Keywords: floating slab track, transition section, wheel-rail impact, dynamic analysis.

A model of the coupled vehicle-track is put forward to investigate the influence of the transition section of at the connection between the floating slab track (FST) and non-floating slab track (NFST) on the wheel-rail impact load and rail support force. In the model, the FST is treated as a three-layer model consisting of rail, floating slab and slab bed. The NFST is treated as a two-layer model consisting of rail and fixed bed. In the track model, each rail is modeled with a Timoshenko beam resting on the discrete rail pads. The lateral, vertical, and torsional deformations of the rails are simultaneously taken into account. The track except for the rail is assumed to move backward at a constant speed to simulate the vehicle running along the track at the same speed, and therefore the track model can consider the effect of the stiffness change at the connection on the coupling dynamic behavior of the vehicle and track in the simulation. The paper analyzes the influence of the stiffness change at the connection and the transition section on the vehicle-track dynamic behavior. From the simulation results, we can draw the following conclusions:

• When the vehicle passes over the connection between the floating slab track and non-floating slab track, the impact load caused by the stiffness change is smaller than that caused by random irregularity [1] of the rail vertical profile, wheel flat [2] or rail joint [3]. The influence of stiffness change at the connection has a great influence on the force of rail support.
• It is not necessary to install transition section to reduce the wheel rail impact load caused by stiffness change at the connection. Whereas, the transition section greatly affects the force of the rail support. When the transition section length is 5.4 m, the force is reduced by 71% compared to no transition section. The shear hinge at the connection also shows a good performance in reducing the force of the rail support.

1

X. Lei, N.A. Noda, "Analysis of Dynamic Response of Vehicle and Track Coupling System with Random Irregularity of Track Vertical Profile", Journal of Sound and Vibration, 258(1), 147-165, 2002.

2

T.X. Wu, D.J. Thompson, "A Hybrid Model for the Noise Generation Due to Railway Wheel Flats", Journal of Sound and Vibration, 251(1), 115-139, 2002.

3

Z.F. Wen, G.W. Xiao, X.B. Xiao, X.S. Jin, M.H. Zhu, "Dynamic Vehicle-Track Interaction and Plastic Deformation of Rail at Rail Welds", Engineering Failure Analysis, 16(4), 1221-1237, 2009.

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