Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 1851±1860

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruc

Dynamic analysis of train±bridge system and its application

in steel girder reinforcement
H. Xia a, G. De Roeck b,*, H.R. Zhang a, N. Zhang a
a
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Northern Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Received 15 August 2000; accepted 28 June 2001

Abstract
In this paper, a spatial dynamic analysis model for the train±bridge system under random excitations was estab-
lished. The random excitations were analyzed and generated by the time series autoregressive model from the experi-
mentally measured wheel accelerations. The whole histories of the train running on the bridges were simulated on
computer. The responses of bridges were calculated and statistically studied. Based on the calculation results, the re-
inforcement schemes for steel girders were designed and some of them were applied to real bridges. The ®eld-tests were
carried out before and after the bridge reinforcement. The measured data from the tests proved the e€ectiveness of the
reinforcement schemes. Ó 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Train±bridge system; Dynamic interaction; Computer simulation; AR model; Bridge reinforcement; Field test

1. Introduction amplitudes of the existed steel plate girders were so big

The dynamic response of railway bridges under train
loads is one of the fundamental problems to be solved in
railway bridge design and maintenance. Therefore, great
e€orts have been constantly spent to the subject of dy-
namic interaction of vehicles and bridges. The research
work on this subject has a long history of more than one
hundred years. Especially in the last decades, increas-
ingly sophisticated mechanical analytical models have
been successfully developed by researchers in China and
abroad [1±11,13±20]. Based on these models, vertical
and lateral dynamic interactions of train±bridge system
have been studied and many useful results applied to
practical bridge engineering.
To meet the needs of modernization of railway
transportation, China has been trying to increase its
current train speeds. With the increase of train speed,
bridges are subjected to greater impacts. The experi-
ments for raising train speed showed that the lateral
*
Corresponding author.
that some of them reached 5±6 mm for 24 m girders and
13 mm for 32 m ones which greatly exceeded the limits
(2.4 and 3.2 mm, respectively) given by the Railway
bridge examination code of China. There have been sev-
eral derailment accidents happened in the recent exper-
iments, which proves that the lateral sti€ness of the
existed steel girders is by far insucient, a€ecting the
running safety of the trains on the bridges. It is, there-
fore, necessary to take measures to reinforce the steel
plate girders. To realize this, reinforcement schemes
were designed, applied and tested, based on the dynamic
analysis of the train±bridge system established in this
study.
2. Model of train±bridge system
2.1. Dynamic model of train±bridge system
The analysis model of the train±bridge interaction is
a dynamic spatial system composed of the vehicle model
and the bridge model that are linked by an assumed

0045-7949/01/$ - see front matter Ó 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 4 5 - 7 9 4 9 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 1 1 5 - 8
1852 H. Xia et al. / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 1851±1860

