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The increasing prevalence of simply supported bridges in high-speed railway (HSR) lines has raised concerns about the safety of trains crossing these bridges during an earthquake. As these bridges are typically continuous and long, it is essential to consider the effects of traveling seismic waves on the random vibration of the train-bridge coupled (TBC) system. To address this issue, the new point estimate method (NPEM) is used to analyze the dynamic response and parametric sensitivity of a three-dimensional TBC system subjected to non-uniform ground motion with multiple random parameters. The motion equations of the TBC system are derived using bridge seismic theory under multi-support excitations. The analysis incorporates random variables such as the damping ratio, density, Young’s modulus, and seismic magnitude to capture the influence of traveling seismic waves on the random vibration of the TBC system. Simulation results show that the traveling seismic wave effect can cause changes in the first vibration frequencies of the train and bridge, potentially leading to the first few frequencies reordering. Additionally, considering the traveling wave effect will make the TBC system’s response less apparent than without considering the traveling wave effect. The uncertainty of bridge and seismic parameters can seriously affect the train’s running safety. The sensitivity of the bridge density and seismic magnitude is particularly prominent for bridge responses when the traveling seismic waves effect is strong. This methodology can be used for random and sensitivity analysis of a train running over a long bridge under non-uniform earthquake conditions. Overall, the NPEM can provide valuable insights into the dynamic behavior and safety of TBC systems, enabling more effective design and maintenance of HSR bridges.

Seismic loads pose a potential threat to the high-speed railway bridges in China, which have been rapidly developing in recent years, especially for those subjected to the near-fault earthquakes. The previous researches on high-speed railway bridges usually concern the far-field earthquake, and the damage of high-speed railway bridge–track system subjected to the near-fault earthquake has not been well studied. In this article, a seven-span high-speed railway simply supported bridge–track system is selected to explore the seismic damage features under the excitation of near-fault earthquake which possesses characteristics of obvious velocity pulse and high-frequency vibration. First, a detailed finite element model of the selected bridge–track system is established and calibrated by the experimental data and design code. Then the low-frequency pulse-type portion and the high-frequency background portion are separated from the selected eight original near-fault records, and a series of nonlinear dynamic analysis is conducted. The results show that the background portion leads to more serious damage of the bridge–track system than the pulse-type portion. Due to the high stiffness of high-speed railway bridge–track system, the background portion with high-frequency vibration characteristic produces the main part of seismic response of system. As for the damage part of system, the weakest component of the bridge–track system is the sliding layer, followed by the shear alveolar.

Bridge dislocations are hard to be voided in the operation of high-speed trains, which will lead to abnormal vibration of trains. In this study, the train–track–bridge interaction theory was adopted to develop and validate a three-dimensional coupled train–track–bridge vibration model using the finite element method. Thereafter, the influence of the dislocation amplitude on the dynamic performance of high-speed trains under five typical bridge additional transverse dislocation modes was investigated utilizing the overrun probability analysis approach. The results showed that the dislocation amplitude significantly affects the transverse dynamic behavior of high-speed trains, but it has a considerably smaller impact in the vertical direction when exposed to five typical bridge transverse dislocation modes. Moreover, under constant dislocation amplitude, the transverse parallel misalignment of the girders has the greatest influence on the running performance of high-speed trains. Although all the running performance indicators did not exceed the limit in the transverse unilateral cornering condition of the girder, speed control was suggested to guarantee operational stability. At various vehicle speeds, dislocation thresholds for the transverse symmetrical cornering, transverse parallel cornering, transverse misalignment, and transverse parallel misalignment were provided based on probabilistic guarantee rates utilizing the transverse Sperling index as the control index.

By considering the effect of the constraints of the rails on the subgrade section on both sides of a bridge, analytical expressions are derived to study the mapping relationship between the rail deformation and changes in the condition of the supporting beam(s), based on the principle of minimum potential energy. Rail deformations in a slab track–bridge system induced by the subsidence of piers and beam faults are investigated in detail. Results are compared with the finite element calculations to assess the main factors that influence rail deformation. The results show that the rail deformation curves under different working conditions (single or multiple pier subsidence and beam faults) determined using the analytical model fit well with those from the finite element models. With increasing subsidence of piers, the rail deformed more significantly in the subsidence zone. Moreover, both the maximum downward and upward deformations of the rail changed linearly with the subsidence of piers. Use of fasteners or a mortar layer with greater vertical stiffness caused the rail to become more irregular.

