INFLUENCE OF NON-STRUCTURAL MEMBER AND ITS EXPANSION JOINT ON VIBRATION CHARACTERISTICS OF RAILWAY BRIDGE

Abstract

Railway viaducts contain non-structural elements such as track components and bridge railings, which are components of the railway system. Although non-structural elements have a significant effect on main structural rigidity and dynamic response, the same has not been quantified. This study aims to evaluate the influence of non-structural elements and their expansion joints on the vibration characteristics of the main structure of the general railway girder. Three dimensional finite element analysis showed that the natural frequency of the main structure increases differently depending on the type of the non-structural elements, and increases owing to the stiffness of roadbeds by approximately 30%–50% when the girder span is 10 m, and by approximately 10% when the span is 22 m or greater. It decreases by approximately 15%–25% because of the influence of the expansion joints of non-structural elements. Thus, it was found that these effects tend to decrease with the increase in bridge span.