wheel-track relation. The vehicle model can be a train structure is dominantly in¯uenced by its several lowest
consisting of several locomotives, vehicles or their modes, this method has a very great advantage that an
combinations. The model is based on the following as- adequate estimation on the dynamic response can be
sumptions: obtained by considering only a few modes of vibration,
1. The e€ects of the elastic deformations of the car even for a spatial structure having hundreds of DOFs.
bodies and the wheel sets are neglected. Therefore, the computational e€ort is signi®cantly re-
2. All vehicles are simpli®ed into the suspension duced.
system of single-set-springs and dashpots. The spring The following assumptions have been taken into ac-
sti€ness and the dashpot damping coecient of a bogie count for the bridge model:
are divided over its wheels. 1. There is no relative displacement between the track
3. The con®guration of each vehicle body is speci®ed and the bridge deck. The elastic e€ects of the rail pads
by ®ve degrees of freedom (DOFs): lateral movement Yi , and fasteners are neglected.
rolling hi , yawing Wi , ¯oating Zi and nodding ui ); and 2. The modal analysis is based on the bridge as a
that of each wheel by three DOFs: lateral movement whole, therefore, the vibration modes of the girder nodes
Ywij , rolling hwij and ¯oating Zwij . The total analytical are regarded as the modes of the bridge deck. The mode
DOFs are respectively twenty three for a six-axle loco- shapes between the nodes are obtained by a Lagrange
motive and seventeen for a four-axle passenger coach or interpolation.
a freight car. The idealization of the vehicle model for a 3. The masses of the vehicle wheels are much smaller
six-axle locomotive is shown in Fig. 1. than the mass of the bridge, therefore, their in¯uence is
When considering only the responses of the bridge as neglected.
a whole, such as the accelerations and the displacements 4. The cross-section deformation of the girder is ne-
of bridges induced by moving trains, this model can give glected, thus its movement at any section can be deter-
good results, when comparing the calculated results and mined by the lateral displacement Yb , rotation hb and
the measured ones. If the responses such as the vehicle vertical displacement Zb (Fig. 1). When the lowest Nq
acceleration, wheel derail factor and lateral thrusts are modes are considered, the displacements can be ex-
needed from the calculation, a more detailed model has pressed by the superposition of the modes as:
to be used. 8
The modal superposition technique has been used by >
> PNq
>
> Yb …x† ˆ qn /nu …x†
many researchers [2,13±19] to analyze the dynamic in- >
>
>
<
nˆ1
teraction of vehicles and bridges. In this paper, a modal PNq
hb …x† ˆ qn /nh …x† …1†
superposition analysis is also performed for modelling >
>
>
>
nˆ1
the track±bridge system. First, the system is solved for >
> PNq
>
: Zb …x† ˆ qn /nv …x†
free vibration frequencies. By the orthogonality of the nˆ1
modes, the FEM equations coupled with each other can
then be decoupled, which makes the bridge behaviour where /nuij …x†, /nhij …x† and /nvij …x† are respectively the
become the superposition of independent modal equa- function values of the lateral, rotational and vertical
tions. Owing to the fact that the dynamic response of a components of the nth bridge mode at the position of the

Fig. 1. Dynamic interaction analytical model of the train±bridge system.

