Proceedings of India International Science Festival Young Scientists Meet

Department of Science and Technology Government of India Dec 4-8, 2015

Paper Code: Design51

ANALYTICAL MODELING OF RAIL TRACK SYSTEM

Gyan Setua,*, Madhusmita Mohantab, J P Srivastavac, P K Sarkard, V Ranjane

a
ISM, Dhanbad, India, gyansetu.setu@gmail.com
b
ISM, Dhanbad, India, madhusmitamohanta134@gmail.com
c
ISM, Dhanbad, India, jaysrvstv@gmail.com
*Corresponding author

ABSTRACT - Safety and speed of railway traffic is influenced by the dynamic interaction between the vehicle and
the track. This paper presents analytical formulation of rail track system. A change in track model brings in wide
change in receptance and track decay rate in frequency domain. The complexity of track model is varied from Euler
beam on continuous elastic support to a Timoshenko beam on single layer and two layer continuous supports. The
effect of different model on receptance and decay rate in frequency domain is investigated. Results obtained are
expected to help in understanding the fundamental knowledge of rail track vibration.

Keywords: Rail-Wheel, Track model, Euler beam, Timoshenko beam, Receptance, Decay rate.

1. Introduction

Track models are motivated by the need to understand and minimize, vibration, structure-borne sound
propagation from the track, ballast settlement, pad and clip deterioration, sleeper cracking and corrugation
development (Thompson, 2009). Knothe and Grassie thoroughly review the subject (Knothe and Grassie,
1993).Track is an infinite structure acting as a waveguide, permitting one or more structural waves to
propagate along it. The intrinsic damping of the track structure is much higher than for the wheel. It does
not have resonances in the same way as the wheel. At a given frequency, a number of different structural
waves can exist in the rail (Thompson, 1993). Initially, at low frequencies, these are vertical and lateral
bending, torsion and longitudinal waves but at higher frequencies additional wave occur involving
deformation of the rail cross-section. The dynamic behavior of the track can be understood primarily from
its frequency domain models. Grassie (Grassie and Kalousek, 1993) developed track models based on
Euler-Bernoulli beam and evaluated them using validation experiments between 50 Hz and 1-2 KHz.
Munjal and Heckl (Munjal and Heckl, 1982) modeled the rail as an Euler beam on periodic mass supports
and analyzed the propagation of vertical bending waves with a transfer matrix method. In Nordborg's
work (Nordborg, 1998), the rail is modeled as an Euler beam, supported on flexible sleepers that can
perform bending motion. Hamet (Hamet, 1999) extended Nordborg's work and used Timoshenko theory
instead of Euler-Bernoulli theory for the rail; however, he did not include flexible sleepers in his model,
but modeled the sleepers simply as rigid masses. In the present paper track is modeled based on Euler
beam on continuous elastic support, Timoshenko beam on single layer continuous support and
Timoshenko beam on two layer continuous support. The model represents a railway track where the beam
represents the rail and an appropriately chosen support type represents the pad/sleeper/ballast system of a
railway track. Results are presented in both receptance and track decay plots.

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Proceedings of India International Science Festival Young Scientists Meet
Department of Science and Technology Government of India Dec 4-8, 2015
Paper Code: Design51

2. Modeling Of Track
A mathematical representation of the track dynamic behavior is required as the first step in modeling
the dynamic interaction between the vehicle and the track. In this section some frequency domain models
are described. These models are used to check the suitability of the time domain models of the track.

2.1 Euler Beam On Single Layer Continuous Support

Euler beam resting on continuous elastic foundation is the foundation of frequency domain models as
shown in Fig. 1. This model provides the basis for more advanced models described in the later part of
this paper.

