Shifted Resonance of Railway Bridges Under Trains Passing by Each Other

Abstract

Dynamic vehicle–bridge interaction (VBI) plays a crucial role in the train-induced vibrations of a railway bridge for its coupling effects may reduce the bridge response and down-shift the resonant speed. The commonly used nominal theoretical resonant speed (=fbD) of a typical railway bridge, however, is only related to the bridge frequency (fb) and car length (D), but it neglects the VBI effects of the moving trains. Such a shifted resonance phenomenon would become significant for a bridge under two trains passing by each other. This study develops a method using an equivalent modal mass to be added onto the bridge to account for the frequency shift due to the presence of multiple train cars for estimation of the shifted resonant speed. The numerical study demonstrates that the proposed method can predict the shifted resonant speed and explain the shifted-resonance phenomenon of railway bridges under train passages.