Moving Loads on a Viscoelastic Foundation with Special Reference to Railway Transition Zones
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 18, Issue 11
Abstract
At railway transition zones between soft ground and stiffer structures, dynamic actions between the railcar, track, and subgrade induce differential settlements that may cause vibration and noise, compromise ride quality, and incur relatively high maintenance costs. Using a semianalytical spectral Galerkin method, this study attempted to examine stiffness transitions for point loads traveling on a pinned beam resting on a Winkler spring foundation with damping. Generally, a different deflection behavior occurs when moving from stiff-to-soft or soft-to-stiff regions. Multiple loads induce additional oscillatory behavior that is not typical of single loads. This study showed that a minimum transition length of 8–10 times the system’s characteristic length appears necessary to avoid stiffness transition deflection spikes. A real rail transition zone taken from a case study in Portugal was also analyzed.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Dr. Ngoc Trung Ngo for his suggestions on the manuscript.
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 18 • Issue 11 • November 2018
Copyright
© 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 8, 2017
Accepted: Apr 26, 2018
Published online: Aug 24, 2018
Published in print: Nov 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Jan 24, 2019
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