a fast wavenumber domain method N2 - The dynamics of un-isolated and isolated ballast tracks have been analysed by multi-beam models for the track and by a layered half-space model for the soil. The solution is calculated in frequency-wavenumber domain and transformed back to space domain by a wavenumber integral. This is a faster method compared to other detailed track-soil interaction methods and almost as fast as the widely used Winkler-soil method, especially if the compliances of the soil have been stored for repeated use. Frequency-dependent compliances and force transfer functions have been calculated for a variety of track and soil parameters. The ballast has a clear influence on the high-frequency behaviour whereas the soil is dominating the low-frequency behaviour of the track. A layering of the soil may cause a moderate track-soil resonance whereas more pronounced vehicle-track resonances occur with elastic track elements like rail pads, sleeper pads and ballast mats. Above these resonant frequencies, a reduction of the excitation forces follows as a consequence. The track deformation along the track has been analysed for the most interesting track systems. The track deformation is strongly influenced by the resonances due to layering or elastic elements. The attenuation of amplitudes and the velocity of the track-soil waves change considerably around the resonant frequencies. The track deformation due to complete trains have been calculated for different continuous and Winkler soils and compared with the measurement of a train passage showing a good agreement for the continuous soil and clear deviations for the Winkler soil model. KW - Railway track KW - Multi-beam model KW - Layered soil KW - Wavenumber method KW - Track deformation KW - Force transfer KW - Track-soil and vehicle-track resonances PY - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00419-016-1209-6 SN - 0939-1533 SN - 1432-0681 VL - 87 IS - 3 SP - 555 EP - 574 PB - Springer CY - Berlin, Heidelberg AN - OPUS4-39080 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Auersch, Lutz A1 - Said, Samir A1 - Knothe, Esther A1 - Rücker, Werner ED - Cunha, A. ED - Caetano, E. ED - Ribeiro, P. ED - Müller, G. T1 - The dynamic behavior of railway tracks with under sleeper pads, finite-element boundary-element model calculations, laboratory tests and field measurements N2 - A variety of isolation measures exists to reduce the vibration in the neighbourhood of railway lines. They can be roughly classified as elastic or stiffening systems. There are the following elastic elements, rail pads or resilient fixation systems between rail and sleeper, under sleeper pads or sleeper shoes under the sleepers, and ballast mats under the ballast. Stiffening systems (plates) are used as slab tracks, floating slab tracks, or mass-spring systems. In the EU project “Railway induced vibration abatement solutions (RIVAS)”, elastic under sleeper pads have been investigated. The dynamic behaviour of the track and the surrounding soil has been calculated by the combined finite-element boundary-element method in a systematic parameter study. It has been shown that the mitigation effect can be improved by soft under sleeper pads or by heavy sleepers. Consequently, such track elements (soft under sleeper pads and heavy sleepers) have been thoroughly investigated in laboratory tests to establish the static and dynamic parameters as well as their serviceability. Finally, field tests at and near railway tracks with and without under sleeper pads have been performed. To determine the reduction effect of the isolated track, the ground vibrations excited by trains or artificial sources have been measured. The soil properties at the different sites have also been measured so that the comparison of the isolated and un-isolated track can take into account possible differences of the soil parameters. The contribution shows how the different (numerical, laboratory and field) methods and results can be combined to achieve an improved mitigation solution with soft under sleeper pads and heavy sleepers for ballasted and slab tracks. T2 - EURODYN 2014 - 9th International conference on structural dynamics CY - Porto, Portugal DA - 30.06.2014 KW - Railway track KW - Track-soil interaction KW - Mitigation KW - Under sleeper pads KW - Laboratory tests KW - Field tests KW - Ground vibration PY - 2014 SN - 978-972-752-165-4 SN - 2311-9020 SP - 805 EP - 812 AN - OPUS4-31164 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -