Numerical simulation of railway track supporting system using finite-infinite and thin layer elements under impulsive loads/Gelezinkelio begiu sistemos skaitmeninis modeliavimas naudojant baigtinius begalinius ir plonasienius elementus, veikiamus dinaminemis apkrovomis.
Noorzaei, Jamaloddin ; Pour, Parviz Moradi ; Jaafar, Mohamed Saleh 等
1. Introduction
In railway transport, there is an ongoing demand for performance
increase, which is driven by the need to keep a competitive edge against
other modes of transport, such as aircrafts, cars and ships. This
requires advance technical requirements in their analysis and design
procedures. Most of the railway track system consists of rails,
sleepers, ballast, sub-ballast and sub-grades. It is essential to use
numerical model that realistically represents the actual behavior of
this track system subjected to actual load. Most of the investigators
make use of finite element for the purpose of physical and material
modeling. For example, a linear elastic analysis was performed for rail
track support systems by Desai et al. (1982), using a three dimensional
finite isoparametric solid elements for the discretization purpose. To
simulate static linear dynamic response of the moving train on track
supporting media, Kok (1997) has used the following elements:
--Thimoshenko beam to model the railway track supporting media;
--Four-node element to represent the sleeper;
--Gap element to account for the contact between the sleepers and
ballast.
The response of the railway-track-supporting structure has been
discussed with respect to displacements, bending moments and shear
forces. The authors ignored effect of flexibility of the bedding system.
Lombaert et al. (2006) proposed a 2.5-dimensional model which
account for rail, rail pad, floating slab and slab mat by ignoring the
track soil interface. Steenbergen and Metrikine (2007) used the
classical model that is beam on an elastic half space to model
slab-track railway system subjected to vertical axle of a running train.
The study was focused on the effect of the interface modeling between
the beam and half space on the dynamic response of the track surrounding
soil. The finite element modeling was employed to develop a dynamic
model incorporating concrete sleeper and ballast. The emphasis was
placed on partial and full interaction between the sleeper and ballast
(Kaewunruen, Remennikov 2007).
The response of supported structure which can be described using a
2.5-D finite element model, subjected to a moving or stationary harmonic
loading was formulated by Sheng et al. (2005).
A general numerical model was developed by Galvi'n et al.
(2010a) to analyze the High-Speed-Train (HST) dynamic interactions and
their effects on nearby structures. The model was analyzed in 3-D using
finite element and boundary element formulations. The study was done for
two cases, in first case; the train speed was lower than the Rayleigh
wave velocity in the soil, while results were in a good agreement with
experimental in the second case it was higher. In both cases the
computed results.
Another numerical study by means of a 2.5D coupled finite element
boundary element model was carried out by Galvi'n et al. (2010b) in
order to prediction of railway induced vibrations. One case is
considered a ballasted track on an embankment using two alternatives
models. In the first model the ballast and embankment were modeled by
2.5 solid elements in continuum mechanics, while the second model was
simplicity represented. The comparison of the results in both methods
with the real measurements at a site in Reugng, France, showed there is
a very big difference due to disregarding in the simplified
representation.
From literatures, it can be concluded that most of the researchers
employed numerical or semi numerical methods to simulate the railway
track-sleeper-ballast-sub-ballast-supporting soil system. There is no or
little literature available on complete finite element modeling
railway-track-ballast-sub-ballast and supporting soil under dynamic
loading. There is no literature on effect of soil nonlinearity on
overall responses of railway track supporting system. The present study
is continuation of authors' previous work (Noorzaei et al. 2009)
where the nonlinear response of railway track and supporting structures
were investigated under static loads. This study focuses on the
following objectives:
a) To develop a numerical tool using finite element technique which
is able to integrate the railway track supporting media as a single
compatible unit when the system subjected to dynamic loadings such as
impact loads;
b) To consider elasto-plastic constitutive law for the materials
involved in railway track supporting media;
c) To develop a F.E. code based on the items a and b;
d) To evaluate the safety of railway track supporting system under
dynamic loads.
However, in the present study the effect of track structure has
been neglected.
2. Proposed physical modeling of the railway track supporting
system
The following elements are used to represent the railway track
supporting system:
--The eight-node isoparametric element is used to model the railway
track-sleepers and supporting media (Zienkiewicz 1983).
--Five-node infinite element to represent the far field behavior.
The coupling of this element with conventional finite element was
presented by Viladkar et al. (1991) and Noorzaei et al. (1994).
--Six node thin layer element to account for the interfacial
behavior between the sleepers and ballast.
These elements along with their functions are published in
authors' previous article (Noorzaei et al. 2009).
3. Constitutive modeling
In the problem of railway Track-Support system the following yield
criterions were adopted.
3.1. Von Mises yield criterion
The Von Mises yield criterion suggested that yielding occurs when
([J'.sub.2]) reaches a critical value t:
[([J'.sub.2]).sup.1/2] = Q(k), (1)
where: (k) = a material parameter to be determined;
([J'.sub.2]) = the second deviatory stress variant.
The Von Mises yield criterion was utilized to represent the
elasto-plastic behavior of the railway track.
3.2. Drucker-Prager yield criterion
The Drucker-Prager yield criterion (Drucker, Prager 1952) is
expressed as:
[alpha][J.sub.1] + [([J'.sub.2]).sup.1/2] = k, (2)
where:
[alpha] = 2 sin [phi]/[square root of (3)(3 - sin [phi])]; (3a)
k' = 6c cos [phi]/[square root of (3)(3 - sin [phi])]; (3b)
([J.sub.1]) = the first stress invariant of deviatoric stress
components; [phi] = friction angle; c = coefficient value of material.
The elasto-plastic behavior of the sleeper, ballast and sub-ballast
was represented by Drucker-Prager yield criterion.
3.3. Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion
The Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion is expressed as:
--Elastic constitutive relationship.
The interface behaviour between the sleeper and ballast in this
analysis was represented by 6-node thin layer interface having thickness
t (Noorzaei et al. 2009). The elastic global constitutive matrix
[[D.sub.e]] is presented by:
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (4)
where: [[D.sub.e]] = elasticity matrix for thin layer element;
[tk.sub.n], [tk.sub.s] = the shear and normal stiffness respectively; t
= thickness of the thin layer.
Within the elastic range the behavior of the thin layer element can
be described by the conventional elastic relations:
[{d[epsilon]}.sup.e] = [[D].sub.e] {d[sigma]}; (5)
--Elasto-plastic constitutive relationship.
Theory of plasticity has been used, particularly to describe the
failure, yield or ultimate behaviour of interface, while the pre-failure
behaviour is assumed to be linear elastic. During an increment of stress
d[sigma], the incremental stress-strain relationship for an isotropic
elastic-plastic material can be expressed in terms of elastic and
plastic strain parts. Thus:
{d[epsilon]} = {d[[epsilon].sup.e]} + {d[[epsilon].sup.p]}. (6)
In elasto-plastic region time effects are considered and the
corresponding strain vector is calculated based on:
{d[sigma]} = [[D].sub.ep] {d[epsilon]}. (7)
where:
[D.sub.ep] = [[D] - [D]{a}[{a}.sup.T][[D].sup.T/A + [{a}.sup.T]
[D]{a}], (8)
where: f = yield function; Q = potential function; [[D.sub.ep]] =
elasticity matrix; A = hardening parameter.
To simulate the relative slipping, debonding and crushing that
could take place in the contact area between the rail and ballast,
modified Mohr-Coulomb criterion was adopted. Fig. 1 illustrates these
regions. An elasto-plastic constitutive law [[D.sub.ep]] was evolved in
explicit form for different yielding regions (Noorzaei et al. 2009).
3.3.1. Region I: Debonding mode of deformation
The elasto-plastic matrix [[D.sub.ep]] = for this case is:
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (9)
3.3.2. Region II: Slip mode of deformation
The elasto-plastic matrix [[D.sub.ep]] = for this case is:
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (10)
3.3.3. Region III: Crushing mode of deformation
The elasto-plastic matrix [[D.sub.ep]] for this case is:
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (11)
where: [[sigma].sub.n], [tau] = normal and shear stress
respectively; [f.sub.t], [f.sub.c] = tensile and compressive strength
respectively; [k.sub.s], [k.sub.n] = the shear and normal stiffness
respectively; t = thickness; [phi] = friction angle; [gamma] = tan
[phi].tan [phi]; [psi] = dilatancy angle; C = cohesion.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
4. Time marching computational Scheme for dynamic analysis
The equation of motion for an inelastic system obtained from the
consideration of equilibrium of forces is given by:
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (12)
where: [M] is the mass matrix of the system; {[??]} is the
acceleration vector, is the vector of internal resisting force which
depends upon the displacement {x} and velocity {[??]} and {f} is the
externally applied load vector.
The internal resisting forces are defined by the stiffness matrix
[k] and damping matrix [C].
The Newmark's (1959) predictor-corrector (Owen, Hinton 1980)
has been adopted for the dynamic solution. In the Newmark's
predictor-corrector, the following relations are defined:
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (13)
where:
[{x}.sub.t+[increment of t]] = [{[bar.x]}.sub.t+[increment of t]] +
[beta] [([increment of t]).sup.2] [{[??]}.sub.t+[increment of t]]; (14a)
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (14b)
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (14c)
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (14d)
Here [beta] and [gamma] are the parameter that control the
stability and accuracy of the method. The quantities
[{[bar.x]}.sub.t+[increment of t]], [{[bar.[??]]}.sub.t+[increment of
t]] are historical values and [{x}.sub.t+[increment of t]], are the
corrector values.
In the inelastic solution for thin layer element, the stiffness
matrix and damping matrix are reformulated to take into account the
effect of cracking, crushing, yielding, opening and slipping that may
occur at the interface between the railway track and sleeper.
The Newmark's algorithm for each time step is applied as
follows (Newmark 1959):
(1) Set iteration counter j = 0;
(2) Predict the response in term of displacement, velocity and
acceleration corresponding to values at time [t.sub.n+1]:
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (15a)
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (15b)
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (15c)
(3) Evaluate residual forces using the following Equation:
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (16)
The matrix [K] is modified for each element if cracking, crushing,
yielding, opening and slipping within element occurs;
(4) Generate effective stiffness matrix using the following
relation:
[[K].sup.*] = [M] [1/[beta][DELTA][t.sup.2]] + [[C].sup.j]
[[gamma]/[beta][increment of t]] - [[K].sup.j]; (17)
(5) Solve for incremental displacement:
[[K].sup.*] [{[increment of x]}.sup.j] = [{r}.sup.j]; (18)
(6) Update displacement, acceleration and velocity vectors:
[{[increment of x]}.sup.j+1.sub.t+[increment of t]] =
[{x}.sup.j.sub.t+[increment of t]] + [{[increment of x]}.sup.j]; (19a)
[{[??]}.sup.j+1.sub.t+[increment of t]] =
-[[{x}.sup.j+1.sub.t+[increment of t]] - [{[bar.x]}.sub.t+[increment of
t]]] 1/[beta][DELTA][t.sup.2]; (19b)
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (19c)
(7) If [{[increment of x]}.sup.j] or [{r}.sup.j] do not satisfy the
convergence conditions, then set j = j +1 and go to step (3), otherwise
continue the next step;
(8) If convergence is achieved; set:
[{x}.sub.t+[increment of t]] = [{x}.sup.j+1.sub.t+[increment of
t]]; (20a)
[{[??]}.sub.t+[increment of t]] = [{[??]}.sup.j+1.sub.t+[increment
of t]]; (20b)
[{[??]}.sub.t+[increment of t]] = [{[??]}.sup.j+1.sub.t+[increment
of t]] (20c)
for use in the next time step. Also set t = t + [increment of t] to
begin the next step.
5. Finite element computation program
The proposed finite element idealization and constitutive modeling
for different material involved in the problem of railway
track-sleeper-ballast-sub-ballast and soil mass have been implemented
into the existing two-dimensional finite element (Noorzaei et al. 2005)
elasto-plastic dynamic finite element program extensively modified in
view of inclusion of the thin layer element and including the following
features:
--Multi-elements;
--Static linear analysis and elasto-plastic analysis under static
loading;
--Multi-yield criterion elasto-plastic analysis;
--Elasto-plastic analysis under dynamic loads.
6. Analysis of railway track bedding system subjected to dynamic
loads
In Malaysia, a typical 5-meter high embankment of double tracking
system is usually adopted. The UIC 54 kg rails (169 mm) are provided
over the concrete sleepers, which are placed at 600 mm spacing. The
sleepers rest over a 300 mm (minimum) thick ballast layer and 300 mm
thick sub-ballast layer. The typical geometry of the railway track
bedding system is shown in Fig. 2 (Noorzaei et al. 2009). The
nonlinearity of the soil has been taken into consideration due to
nonlinear nature of the soil using Mohr-Coulomb's Elasto-Plastic
model. Material properties are shown in Table 1. Based on earlier works
(Desai et al. 1986), the material properties used for thin layer element
are:
[k.sub.nn] = 100 000 kN/[cm.sup.2], [k.sub.ss] = 100000
kN/[cm.sup.2], [phi] = 30 [degrees] and c = 0.7.
The railway track supporting system was idealized under plane
strain condition (Esveld et al. 1996; Noorzaei et al. 2009). Fig. 3
shows the finite model for railway track supporting media through
finite, infinite and thin-layer elements. The thickness of ballast and
sub-ballast are 300 mm each. The total number of nodes, elements and
types of element used in the finite modeling are also shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 4 shows the impact load with duration applied here is 0.015 sec for
the Malaysian Railway System. The dynamic response of the railway
supporting structure with respect to displacements, accelerations,
principal stresses and yielding pattern are presented in the following
discussion. Time domain dynamic analysis was carried out to study the
behavior of the railway-track-solid media.
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]
7. Results and discussion
In order to present the time history of the railway-track
supporting media with respect to displacements and accelerations, five
nodes are selected. Locations of these 5 nodes are shown in Fig. 5.
[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]
The maximum vertical displacement of these 5 nodes has been shown
in Table 2. As it was expected the nodes situated near to the zone of
the impact load display higher displacements than the nodes located far
away from the point of load application. The horizontal displacement is
too small compared to the vertical displacement.
Table 3 presents the maximum variation of acceleration in vertical
direction for selected nodal points as shown in Fig. 5. Since the
dynamic load is applied in vertical direction as shown in Fig. 4, the
horizontal acceleration is negligible. Also from this table it can be
observed that far nodes from the acting load display the smaller
acceleration.
Figs 6a and b show the variation of horizontal and vertical
displacements along depth of railway track-sleeper-ballast-soil media
respectively. From these plots, it is clear that deformation at the top
of the railway track supporting system was evaluated and tends marginal
value at the bottom. It is obvious from these plots that evaluated
deformations are maximum at the top and reducing along the depth.
7.1 Displacements
[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]
7.2
[FIGURE 7 OMITTED]
Figs 7 and 8 show the distribution of maximum principal stress
([[sigma].sub.1]) and minimum principal stress ([[sigma].sub.3]) along
horizontal planes of railway track supporting system respectively with
various sections namely Section E-E, F-F, G-G and H-H. It is clear from
the plots that stresses are high (-54, -18 and +7.5 kN/[m.sup.2]) at the
points of load impact and could lead to failure. Hence there is a need
to do safety evaluation.
[FIGURE 8 OMITTED]
8. Yielding pattern and safety evaluation of the system
In order to assess the safety of the railway supporting structures
an attempt has been made to carry out the following parametric studies.
--Under constant [increment of t] the load magnitude in Fig. 10 was
varied to 5, 10 and 25 times of the marginal intensity;
--The duration of impulsive was taken as [increment of t] = 0.15,
0.20 and 0.5 sec respectively.
Fig. 9 illustrates the spread of plastic flow in the railway
supporting structures for L.F = 5, 10 and 25 respectively. It can be
noticed from this plot that the plots of plastic flow indicate that
railway supporting structure can stand impulse load with load factor =
25 and with minimum number of yield Gauss points.
[FIGURE 9 OMITTED]
Figs 10a-10c show the yielding behavior with duration of time equal
0.15, 0.20 and 0.50 sec respectively.
[FIGURE 10 OMITTED]
From the results, it can be summarized that yielding initially
starts from the rail and sleeper and then flows vertically downwards and
finally toward the centre of railway line.
9. Conclusions
The primary purpose of the present study is to develop a 2-D
dynamic finite element code with multi-element nature. The conventional
finite-infinite-thin layer was employed to represent the railway track
supporting media. Multi yield criterion concept was used to represent
the stress-strain relationship of different materials involved in
railway supporting structures. The validity of the developed program
code was established against simple examples. Furthermore based on the
particular railway track-supporting media analyzed the following primary
specific conclusion can be drawn:
--The maximum displacement evaluated for impulsive dynamic load was
22 mm;
--There was no significant spread of plastic flow under varying
dynamic load magnitude;
--Special attention should be paid when the duration of impulsive
load is increased from 0.15 to 0.5 sec, since there is completed plastic
flow in the region of railway track-supporting media;
--Yielding modes starts from the rail and then flow vertically to
the centre of railway line implemented of thin-layer element able to
capture worst yielding behavior;
--The prediction of failure modes in railway track-supporting
system is very important information for future maintenance works. From
result of elasto-plastic analysis, the safety factor recommended is
between 3 and 5.
doi: 10.3846/13923730.2012.671286
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Jamaloddin Noorzaei (1), Parviz Moradi Pour (2), Mohamed Saleh
Jaafar (3), Yong Chooi Fong (4), Waleed Abdul-Malik Thanoon (5)
(1,2,3,4) Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
University Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan,
Malaysia
(1) Institute of Advance Technology, University Putra Malaysia
(UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
(5) Faculty of Engineering, University of Nizwa, Oman
E-mails: (1)
[email protected] (corresponding author); (2)
[email protected]; (3)
[email protected]; (4)
[email protected];
(5)
[email protected]
Received 07 Jul. 2010, accepted 11 Feb. 2011
Jamaloddin NOORZAEI. Obtained his PhD at the Indian Institute of
Technology, India. His research interests include computational
techniques in civil engineering applications especially those related to
structural engineering, soil- structure interaction and earthquake
engineering. Currently Associate Professor and Head of the Structural
Engineering Research group at the University Putra Malaysia (UPM).
Parviz Moradi POUR. PhD, currently works at Institute of Advance
Technology in University Putra Malaysia. His main area of interest is
finite element modeling.
Mohamed Saleh JAAFAR. Obtained his PhD from the University of
Sheffield. Currently Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering
UPM, Malaysia; his research interests include concrete and prestressed
concrete structures, high performance concrete and structural conditions
assessment.
Yong Chooi FONG. Obtained his Master Degree in structural
Engineering from University Putra Malaysia. His main area of interest
finite element modeling of complex structures.
Waleed Abdul-Malik THANOON. Obtained his PhD study at the Indian
Institute of technology, India. His research interests involves
earthquake engineering, high performance concrete and structural
conditions assessment. Currently Professor and Dean of the Faculty of
Engineering University of Niswas Oman.
Table 1. Material properties
No. Node No. Maximum vertical acceleration
(mm/[sec.sup.2])
1 1211 1.4 x [10.sup.5]
2 1141 1.22 x [10.sup.4]
3 1065 1.09 x [10.sup.3]
4 711 7.5 x 10
5 5707 2.75 x [10.sup.-4]
Table 2. Variation of maximum vertical
displacement for selected nodes
No. Node No. Maximum vertical
displacement (mm)
1 1211 2.2
2 1141 0.146
3 1065 0.00425
4 711 0.000195
5 5707 1.95 x [10.sup.-8]
Table 3. Variation of maximum vertical acceleration for selected
nodes
Material Properties
Item Dynamic elastic Poisson Density Friction
modulus (MPa) ratio (KN/[m.sup.3]) angle
Rails 246 000 0.2 78.5
Sleeper 36 000 0.2 24.5
Ballast 72 000 0.3 15 30
Sub-ballast 60 000 0.3 15 25
Sub-grade 1 30 0.3 12 20
Sub-grade 2 32 0.3 12 20
Sub-grade 3 36 0.3 12 15
Sub-grade 4 42 0.3 11 15
Sub-grade 5 42 0.3 11 10
Sub-grade 6 54 0.3 10 10
Sub-grade 7 66 0.3 10 10