 H. Xia et al. / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 1851±1860 1853

jth wheel of the ith vehicle; qn is the nth generalized It is obvious from the equation that the movements
coordinate, namely, the nth modal amplitude. When the of the wheel-sets can be expressed by the linear com-
modes are mass normalized on the basis of /Tn m/n ˆ 1, position of the generalized bridge modal coordinates
the dynamic equation of the girder related to the nth qn …n ˆ 1; 2; . . . ; Nq †. Therefore they need not be incor-
mode becomes: porated into the train±bridge system as independent
equations.
Nv X
X Nbi
qn ‡ 2nxq_ n ‡ x2 qn ˆ
 ‰/nuij Fuij ‡ /nhij Fhij ‡ /nvij Fvij Š
iˆ1 jˆ1 2.2. Dynamic equations of train±bridge system
…2†
The dynamic equilibrium equations of the vehicle±
in which Fuij , Fhij and Fvij are respectively the lateral bridge system can be obtained by the composition of the
force, moment and vertical force acting on bridge vehicle equation, the bridge equation and the wheel-
through the jth wheel of the ith vehicle. See Fig. 2 for an track relations:
illustration of forces acting on bridge. 2 38 9
Mi 0 0 0 0 > > Yi >
>
The dynamic coupling between the vehicle and the 6 0 Jhi 0 0 0 7 >
> > >
6 7 hi =
<
bridge is shown in Fig. 3, which illustrates the relation 6 0 0 Jwi 0 0 7 
6 7 > wi >
between wheel-set movements Ywij , hwij , Zwij and girder 4 0 0 0 Mi 0 5> >  > >
: Zi >
> ;
displacements Yb , hb and Zb . Obviously, they satisfy the 0 0 0 0 Jhi ui
2 38 9
following relations: Cui hCui 0 0 0 > Y_ i >
>
> >
8 9 8 9 6 hCui Chi 0 0 0 7 > _ > >
< Ywij = < Yb …xij † ‡ Hi hb …xij † ‡ Ys …xij † = 6 7< hi =
‡6
6 0 0 Cwi 0 0 7 w _
7> i >
hwij ˆ hb …xij † ‡ hs …xij † 4 0 0 0 Cv 0 5>> _ > >
:
Zwij
; :
Zb …xij † ‡ Bhb …xij † ‡ Zs …xij †
; : Zi >
> ;
0 0 0 0 Cui u_ i
8 n n 9 2 38 9
XNq < qn …/uij ‡ Hi /hij † ‡ Ys …xij † = Kui hKui 0 0 0 > Yi >
>
> >
ˆ qn /n ‡ hs …xij † …3† 6 hKui K 0 0 0 7 > hi >
< >
=
: q …/n ‡hijB/n † ‡ Z …x † ; 6 hi 7
nˆ1 n vij hij s ij ‡66 0 0 Kwi 0 0 77> w i >
4 0 0 0 Kvi 0 5> >
> Zi >
>
>
: ;
where Ys , hs and Zs are respectively the lateral, rotational 0 0 0 0 Kui ui
8 9
and vertical displacements of the wheel relative to the >
> ‰/nuij ‡ Hi /nhij Š…kui qn ‡ cui q_ n † >
>
>
> >
>
track, representing the in¯uences of wheel hunting >
> n 2
Nq < 0:5/hij a …kvi qn ‡ cvi q _ n † Hi /uij …kui qn ‡ cui q_ n † >
n >
XNbi X =
movements, lateral, rotational and vertical rail irregu- ˆ n
gj Sij /uij …kui qn ‡ cui q_ n †
larities of the track on the bridge. jˆ1 nˆ1 >
> >
>
>
> /nvij …kvi qn ‡ cvi q_ n † >
>
>
> n >
>
: gj Sij /vij …kvi qn ‡ cvi q_ n † ;
8 9
>
> kui Ys …xij † ‡ cui Y_ s …xij † >
>
>
> _ >
>
>
< 0:5a2
‰k h …x† ‡ c h …x†Š H ‰k Y …x† ‡ c _
Y …x†Š >
=
X
N bi v s vi s i ui s ui s
‡ _
gj Sij ‰kui Ys …xij † ‡ cui Ys …xij †Š
jˆ1 >
> >
>
>
>
> kvi Zs …xij † ‡ cvi Z_ s …xij † >
>
>
: ;
gj Sij ‰kvi Zs …xij † ‡ cvi Z_ s …xij †Š

qn ‡ 2nn xn q_ n ‡ x2n qn

Nv X
X Nbi X
Nq
nm nm
ˆ f…Unm
uij mwij ‡ /hij Jwij ‡ /vij mwij †
qm
iˆ1 jˆ1 mˆ1
nm nm nm
‡ …Unm 2
_ m ‡ …Unm
uij cui ‡ 0:5/hij cvi a ‡ /vij cvi †q ui ki ‡ 0:5/hij kvi a
2

X
Nv X
Nbi
‡ /nm
vi kvi †qm g ‡ f…/nuij ‡ Hi /nhij †‰kui …Yi hi hi †
iˆ1 jˆ1

‡ cui …Y_ i hi h_i † ‡ gi Sij …ki Wi ‡ ki W

_ i †Š ‡ 0:5a2 /n …kvi hi ‡ cvi h_i †
hij

‡ /nvij ‰…kvi Zi ‡ cvi Y_ † ‡ gi Sij …kvi ui ‡ cvi u_ i †Š

‡ ‰…/nuij ‡ Hi /nuij †kui Ys …xij † ‡ 0:5/nhij ka2 hs …xij † ‡ /nvij kvi Zs …xij †Š
‡ /nvij …mwij g ‡ 0:5Mi g=Nwi †g
…i ˆ 1; 2; . . . ; Nv ; n ˆ 1; 2; . . . ; Nq †
Fig. 2. Forces acting on beam. …4†
1854 H. Xia et al. / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 1851±1860

bined movement of track irregularities and vehicle

hunting can be obtained from the measured vibration
responses of the wheels. This combined movement can
be called the random excitation of the train±bridge
system.

