Simulation of the inherent structural irregularities of high-speed railway turnouts based on a virtual track inspection method

Abstract

Track geometry parameters measured by a track recording car at a turnout are often hard to interpret due to the concomitant geometric complexity, especially for a high-speed railway turnout whose running edge is not interrupted. The virtual track inspection (VTI) method integrated with a multibody system model is proposed to reveal the longitudinal level and alignment of high-speed railway turnouts when the train passes in the main line and in the branch line. Firstly, the principle of inertial measurement and its implementation in MBS are introduced. Then, the VTI method is applied to the vehicle-turnout dynamics using a single-layered co-running track model and validated on tangent and curved tracks in the spatial and wavelength domain. Zero-phase Filters for wavelength ranges 3–25 m and 1–5 m are necessary to eliminate interference from long waves, and to better identify the switch and crossing, respectively. Finally, the effect of different track foundations is studied, including the two-layered co-running track model and the finite element model on the VTI method.