The aerodynamic performances of a passenger car and a box car with different heights of windbreak walls under strong wind were studied using the numerical simulations, and the changes of aerodynamic side force, lift force and overturning moment with different wind speeds and wall heights were calculated. According to the principle of static moment balance of vehicles, the overturning coefficients of trains with different wind speeds and wall heights were obtained. Based on the influence of wind speed and wall height on the aerodynamic performance and the overturning stability of trains, a method of determination of the load balance ranges for the train operation safety was proposed, which made the overturning coefficient have nearly closed interval. A min(|A1|+|A2|), s.t. |A1|→|A2|(A1 refers to the downwind overturning coefficient and A2 refers to the upwind overturning coefficient)was found. This minimum value helps to lower the wall height as much as possible, and meanwhile, guarantees the operation safety of various types of trains under strong wind. This method has been used for the construction and improvement of the windbreak walls along the Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway(from Lanzhou to Urumqi, China).
The technology of continuously welded rails （CWRs） is important in modern railway track structures. To measure rail stress, resistance strain gauges are preferred due to their good stability, sensitivity, and esistance to external interference. Based on the bi-directional strain method, we present a new method for measuring longitudinal rail stress using resistance strain gauges and develop a monitoring device for rail stress to realize long-term and multi-point measurement. Also relevant experimental verification and analysis are conducted. Results indicate that under various constraints the rail stress–strain values can be calculated just with the measured total longitudinal strain and total vertical strain. Considering the measurement error caused by sectional feature of sensors, we put forward a correction equation applicable to different stress conditions. Although the temperature values of the four full-bridge stress gauges can offset each other, the measurement error caused by rail flexural strain can also be eliminated to a certain extent at the same time, the nonuniform distribution of rail cross section temperature and unbalanced flexural strain still affect the measurement error. The experimental results also show that the developed rail-stress-monitoring sensor is suitable for measuring rail stress with reliable working performance.
Ganzhong LiuHao LiuAnqi WeiJieling XiaoPing WangShaozheng Li
Discretising a structure into elements is a key step in finite element(FE)analysis.The discretised geometry used to formulate an FE model can greatly affect accuracy and validity.This paper presents a unified dimensionless parameter to generate a mesh of cubic FEs for the analysis of very long beams resting on an elastic foundation.A uniform beam resting on elastic foundation with various values of flexural stiffness and elastic supporting coefficients subject to static load and moving load is used to illustrate the application of the proposed parameter.The numerical results show that(a)Even if the values of the flexural stiffness of the beam and elastic supporting coefficient of the elastic foundation are different,the same proposed parameter“s”can ensure the same accuracy of the FE solution,but the accuracy may differ for use of the same element length;(b)The proposed dimensionless parameter“s”can indeed be used as a unified index to generate the mesh for a beam resting on elastic foundation,whereas the use of the same element length as a criterion may be misleading;(c)The errors between the FE and analytical solutions for the maximum vertical displacement,shear force and bending moment of the beam increase with the dimensionless parameter“s”;and(d)For the given allowable errors for the vertical displacement,shear force and bending moment of the beam under static load and moving load,the corresponding values of the proposed parameter are provided to guide the mesh generation.
