Probabilistic assessment of railway vehicle-curved track systems considering track random irregularities

ABSTRACT

The randomness of track irregularities directly leads to the random vibration of the vehicle–track systems. To assess the dynamic performance of a railway system in more comprehensive and practical ways, a framework for probabilistic assessment of vehicle-curved track systems is developed by effectively integrating a vehicle–track coupled model (VTCM), a track irregularity probabilistic model (TIPM) with a probability density evolution method (PDEM). In VTCM, the railway vehicle and the curved track are coupled by the nonlinear wheel–rail interaction forces, and through TIPM, the ergodic properties of random track irregularities on amplitudes, wavelengths and probabilities can be properly considered in the dynamic calculations. Lastly, PDEM, a newly developed method for solving probabilistic transmissions between stochastic excitations and deterministic dynamic responses, is introduced to this probabilistic assessment model. Numerical examples validate the correctness and practicability of the proposed models. In this paper, the results of probabilistic assessment are presented to illustrate the dynamic behaviours of a high-speed railway vehicle subject to curved tracks with various radii, and to demonstrate the importance of considering the actual status of wheel–rail contacts and curve negotiation effects in vehicle-curved track interactions.

KEYWORDS:

• Vehicle–track interactions
• curved track
• track irregularity probabilistic model
• probability density evolution method
• reliability analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the key project of National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 51735012]; the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 51478482; 51678507; 11790283]; the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (111 Project) [grant number B16041]; the first author thanks the support of the China Scholarship Council.