3.1. Measurement of random excitation

The combined movements of vehicle wheels were

directly measured by mounting accelerometers on the
axle boxes of the front and the rear bogies of the test car.
The train speeds in the experiment ranged from 40 to
155 km/h.
Because the acceleration signals measured in this way
often include high frequency components, which repre-
sent the local vibration of the axle boxes, while both the
track irregularity and the vehicle hunting movement are
of low frequency properties with long wave lengths, the
acceleration signals were integrated two times to obtain
the displacement responses.
Fig. 4A shows a measured acceleration history of the
wheel with the train speed V ˆ 100 km/h. To obtain the
Fig. 3. Relation between wheel and beam. excitation function for the system, the time history Y …t†
has to be transformed into the data series Y …xj † which is
where Unm n n m m nm
uij ˆ …/uij ‡ Hi /hij †…/uij ‡ Hi /hij †, /hij ˆ /hij /hij
n m a function of distance x:
nm n m
and /vij ˆ /vij /vij ; Nv is the number of vehicles of
the train, Nwi is the number of wheel sets of the ith Y …xi † ˆ Y …t†jtˆDx=v …5†
vehicle. The elements of the above damping matrix
and the sti€ness matrix are de®ned by CP ui ˆ Nwi cui ,
where xi is the ith sampling point along the track length,
Cvi ˆ N c , C ˆ N …h2
c ‡ 0:5a 2
c †, C ˆ Nwi 2
jˆ1 Sij cui ,
Dx is the sampling interval and v is the train speed. Fig.
PNwi 2
wi vi hi wi ui vi wi
Cui ˆ jˆ1 Sij cvi , Kui ˆ Nwi kui , Khi ˆ Nwi …h kui ‡ 0:5a2 kvi †,
2 4B presents the displacement along the track after two
P wi 2 P wi 2 digital integration steps on the acceleration. The statis-
Kwi ˆ Njˆ1 Sij kui , Kvi ˆ Nwi kvi , and Kui ˆ Njˆ1 Sij kvi . The
tical properties of the random process of the system
other parameters can be found in Fig. 1.
excitation can be obtained by repeated observations and
As the coecients / and U are always changing when
analysis on the measured vibration data.
the train is running on the bridge, the dynamic equations
of the vehicle±bridge system are two-order linear si-
multaneous di€erential equations with time-varying co-
ecients. The equations are solved by the Newmark b
integration algorithm with b ˆ 1=4.
Based on the train±bridge model established and the
corresponding analysis software, the whole process of
trains running on bridges at di€erent speeds can be
simulated. The calculation starts when the ®rst wheel of
a train arrives at 50 m ahead of the bridge to simulate
the initial conditions of the train getting on the bridge
and ends at the time of 20 s after the last wheel leaves the
bridge to obtain the free attenuation responses. In this
way, the dynamic responses of bridges and trains are
calculated and analyzed.

3. Description of random excitation

Since the wheels are excited by the track irregularity

when the train is running, the properties of the com- Fig. 4. Measured wheel acceleration and displacement.
 H. Xia et al. / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 1851±1860 1855

3.2. AR model analysis of system excitation Dx ˆ 1:0 m, were well ®tted by a 2-AR(12) model. Then
the estimated autoregressive matrices from di€erent data
A time series model, a high order vector AR model, records were calculated and were ®nally averaged to
was adopted for the analysis of system excitation, which acquire the statistical autoregressive matrices H1 ±H12 .
has distinct advantage compared with the FFT analysis By substituting them into Eq. (6), the 2-AR(12)
in the frequency domain [12]. model of the system excitation becomes
( )
According to the time series theory, an ordered dis- Ym1
crete set Y …x0 †; . . . ; Y …xi †; . . . ; Y …xn † is called the discrete ˆ
Ym2
digital time series, which can be obtained by sampling  ( )  ( )
the signal at a series of discrete time points x0 ; x1 ; . . . ; xn 2:68 0:23 Ym1 1 3:22 0:69 Ym1 2
‡
(where x is the independent variable, and x0 < x1 <


