Stability of a train running over the Volga river high-speed railway bridge during crosswinds

A study regarding the safety against crosswinds of a high-speed train running over a railway bridge belonging to the future high-speed railway network in Russia is presented. The dynamic analyses are performed using a software named VSI - Vehicle-Structure Interaction Analysis developed by the first authors. The wind load is applied to the bridge and train using a practical methodology based on a discrete gust model, thus avoiding the generation of complex stochastic wind models. The dynamic response of both the bridge and train is assessed and the running safety criteria evaluated. Two different bridge structural solutions have been proposed by the designer. Therefore, the results obtained on these two structural solutions are compared and the limit values for the train speed for each analyzed wind speed are defined based on the running safety criteria allowances defined in the codes.