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Railway Dynamic Simulation: Recent Advances and Perspective, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Transportation and Future Mobility".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2025 | Viewed by 2517

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Faculty of Transport, Warsaw University of Technology, ul. Koszykowa 75, 00-662 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: railways
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The railway as a whole, i.e., the transportation system, as well as its elements, e.g., rail vehicles or infrastructure, are physically large objects. Studying their properties based on their direct observations, conducting experiments on them, measuring the chosen quantities during tests, and their exploitation are thus difficult. As soon as the simulation techniques became advanced enough, the space appeared for them to replace such direct observations, experiments and measurements. Nowadays, after decades of using them, it is obvious that they save time and money vastly and make it possible to obtain data about the system and its elements that could not be obtained for practical reasons without their aid. What is more, the volume of data obtained from a single simulation experiment is usually much greater than that obtained from the measurements during some, even extensive, experiments on the real object. All this is recently possible due to the continuous development of computer techniques, both in the hardware and software parts. The number of dynamical issues that can and are treated with numerical simulation techniques is enormous. That is why the scope of numerical simulation is limited to the dynamical, engineering and scientific issues related to mechanical, civil and railway transport engineering. In particular, this might refer to dynamical issues in rail vehicles, railway infrastructure and railway transport organization and planning. On the other hand, any issues related in the broader sense to those aforementioned are of interest. The scope includes modelling methods for the needs of simulation, simulation software, and the results of the simulations both of theoretical and practical character. The combination of dynamical simulation with other methods of analysis, as well the corresponding results, are of interest also. The word “advances” in the subtitle is understood in the broadest sense. Therefore, it refers equally to new results in terms of methods, studied objects, cognitive and practical aspects, and so on.

This Special Issue welcomes original manuscripts concerning, but not limited to, the application of numerical simulation in studies of phenomena, properties, and processes of a dynamical nature with regard to the following issues:

  • Railway vehicle dynamics in general,
  • Railway vehicle stability,
  • Curving performance,
  • Vehicle–infrastructure interactions,
  • Fatigue strength and wear of vehicle and its elements,
  • Comfort problems,
  • Track loading,
  • Track durability,
  • Track maintenance,
  • Less conventional track–vehicle systems,
  • Organization of rail transport,
  • Railway as a transportation system,
  • Rail transport as subsystem within city, area, country, and world transportation systems.

Prof. Dr. Krzysztof Zboiński
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • numerical simulation
  • dynamical issues
  • railway vehicle dynamics
  • vehicle track interactions
  • track infrastructure
  • track layout
  • railway transportation system