0:02 2:65 1 Ym2 0:0 3:12 Ym2 2
< xi <


< xn ). When Y is a vector, the set becomes  ( )  ( )
2:87 1:09 Ym1 2:54 1:32 Ym1
a multivariate vector time series Yx ˆ ‰ Y1;x Y2;x


‡ 3
‡ 4

YN ;x ŠT , which can be expressed by a vector AR model as 0:07 2:76 Ym2 3 0:07 2:47 Ym2 4
 ( 1 )  ( )
2:18 0:99 Ym 1:73 0:41 Ym1
Yx ‡ H1 Yx 1 ‡


‡ HP Y x P ˆ ex …6† ‡ 5
‡ 6
0:08 2:21 Ym2 5 0:07 1:99 Ym2 6
where Yx is the zero mean stationary random series of N  ( 1 )  ( )
1:30 0:08 Ym 7 0:94 1:86 Ym1 8
variates, H1 ; . . . ; HP are autoregressive matrices of N  ‡ ‡
0:06 1:75 Ym2 0:08 1:52 Ym2
N orders, ex ˆ ‰ e1;x e2;x


eP ;x ŠT is an N-variate 7 8
 ( 1 )  ( )
white noise series that satis®es E‰ex Š ˆ 0, E‰ex eTs Š ˆ Q for 0:62 0:25 Ym 9 0:39 0:06 Ym1 10
‡ ‡
x ˆ s, Q is the variance matrix and E‰ex eTs Š ˆ 0 for x 6ˆ s. 0:11 1:26 Ym2 9 0:09 0:99 Ym2 10
Suppose a series of L ‡ P ‡ 1 observations with zero  ( 1 )  ( 1 )
0:27 0:23 Ym 0:12 0:08 Ym 12
mean have been sampled from the wheel vibration re- ‡ 11
‡
sponses at times t0 ; t1 ; . . . ; tL‡P ‡1 , and are to be ®tted by 0:03 0:66 Ym2 11 0:01 0:23 Ym2 12
( )
an N -AR…P † model, the autoregressive matrix H can be e1m
estimated by least squares minimizing ‡
e2m
…9†
Te ˆ trace…eeT † ˆ trace‰…U HV †…U HV †T Š
The random excitation series groups can then be gen-
To minimize Te , we can di€erentiate it with respect to H erated by continuously inputting random numbers with
and make the result equal to zero: white noise properties into the established AR model. At
 each time t ˆ m, a group of random displacements
oTe  ‰Ym1 ; Ym2 ŠT are determined by the white noise ‰e1m ; e2m ŠT at
ˆ 0 UV T UV T ‡ 2HVV T ˆ 0 …7†
oH HˆH^ the same time and the displacements ‰Ym1 k ; Ym2 k ŠT ,
…k ˆ 1; 2; . . . ; 12† at previous times. The frequency
^
In this way the discrete autoregressive matrix H properties of the random excitation series are deter-
…2N  2P order) can be estimated as: mined by the parameter matrices of the AR model.
The power and phase spectra of the excitation are
^ ˆ ‰H
H ^1 ^2
H


^ P Š ˆ …UV T †…VV T †
H
1
…8† calculated and shown in Fig. 5. The frequency property
can be seen from the auto-power spectra in Fig. 5A: its
where: outstanding frequency is slightly higher than that of the
common track irregularities; the corresponding wave
U ˆ ‰ X …P † X …P ‡ 1†


X …P ‡ L† Š;
length is about 22 m, longer than the theoretical hunting
2 3 wave length. It is obvious that under the action of track
X …P 1† X …P 2†


X …P 1 ‡ L† irregularity, the principal frequency of the system exci-
6 X …P 2† X …P 1†


X …P 2 ‡ L† 7
6 7 tation becomes lower than the theoretical one.
V ˆ6 .. 7
4 . ...



