Finite Element Analysis For Strength Of Track Structure

Ballasted track is a basic track structure used on the railway lines in china. It is a complex construction, including rail, under-rail pad, sleeper, roadbed and so on. Its material shows different characteristic and receives complex strength that is intensively stochastic and complex. It brings many difficulties to the design of the track and mechanical simulating analysis, however, it is necessary to have a mechanical academic analysis to achieve a good design, examine and improve on the track structure.Finite Element Method (FEM) is applied in the thesis, and most simulating analysis work is done with ANSYS, which is a large-scale finite element analysis software. The thesis is accomplished on the basis of the experiment taken by the Train and Track Institute Research on the curved track with very small radius. The variational relation between the displacement force and acceleration of different track structure and the speed of train is analyzed on the basis of the field measurement. And the change of response is also analyzed after the track is strengthened. By the contrast between results from finite element analysis and traditional methods, the superiority of track strength by means of finite element analysis is indicated finally. During the research on the ballasted track structure, the following steps are applied. Firstly, the finite element model of the whole structure is founded, and the parameters of every part of the track are confirmed. Secondly, the model is applied to simulate the experiment taken on the curved track with very small radius. The reliability and the rationality of the model are analyzed and validated based on the results of the contrast between the analysis and field measurement. Finally, various strength measures for ballasted track are calculated and analyzed, and reference is offered for the future track strength. The results show that the strength of the track is sufficient for needs.The work enumerated above shows that it is feasible to make a detailed analysis on the mechanical features of the ballasted track, and the optimum design of the ballasted track structure may also be done on the basis of such work.