Vibrations induced by HST passage on ballast and non-ballast tracks

The use of ballastless slab track is significantly increasing in HST line technology. This development is due to some structural and operational advantages over ballasted track. In addition, floating slab tracks can be used to control ground-borne vibrations generated by surface and underground rail transportation systems. In this paper, a general and fully three dimensional multi-body-finite element-boundary element model is used to study vibrations due to train passage on ballast and non-ballast tracks. The vehicle is modelled as a multi-body system, the track, in both cases, using finite elements and the soil is represented using boundary elements. The three components of the load are considered; the quasi-static excitation (force generated by moving axle loads), the parametric excitation due to discrete supports of the rails and the excitation due to wheel and rail roughness and track unevenness. Track receptances are computed for both track systems and vibrations induced by high-speed train passage at the track and the free-field are evaluated for different train speeds. Soil behaviour changes significantly with the track system. Finally, a floating slab track is studied to show how this type of solution leads to a significant vibration reduction for surface tracks. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.