..
. 5 The phase spectrum indicates the phase relation be-
X …0† X …1†


X …L† tween the wheels on the front and the rear bogies, as
shown in Fig. 5B. The phase di€erence at the out-
In order to obtain the interrelation of the system ran- standing frequency is about p=4. The random excita-
dom excitations (especially the phase relation between tions were generated by the 2-AR(12) model, one of
the wheels at the front and the rear bogies of a vehicle), a them is shown in Fig. 5C.
two-variate high order AR model was adopted in the Based on the analytical model and the generated
analysis. random excitations, the whole histories of trains running
The wheel acceleration data recorded at various train on the bridges were simulated on computer. In the cal-
speeds, normalized by sampling in a standard interval culation, each freight train consists of two locomotives
1856 H. Xia et al. / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 1851±1860

Fig. 5. System excitation properties and simulated curve.

and 10 freight cars with the speed range of 60±90 km/h,
and each passenger train consists of one locomotive and
eight passenger cars with the speed range of 80±160 km/
h. The main parameters of the locomotives, freight cars
and passenger cars are given in Table 1.
Twenty ®ve groups of random series were used for
calculation of each train speed. By analysis on the peak
amplitude of each history, the statistic parameters such
as the maximums, means and root-mean-square devia-
tions (RMSs) at every train speed were obtained for

Table 1
Main parameters of vehicles used in the case study
Parameter Unit Locomotive Freight car Passenger car
Full length of a vehicle m 23.10 16.44 26.60
Distance between two bogies m 11.90 11.50 18.00
Distance between two wheel-sets m 2.0 1.75 2.40
Sprung mass T 89.82 71.70 43.03
Unsprung mass t 6.03 2.04 5.25
Roll mass moment of car body t m2 192 138 345
Pitch mass moment of car body t m2 3160 1630 2540
Yaw mass moment of car body t m2 3160 1630 2540
Roll mass moment of wheel-set t m2 4.52 1.31 3.41
Vertical spring sti€ness per wheel kN/m 5930 21800 650
Lateral spring sti€ness per wheel kN/m 2325 16900 387
Vertical dashpot per wheel kN s/m 4920 678 100
Lateral dashpot per wheel kN s/m 262 678 78
 H. Xia et al. / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 1851±1860 1857

di€erent reinforcement schemes. The time interval in

calculation was taken as 0.005 s.

4. Girder reinforcing schemes and their results

4.1. Introduction to the reinforcement schemes

The steel plate girder in study has a standard span of

32 m, center to center distance of the main beams 2 m
and girder depth 2.54 m. The horizontal bracing mem-
bers are L130  90  10 angles for the end upper ones
and L90  90  10 for all the other ones. Transverse
bracing frames are arranged at every two panels (4 m)
with the angle size of L90  90  10.
In total 42 reinforcement schemes for 32 m steel plate
girders have been designed, which can be divided into
two groups: (1) adding members on the structure only;
(2) changing the member sizes as well as adding mem- Fig. 6. Calculated amplitude curves of the girder before and
bers on the structure. Table 2 gives an overview of after reinforcement.
several basic reinforcement schemes.

4.2. Calculation results and comparison of reinforcement

schemes

Calculations were made of the bridges with di€erent

reinforcement schemes. Fig. 6 gives the typical ampli-
tude curves of the original steel plate girder and the re-
inforced one. Apparently, the amplitude of the girder
greatly decreased after reinforcement.
In general the amplitude of the girder should reduce
after reinforcing, and the greater the sti€ness, the better
the results should be, but it is not always true. The
distribution of average amplitudes versus the train speed
in Fig. 7 shows that the reinforcing results are not the
same at di€erent train speeds. Therefore it is unreason-
able to assess the reinforcing schemes by comparing the
amplitudes at speci®c train speeds. The correct way to
evaluate the schemes is to compare the amplitudes in the
whole speed range. Because the bridge responses were
random ones, the evaluation was based on the statistic
parameters of the amplitudes instead of any single one.

Table 2 Fig. 7. Distribution of calculated bridge amplitudes.

