Influence of beam models on dynamic responses of ballasted railway track subjected to moving loads

This research presents a development of the dynamical model for ballasted railway tracks by combining two models: a periodically supported beam model for the rail and model of beam posed on a viscoelastic foundation for the sleeper. In this development, two beam theories can be used to describe the dynamic behavior of beam: Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko. In steady-state condition, a relation between the reaction force applied on the support and displacement of rail is established in the frequency domain. In the other way, these two variables are linked with the help of Green’s function for the sleeper. By performing the two previous analyses, the dynamic responses of rails are obtained analytically in the frequency domain. The numerical examples show the influence of beam models for the rails and sleeper on the dynamic responses. This work provides analytical choices to calculate the dynamic track responses where the rails and sleeper can be described by the two beam theories.