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3765 KiB  
Article
Drainage Troughs as a Protective Measure in Subway–Pedestrian Collisions: A Multibody Model Evaluation
by Daniel Hall, Kevin Gildea and Ciaran Simms
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(22), 10738; https://doi.org/10.3390/app142210738 - 20 Nov 2024
Viewed by 219
Abstract
Introduction: Subway–pedestrian collisions are a significant and growing problem, but they are poorly understood. This study presents the first subway–pedestrian collision model with the aim of evaluating the baseline safety performance of an R160 NYC train and track combination and the potential safety [...] Read more.
Introduction: Subway–pedestrian collisions are a significant and growing problem, but they are poorly understood. This study presents the first subway–pedestrian collision model with the aim of evaluating the baseline safety performance of an R160 NYC train and track combination and the potential safety effects of drainage trough depth. Methods: A baseline simulation test sample of 384 unique impacts (8 velocities (2–16 m/s), 24 positions (standing jumping and lying), and 2 track types (flat and crossties)) was created in MADYMO. The full simulation test sample (N = 1920) included with various depth drainage troughs (0–1 m). Head injuries and wheel and third rail contacts were evaluated. Results: Limb–wheel contact occurred in 60% of scenarios. Primary and secondary contact HIC15 showed similar high severity, with an HIC15 < 2000 (88% risk of AIS 4+) in 29% of results for both train and ground contact. Impact velocity strongly influences primary contact HIC15 with limited effect on secondary contact. Impact velocities between 6 and 16 m/s showed little change in wheel contact. Increasing the trough depth up to 0.5 m showed a decrease in wheel contact probability with little increase in secondary contact. No further benefits were found above 0.5 m. Conclusions: A subway–pedestrian collision model is presented which predicts that wheel–pedestrian contact risk can be reduced with a 0.5 m drainage trough. The model suggests that slower impact velocities may reduce head injury risk for primary contact; however, this will have less effect on injuries caused by secondary and wheel contact. Full article
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20 pages, 6133 KiB  
Article
The Nonlinear Lateral Stability of a Four-Axle Freight Car with Y25 Bogies and Measures to Improve Its Faults
by Miroslaw Dusza, Milena Golofit-Stawinska and Krzysztof Zboinski
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(11), 4545; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14114545 - 25 May 2024
Viewed by 852
Abstract
This paper presents investigations of rail vehicle bogies of the Y25 type. The Y25 bogie family is one of the most commonly used freight car bogie designs. In addition to several significant advantages characterising this design, several disadvantages have also been observed since [...] Read more.
This paper presents investigations of rail vehicle bogies of the Y25 type. The Y25 bogie family is one of the most commonly used freight car bogie designs. In addition to several significant advantages characterising this design, several disadvantages have also been observed since the beginning of more than fifty years of its operation in several types of cargo vehicles. One of these defects observed in real systems is its “unsatisfactory running stability”, particularly for long straight tracks. This paper used the commercial engineering software VI-Rail (2010.13.0) to create a model of a gondola car (type 412W Eaos) with two Y25 bogies. The car model was tested in empty and loaded (maximum permissible load) modes. Its motion along straight and curved tracks with different radii values was analysed. The vehicle velocity was changed from a few m/s to the maximum values for which stable solutions of the model existed. For each route, the nonlinear critical velocity was determined, defining the maximum operating velocity of the modelled car. The model solutions were recorded, while just one was selected to present the results—the first wheelset’s lateral displacement ylw. Conjecture about its “imperfect running quality” on curved tracks was confirmed. The possible appearance of self-exciting wheelset vibrations in the modelled car’s operating velocity range in a laden state was also observed. The research results on the impact of changes in the bogie suspension parameters on the vehicle model’s stability are presented. The crucial parameter in the bogie suspension was indicated. Reducing its value by several percent about the nominal value increases the critical velocity of the car to values higher than the maximum operating velocity of the modelled vehicle. Full article
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14 pages, 5598 KiB  
Article
Mitigation of Railway-Induced Ground Vibration by Soft Support Elements and a Higher Bending Stiffness of the Track
by Lutz Auersch
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(3), 1244; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14031244 - 2 Feb 2024
Viewed by 840
Abstract
The mitigation of train-induced ground vibrations by track solutions is investigated by calculations and measurements. The calculation by a wavenumber domain method includes the correct vehicle–track interaction and the correct track–soil interaction. Some theoretical results for elastic elements and an increased bending stiffness [...] Read more.
The mitigation of train-induced ground vibrations by track solutions is investigated by calculations and measurements. The calculation by a wavenumber domain method includes the correct vehicle–track interaction and the correct track–soil interaction. Some theoretical results for elastic elements and an increased bending stiffness of the track are presented where the force transfer of the track and the vehicle–track interaction are calculated for the high-frequency dynamic mitigation, and the force distribution along the track is calculated for the low-frequency mitigation which is due to the smoother impulses from the passing static loads. Measurement results for the ground vibration near isolated and un-isolated tracks are given for several under-sleeper pads, for under-ballast mats, and for several under-ballast plates and ballast troughs. The elastic elements yield a resonance frequency of the vehicle–track–soil system and a high-frequency reduction of the dynamic axle loads which depends mainly on the softness of the pads or mats and which can be improved by a higher sleeper mass. In addition, all troughs and most of the soft elements show a low-frequency reduction which is attributed to the scattered impulses of the static axle loads. Besides this main contribution of the article, the problem of a soft reference section on a different soil is discussed and recommendations for better ground vibration measurements of mitigation effects are given. Full article
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