dc.description.abstract
Verifications during dynamic loading represent a crucial challenge both in designing new railwaybridges and assessing existing structures in the European rail network, particularly in high-speed traffic.Compliance with the normative acceleration limits of the structure in the vertical direction plays a particular role here, as resonance phenomena caused by the periodic excitation during train crossings can lead to high acceleration amplitudes as the crossing speed increases. These phenomena not only lead to considerable mechanical stresses on the supporting structures but can also result in destabilization processes of the superstructure and an increased risk of derailment.The calculation methods available for predicting accelerations generally provide a conservative approximation of the actual dynamic behavior of railway bridges. However, the accuracy of these methods depends heavily on the complexity of the underlying mechanical model, which describes the dynamic system consisting of the train, superstructure, and supporting structure. The more precisely the interactions between the various elements of the system are simulated, the more realistic the predictions will be. This contributes to the economic and, at the same time, safe planning of structural design,operation, and maintenance. However, the computing capacities and information regarding structural and train properties required for detailed modeling are rarely available. Simpler models, on the other hand, require less effort and input parameters but tend to significantly overestimate the acceleration amplitudes, which, in practice, can lead to resource-intensive measurement campaigns, upgrading,or even new construction measures.This cumulative dissertation uses various simple models of trains and bridges, as well as extensions of these models, to take into account the interaction dynamics between trains, superstructures, and supporting structures. The aim is to analyze under which conditions these extensions significantly influence the calculation results. Comprehensive parameter studies are used to identify and quantify relations between this influence and various structural properties. The investigations are limited to single-span and single-track bridges with ballasted superstructures, which make up a large part of existing bridges in the Austrian rail network. For these bridges, proofing compliance with the acceleration limits represents, with increasing speeds of the operating trains, the critical design criterion that is difficult to fulfill with simple models.A thematic overview is given in the first part of the thesis, and the calculation models used in the studies are explained. On the one hand, the studies focus on the vehicle-bridge interaction, which is modeled using a multi-body model of the train. However, this method requires reliable information about the train characteristics that are often not published by the manufacturers, which is becoming a growing challenge, especially when new train types are introduced. Therefore, most of the work focuses on the track-bridge interaction and the load-distributing effect ofthe ballasted superstructure, which is simulated by an easily implementable two-layer coupling beam model of the bridges. The consideration of these interaction dynamics proves to be very beneficial,especially for structures in the short to medium-span range. Compared to simpler models, additional input parameters are also required for the coupled beam modeling of bridges, which considerably influence the results. By varying numerous parameters in the numerical investigations, significant influencing factors, such as the applied coupling stiffness, which describes the dynamic flexibility of the ballasted superstructure, and the resulting need for further research, such as the experimental determination of this stiffness, can be identified.The results of the numerical studies and the findings derived from them are summarized in the introductory part of the thesis and documented in the four publications that form the main part of the thesis.These conclusions will enable to formulate recommendations for the targeted choice of model complexitydepending on the structural parameters. The findings thus contribute to a more realistic assessment of the dynamic behavior of railway bridges under train traffic. In view of the current and future intensification of train traffic, this can help to make efficient use of the capacities of the existingand efficient infrastructure and to develop future predictive maintenance concepts.
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