Reinforcement schemes
No. Statement of reinforcement schemes
0 Original structure
1 Crossing upper and bottom bracing frames
2 1 ‡ transverse bracing interval 2.0 m
3 1 ‡ end diaphragms
4 1 ‡ diaphragms at end and E2.0 ma
5 1 ‡ diaphragms at end, E2.0 m, mid span
6 1 ‡ diaphragms at end, E2.0 m, M4.0 mb , mid span
a
E2.0 m: diaphragms at 2.0 m from both ends.
b
M4.0 m: diaphragms at 4.0 m from mid section.
In the following discussion on the results, `Max.' refers
to the percentage of absolute maximum amplitude in the
speed range of the reinforced girder to that of the
original one; `Ave.' refers to the maximum average
amplitude; `RMS' refers to the percentage of the stan-
dard deviation of the maximum response of the rein-
forced girder to that of the original one.
The reinforcement results of the schemes are shown
in Table 3: the results of the original structure are taken
1858 H. Xia et al. / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 1851±1860

Table 3
Comparison of reinforcement results
No. Passenger train Freight train
Max. Ave. RMS Max. Ave. RMS
0 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
(6.59) (5.41) (0.73) (4.71) (3.22) (0.54)
1 50.9 44.2 74.0 64.7 69.1 76.1
2 51.7 42.8 80.7 64.0 67.2 77.8
3 50.6 42.4 79.0 61.3 63.9 74.2
4 50.3 42.3 80.2 60.9 63.4 74.3
5 52.7 42.1 79.3 60.6 63.0 73.7
6 53.5 42.3 79.2 60.5 62.9 74.1

as 100% (the values in the parentheses are amplitudes in

mm); the results of the reinforced structures are in per-
centages of the original ones.
The table shows the good results of the reinforcement
schemes, among which scheme 5 (upper and bottom
bracing frames crossed, diaphragms set at both ends,
mid span and 2 m from both ends) is the best: for pas-
senger trains, the maximum reduced by 47.3%, average
by 57.9% and RMS by 20.7% compared to the original
case; for freight trains, they reduced by 39.4%, 37.0%
and 26.3%, respectively.
5. Application of reinforcement and its ®eld tests
5.1. Application of reinforcement schemes
According to the research results and considering the
convenience of construction, two reinforcement schemes
have been applied to two real steel plate girders: (1)
reinforcing the upper and bottom horizontal bracing
systems; (2) reinforcing both the upper and bottom hori-
zontal bracing systems and the transverse bracing sys-
tems. The details of the schemes are shown in Figs. 8
and 9.
Fig. 9. Reinforcement of horizontal bracing systems: (a) upper
bracing system, (b) lower bracing system.
5.2. Field tests for reinforcement results
The ®eld tests were carried out on two steel plate
girders before and after reinforcement to check the re-
inforcement results.
In the tests, the girder amplitudes were measured by
servo displacement pickups AKASHI V401BR with the
minimum frequency 0.5 Hz and maximum capacity 100
mm (P±P), the signals measured were ampli®ed by servo
ampli®er AKASHI AVL-25B and were recorded on
multichannel tape recorder SONY PC206P. The records
were processed by computer and signal processor 7T17s.
The measuring system was calibrated on a shaking
table. The working principle of the instrumentation
system is shown in Fig. 10. The train speeds were also
measured in the ®eld tests. In the tests, the dynamic
loads correspond to trains in normal operation. There
were two types of trains running through the bridge
during the tests, on one hand, passenger trains, con-
sisting of 16±20 passenger cars, each having a weight of
64 t, and. On the other hand, freight trains, consisting of
two locomotives with a weight of 126 t and 30±50 freight
cars, each having a weight of 80 t. The speeds of the
trains are from 51 to 81 km/h, as listed in Table 4.

