Identification of vertical wheel-rail contact force based on an analytical model and measurement and its application in predicting ground-borne vibration

Wheel-rail interaction plays an important role in the study of railway engineering. The wheel-rail contact forces (WCFs) are the key factors in the models addressing wheel-rail interaction. However, it is sometimes difficult to be measured, so an indirect identification methodology is proposed in this paper. Based on an analytical model and measurement, the vertical WCF can be determined. Using measured rail accelerations as input data, a calculation program is developed. The vertical WCF and the excitation forces transmitted from the vehicle-rail system to the roadbed can be obtained. The latter forces are used to predict the train-induced ground-borne vibrations. A case study of predicting ground-borne vibration in Beijing Metro is presented to verify the effectiveness of this method. The results show that the vertical WCF can be obtained efficiently and accurately, and the predicted ground-borne vibrations have good agreement with the measured ones.

Automated summary

An indirect identification method is proposed in the paper to determine the vertical wheel-rail contact forces, which are key factors in models addressing wheel-rail interaction. The calculated forces are used to predict ground-borne vibrations, with a case study in Beijing Metro validating the effectiveness of the method. Results show efficient and accurate determination of the vertical wheel-rail contact forces and good agreement between predicted and measured ground-borne vibrations.