Fig. 1. Euler beam on single layer continuous support

It is characterized by its Youngs modulus E, second moment of area of the section I, cross-sectional
area A and density. The support is characterized by the stiffness per unit length k and a damping loss
factor . Damping of the support is included in the following equations by replacing k with a complex
stiffness k (1+i).Without damping, the equation of motion of the unloaded beam is given by
4u 2u
EI 4 k u A 2 0
'
(1)
x t
In above, x is the position along the beam, u is the vertical displacement of the beam in the z direction
and t is time. For harmonic motion of frequency, the equation of motion may be rewritten as a
dispersion relation between and the wave number h:
EIh 4 k ' A 2 0 (2)
The natural frequency o of the beam on the support stiffness is defined by
k'
o (3)
A
From equation 2, the wave number may be written as
A 2 k ' A 2 o2
h2 (4)
EI EI
o is also known as the cut-on frequency, as below this frequency the wave number cannot be real
and no free wave propagation can occur. The point receptance of the track at frequency derived from
the mobility given by Thompson is
1 i
(5)
4EIh 3
The track decay rate in dB/m is given by equation (6), where him is the imaginary part of the wave
number (Jones et al., 2006).
20 log10 exp him (6)

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Proceedings of India International Science Festival Young Scientists Meet
Department of Science and Technology Government of India Dec 4-8, 2015
Paper Code: Design51

2.2 Timoshenko Beam On Single Layer Continuous Support

Using a Timoshenko beam, rather than an Euler beam, extends the frequency range of validity by
including shear and rotational inertia effects. The dispersion relation between and wave number h is
then (Thompson, 1993):
h 4 C2 h 2 C3 0 (7)
where,
k ' 2 I 2
C 2 (8)
Gk EI
And
k ' A 2 I 2
C 3 1 (9)
EI GAk
In which G is the shear modulus and k is the shear factor. The point receptance of the Timoshenko
beam on continuous support is given by
1 hn C1
2

i (10)
n with GAk 4hn3 2hnC 2
Imh 0
n

where,
GAk I
2
C1
(11)
EI EI
Equation (10) is taken from the transfer receptance given by Thompson (Thompson, 2009) using the
contour integration method of (Grassie et al, 1982). The track decay rate in dB/m is given by

20 log10 exp him 8.686him (12)

2.3 Beam On Two-Layer Continuous Support

In this model, the rail pads and ballast are represented by distributed elastic layers with no mass,
separated by a distributed mass layer representing the sleepers.

Fig. 2. Beam on two-layer continuous support

'
The support layers are characterized by two stiffness per unit length, kb' for the ballast layer and k p
for the rail pad layer, with each layer incorporating a damping loss factor b and p respectively. The
sleeper mass per unit length in the x direction is ms' . The sleeper layer has no bending stiffness in this
model. The resulting support stiffness as seen by the rail is frequency dependent (Jones et al, 2006):
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Proceedings of India International Science Festival Young Scientists Meet
Department of Science and Technology Government of India Dec 4-8, 2015
Paper Code: Design51

k p' kb' 2ms'

k
'
(13)
k '
p kb' 2ms'

The corresponding results for a Timoshenko beam may be obtained by substituting the two layer
frequency dependent stiffness k ' from Equation (13) into Equations (7) to (11) for the beam on a
single support layer.

Table. 1. Track Parameters

Description Notation Value
Youngs modulus of elasticity E 2.11011 N/m2
Second moment of area of rail I 30.5510-6 m4
Density of rail 7850 kg/m3
Cross-sectional area of rail A 7.6910-3 m2
Shear modulus of rail G 0.771011 N/m2
Shear factor for rail k 0.4
Half sleeper mass per unit length ms 245 kg/m
Rail pad layer stiffness kp 3.33108 N/m2
Rail pad layer loss factor p 0.20
Ballast layer stiffness kb 8.33107 N/m2
Ballast layer lost factor b 1.0
Support layer loss factor 0.20

3. Result
Using the above mathematical formulation, for the track parameter given in Table 1, equations are
solved using MATLAB. Results in terms of receptance and decay rate for Euler single layer continuous
support, Timoshenko beam on single layer continuous support and Timoshenko beam on two layer
continuous support are plotted in Fig. 3-5.

