Title: Measurement and prediction of vehicle/track interaction performance

Authors: R.D. Frohling, W. Ebersohn, H. Scheffel

Addresses: Spoornet, P.O.Box 7503, Hennopsmeer, 0046, South Africa. ' Department of Civil Engineering, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa. ' Railway Dynamic Systems, P.O.Box 1481, Groenkloof, 0027, South Africa

Abstract: In this paper measurements of vehicle and track behaviour are presented together with the development of a validated procedure which incorporates a dynamic vehicle/track model and track settlement algorithm. The procedure was developed to support proactive track maintenance decisions, and can predict the behaviour of the vehicle/track system under changing traffic or environmental conditions. The vehicle/track model uses both track geometry irregularities and spatial track stiffness variations as excitation input.

Keywords: track settlement; railways; vehicle-track interaction; performance measurement; track geometry irregularities; spatial track stiffness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.1999.054633

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 1999 Vol.6 No.1/2/3/4, pp.190 - 208

Published online: 18 Jun 2013 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article