Evaluation of the Damping Properties of Railway Structures

Abstract

The running safety of railway vehicles in seismic conditions is evaluated by using the generally adopted damping constant of railway structures, which is generally 5 %, because there are only a few measured examples of damping constants. However, if the damping constant is lower, vehicle running safety declines proportionately. The authors evaluated the damping constants of many railway structures by vibration measurement. This paper proposes a method for estimating the damping constant of railway structures. Furthermore, the effects of structural damping on the behavior of high-speed trains were studied by combining structural analysis and simulations of vehicle dynamics. A method was then proposed to identify structures presenting a risk in terms of vehicle running safety during earthquakes.