This study investigated the seismic performance of simply supported girder bridges with a span length of 32 m. Those bridges were a common part in China’s high-speed railway system and used spherical bearings to connect girders and piers. First, a finite element model of the scaled bridge with a geometrical similarity ratio of 1:8 was established by OpenSees. Second, five seismic damage states of fixed bearings and piers were defined based on the deformation failure criterion. Finally, an incremental dynamic analysis and a pseudo-dynamic test were performed to evaluate the effects of friction-based fixed bearings on the seismic response and damage state of bearings and piers. Results show that the sliding of friction-based fixed bearings effectively restricts the force transmitting between piers and girders, and reduces the seismic damage of piers. Those bearings with a small friction coefficient lead to a large relative displacement between piers and girders, while those bearings with a large friction coefficient cause a large seismic force exceeding the yield load of piers. Therefore, an appropriate friction coefficient of friction-based fixed bearing should be determined to achieve an optimal seismic performance of bridge according to the specific conditions of bridge and ground motion inputs.

The fixed bearings of high-speed railway continuous bridges were vulnerable during earthquakes, since they transferred most of the seismic force between the superstructure and the piers. A type of friction-based fixed bearing was used and would slide during strong earthquakes. The influence of this sliding friction action on the seismic vulnerability curves of different components in the track-bridge system was analyzed in this article. Results show that the sliding friction action of the fixed bearings can protect other components from severe damage under earthquakes. This phenomenon is more significant when the friction coefficient on the friction-based fixed bearings is reduced. However, it increases the seismic relative displacement of the fixed bearings themselves. Finally, a sufficiently large displacement capacity and an appropriate friction coefficient between 0.2 and 0.3 are almost the best combination for the friction-based fixed bearings, which can effectively protect all components of the track-bridge system, including the track structure, piers, piles, and friction-based fixed bearings themselves.

In this paper, the responses of high-speed railway bridge subjected to seismic load were investigated by numerical simulation. Elastic deformation will occur in the bridge system under low-level earthquake; however, the bridge system may enter a nonlinear stage under high-level earthquake. The whole finite element model of the bridge system was set up by means of ANSYS software and self-compiled moment-curvature relationship program, the elastic seismic responses of bridge system and the elastic-plastic deformation of piers considering different vehicle speeds are calculated respectively. The calculation results show that, the earthquake responses of bridge system are increase in general with the increase of vehicle speed and earthquake intensity, and the bottom of piers step into elastic-plasticity stage under high-level earthquake, the plastic hinges occurred at the pier bottom, the pier bottom step into the plastic stage, some measures such as lateral reinforced steel encryption should be taken into account to ensure safety.

Experimental results for eleven continuous composite beams of steel and concrete are presented in this paper, which includes laws of deflection and slip between the concrete and steel. Governing differential equations of slip and deflection for simply supported composite beams with different boundary conditions and different loads are established, and a set of numerical expressions for slip and deflection of continuous composite beams are established by the superposition method as well. The deflection and slip of seventeen continuous composite beams are calculated by the numerical expressions. The calculated results show good agreement with the experimental results. The numerical results show that the slip of continuous composite beams increases and approaches the slip of sandwich panels without shear connectors. At the same time, the degree of shear connection influences deflection to a certain extent. The degree of shear connection influences deflections little at full shear connection and the increment of deflection caused by slip is less than 5% when the degree of shear connection is between 60 to 100%. When the degree of shear connection is between 80 to 140%, the strain in the lower flange of the steel beam at the internal-support is influenced little.

This study establishes the improved element stiffness and mass matrices of the thin-walled box girder, using a cubic Hermite polynomial shape function and based on an improved displacement function for shear-lag warping meeting the axial equilibrium condition of shear-lag warping stress and the consistency requirements of the displacement function. The improved thin-walled box girder element comprehensively considers multiple influencing factors, such as the thin-walled box girder shear-lag effect, shear deformation, and rotational inertia. The element shape function has first-order continuity at the element interface and satisfies the calculation precision with relatively few degrees of freedom. A finite beam element method program that can be used to calculate the natural vibration frequencies of thin-walled box girders was compiled based on the improved thin-walled box girder element. This program was used to calculate the natural vibration frequencies of many thin-walled box girder samples with different span-width ratios, span-height ratios, and boundary conditions. After comprehensively considering the influencing factors, the calculation results obtained from finite beam element method are in good agreement with those obtained from an ANSYS finite element calculation, thus demonstrating the rationality and validity of the improved thin-walled box girder element stiffness matrix and mass matrix proposed in this study. Finally, factors influencing the thin-walled box girder shear-lag effect and shear deformation were analyzed, providing relevant reference for project designers.