Dynamic analysis of high speed railway bridge under articulated trains

The problem of vehicle-bridge dynamic interaction system under articulated high speed trains is studied in this paper. A dynamic interaction model of the bridge-articulated train system is established, which is composed of an articulated vehicle element model and a finite element bridge model. The vehicle model is established according to the structure and suspending properties of the articulated vehicles. A computer simulation program is worked out. As an example, the case of the Thalys articulated train passing along the Antoing Bridge on the Paris-Brussels high speed railway line is analyzed. The dynamic responses of the bridge and the vehicles are calculated. The proposed analysis model and the solution method are verified through the comparison between the calculated results and the in situ measured data. The vibration behaviour of the articulated trains is discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.