Fig. 3. Receptance and Track Decay plot for Euler beam on single layer continuous support

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Proceedings of India International Science Festival Young Scientists Meet
Department of Science and Technology Government of India Dec 4-8, 2015
Paper Code: Design51

Fig. 4. Receptance and Track Decay plot for Timoshenko beam on single layer continuous support

Fig. 5. Receptance and Track Decay plot for beam on two-layer continuous support

4. Discussion On Result
The receptance curve of Euler beam of single layer support has a single peak corresponding to the
resonance of the rail mass on the support stiffness at frequency o, occurring at 440 Hz. At this frequency
the track decay rate begins to drop off. Above o the waves in the rail are uncoupled from the support, so
the track decay rate becomes low.
A Timoshenko beam deforms more under the same static load than an Euler beam. It appears to be
softer under static load and the receptance of the Timoshenko beam is slightly higher than that of the
Euler beam throughout the frequency range.
To represent the track response at higher frequencies the inclusion of distinct support layers to
represent the rail pads, sleepers and ballast. The first resonance of the support system is the rail and
sleeper mass on the ballast layer at 93 Hz for these parameters. The anti-resonance of the track at around
210 Hz corresponds to the resonance of the sleepers on the combined ballast and rail pad stiffness with
the rail fixed. Finally the resonance of the rail mass on the rail pad stiffness at around 400 Hz. Above this
frequency, the rail becomes decoupled from supports. The track decay rate then decreases as wave
propagates freely along the undamped rail.

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Proceedings of India International Science Festival Young Scientists Meet
Department of Science and Technology Government of India Dec 4-8, 2015
Paper Code: Design51

5. Conclusion
Different track model is investigated to estimate the receptance and track decay rate. Result from
graphs indicates different resonance frequency for different model. Increase in complexity also increases
number of resonance frequency and it moves towards more realistic solution. It is found that the Euler
beam may be viewed as a special case of the Timoshenko beam, with the effect of shear deformation and
rotational inertia neglected. Two layers continuous supports in which rail pad and ballast are represented
by distributed elastic layer is more realistic than single layer continuous support. The present study forms
a foundation of new track model with more complexity by incorporating discrete support as future work.

References

Grassie S.L.,Gregory R.W., Harrison D. and Johnson K.L. (1982). Dynamic response of railway
track to high frequency vertical excitation, Journal Mechanical Engineering Science, 24, 77-90.

Grassie S.L. and Kalousek J. (1993). Rail corrugation: characteristics, causes and treatments. Proc.
Instn. Mech. Engrs., 207, 57-68.

Hamet J.F. (1999). Railway noise: use of the Timoshenko model in rail vibration studies, Acustica-
ActaAcustica, 85, 54-62.

Jones C.J.C., Thompson D.J. and Diehl R.J. (2006). The use of decay rates to analyse the
performance of railway track in rolling noise generation, Journal of Sound and Vibration, 293,
485 495.

Knothe K. and Grassie S.L. (1993). Modeling of railway track and vehicle/track interaction at high
frequencies. Vehicle System Dynamics, 22, 209-262.

Munjal M.J. and Heckl M. (1982). Vibrations of a periodic rail sleeper system excited by an
oscillating stationary transverse force, Journal of Sound and vibration,81, 491-500.

Nordborg A., (1998). Vertical rail vibrations: point force excitation, Acustica-ActaAcustica, 84, 280-
288.

Thompson D.J., (1993). Wheel rail noise generation, Part 1: Introduction and interaction
model,Journal of Sound and Vibration, 161, 387400.

Thompson D.J., (1993). Wheel rail noise generation, Part 3: Rail vibration, Journal of Sound and
Vibration, 161, 421446.

Thompson D.J., (2009). Railway noise and vibration: mechanisms, modeling and means of control.
Oxford, Elsevier.

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