Dynamic analysis of the train-bridge interaction: an accurate and efficient numerical method

The dynamic behavior of railway bridges carrying high-speed trains can be analyzed with or
without the consideration of the vehicle's own structure. However, due to the amount of
kinetic energy carried at high speeds, the train may interact significantly with the bridge,
especially when resonance occurs. Equally important is the riding comfort and the stability of
the track and train cars, which are usually the most critical limit states in the design of this
type of structures. With the aim of studying this problem a computer code was developed,
being the interaction between the bridge and the train implemented by means of contact
conditions between each train wheel (nodal point) and the structure (point inside a finite
element). The treatment of the interaction between a train wheel and a point on the surface of
a finite element is directly and efficiently implemented by means of an extended stiffness
matrix, which includes stiffness, flexibility and additional terms that stem from the
compatibility equations between the displacements of the vehicle and the bridge. This
methodology was applied to the study of the dynamic behavior of a bowstring arch bridge and
proved to be very accurate and efficient