Fig. 8. Reinforcement of transverse bracing systems: (a)

transverse bracing, (b) diaphragm. Fig. 10. Instrumentation block diagram in ®eld tests.
 H. Xia et al. / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 1851±1860 1859

Table 4
Measured results before and after reinforcement
Bridge Original Reinforced
Speed Amplitude Speed Amplitude
(km/h) (mm) (km/h) (mm)
Passenger
Max. 65.4 1.45 81.0 1.08
Ave. 55.0 0.95 65.2 0.72
RMS 9.03 0.29 10.5 0.14
Freight
Max. 58.0 3.88 72.0 2.33
Ave. 51.2 2.75 53.2 1.75
RMS 8.60 0.75 6.69 0.48

Fig. 11 shows the measured amplitude curves of the

girder at its mid-span before and after reinforcement.
There appeared a ``beating e€ect'' in the original curve
and the amplitude was very big. While in the reinforced
curve no such e€ect appeared and the amplitude became
much smaller. Table 4 gives the statistic results of the
recorded lateral amplitudes of the girders before and
after reinforcement. For passenger trains, compared to
the original case, the maximum, average and RMS de-
creased by 25.5%, 24.2% and 51.7%, respectively, under
Fig. 12. Distribution of measured bridge amplitudes.
the condition that the average train speed increased by
18.5%. For freight trains, the values were 40%, 36.4%
5.3. Comparison of theoretical and test results
and 36% with little di€erence (only 4%) in the average
train speed. This illustrated the good results obtained by
The theoretical results and their comparison with the
the reinforcement schemes and proved the feasibility of
measured ones of the steel plate girders before and after
them.
reinforcement are shown in Table 5. There are certain
The distribution of the measured bridge amplitudes
di€erences between the theoretical results and the test
versus the train speed is shown in Fig. 12. The results
ones, which can be explained as:
show the random characteristics of the lateral ampli-
(1) In the study of bridge vibrations under raised
tudes, which proves the correctness of using the random
train speed, it was required to analyze in the speed
analysis in the reinforcement design.
ranges of 80±160 km/h for passenger trains and 60±90
km/h for freight trains, while the maximum train speeds
in the ®eld tests were 81 and 74 km/h, respectively. For
passenger trains, the di€erence between the theoretical
and tested results is big. The cause is that the train
speeds in the test of the reinforced bridge were quite
higher than those for the original bridge (see Table 4)
while for the calculated results, the train speeds were in
the same train speed range of 80±160 km/h. Therefore
the ratios of R/O for the theoretical and the experi-
mental results cannot be directly compared. While in the

Table 5
Comparison of theoretical and measured results
Type of trains Passenger Freight
Calculated (mm) Original 5.41 3.22
Reinforced 2.28 2.03
R/O 42.1% 63.0%
Measured R/O 75.8% 63.6%
Fig. 11. Measured vibration curves of bridge at mid span.
1860 H. Xia et al. / Computers and Structures 79 (2001) 1851±1860
case of freight trains, the theoretical results are rather
close to the test ones.
(2) There are a lot of undeterminable random factors
which contributes to the lateral vibration of bridges,
including wheel hunting, rail irregularities, initial con-
ditions, member assembly errors, track eccentricity and
other unexpected factors. These factors, however, can
hardly be taken all into account in the theoretical model.
In consideration of the above-mentioned uncertain
factors, the reinforcement results are rather satisfactory.
6. Conclusions
The following conclusions have been drawn from the
above analysis:
(1) The analytical model for the spatial vibration
system of the train and steel plate girders under the
random excitations and the corresponding computer
simulation method can rather well re¯ect the main vi-
bration characteristics of the train±bridge interaction
system. The calculated bridge responses are in accor-
dance with those from the ®eld tests, when excluding the
in¯uence of train speed di€erence between them.
(2) The simulation of the random excitations of the
train±bridge system by the time series AR model is a
suitable method. The statistical parameters of the bridge
amplitudes in the whole train speed ranges instead of
any single value at certain train speed should be used to
evaluate the results of reinforcement schemes.
(3) The reinforcement schemes proposed by this
paper behaved very well in reducing railway bridge
amplitudes. The theoretical analysis provides a sound
basis for predicting the in¯uence of the reinforcement.
Acknowledgements
The research of this project is partly supported by the
Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 50078001).
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