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Procedia Engineering 15 (2011) 4983 – 4987

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Design and Dynamic Response Analysis of Rail with Constrained

Damped Dynamic Vibration Absorber
Linya Liua, Wenjie Shaob,a*
Engineering Research Center of Railway Environmental Vibration and Noise, Ministry of Education,
East China Jiaotong University,

Nanchang,Jiangxi,China

Abstract

Rail traffic noise is mainly caused by the vibration of wheel and rail. Pasting the constrained damped dynamic vibration absorber on
the rail is a common vibration and noise reduction measure. To analyze the effect of rail with constrained damped dynamic
vibration absorber, we use the finite element software to establish single and multi-layered rail model with constrained damped
dynamic vibration absorber, with the consideration of irregularity effect. We use the moving load to load and transient dynamic
response to analyze. The results show that: the rail installed with constrained damped dynamic vibration absorber has a good
vibration-reducing effect. Compared to the rail and track where the constrained damped dynamic vibration absorber is not installed,
the maximum vertical displacement and acceleration of the rail and track where a single-layered constrained damped dynamic
vibration absorber is installed was reduced by 65% to 68%; the maximum vertical displacement and acceleration of the rail and
track where a three-layered constrained damped dynamic vibration absorber is installed was reduced by 70% to 72%.

© 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.

Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of [CEIS 2011]
Keywords: finite element; damped dynamic vibration absorber; Dynamic Response Analysis

With the continuous building of high-speed railway and the passenger line in China, train speed has been greatly
improved. However, consequently, the environmental vibration issues are also increasingly prominent. In the term of
current technology and economy, one of the effective methods is to solve the source of vibration and noise problem. In
recent years, as DVA (Dynamic Vibration Absorber) has been quickly developed, the constrained damped dynamic
vibration absorber is commonly used in railway track [1].

1. The Design of Rail with Constrained Damped Dynamic Vibration Absorber

Constrained damped dynamic vibration absorber is a vibration system combined damp and spring [2]. To absorb and
dissipate the vibration energy, the rubber layers bonded with the rail waist are mainly used to perform as the
distributing elastic components of the DVA; the steel plates are used as the quality layer and the constraints layer to
form the distributing power quality of DVA, together with the rubber damping layer. Then the distributing elastic
components and distributing power quality can jointly constitute a set of distribution parameters of the dynamic
vibration absorber. The DVA can absorb the vibration and prevent the noise radiation when the rail waist is vibrating.
Quality layer, damp layer and constrained can also function as a multi-constrained damper to reduce the vibration
 
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 0791-7046554
E-mail address: [email protected].

1877-7058 © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2011.08.926
4984 Linya Liu and Wenjie Shao / Procedia Engineering 15 (2011) 4983 – 4987

deformation of the distributing power quality, which is similar to the effect of damped rail.
In the dynamic vibration absorber designing process, rubber sheet and plate materials are employed to make the
DVA, because the rubber, with good elasticity and high damping ratio, after special treatment, can be effectively
anti-corrosion and can ensure the stiffness and damp which is needed to meet in the designing process. In addition,
since steel plate has some characteristics like high density and relatively lower cost, it is chosen as the quality of unit.
On selecting rubber sheet to replace the damper and stiffness, we take unilateral paste in account of the ease of
installation and maintenance service. In this paper, the widely used standard 60 type rail is used, with installation of a
single-layered and three-layered DVA on the outside of rail waist respectively[3]. Both the steel and rubber sheet are
5.3mm for thickness, 350mm for length and 50mm for width [4]. As the rail sections installed with damped dynamic
vibration absorber shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2.

Figure1 single-layered constrained damped DVA diagram Figure2 multi--layered constrained damped DVA diagram

2. Establishment and Loading of Finite Element Model of Rail with Constrained Damped Dynamic Vibration
Absorber

2.1. The Establishment of Finite Element Model

To Establish standard finite element model of rail, we use the solid Solid45 unit as unit type and freely mesh the
cross section, and then swept mesh it. At the same time, we deal with the track plate as solid elements and simulate it
with three-dimensional solid element SOLID45. For the model, we use spring damper unit COMBIN14 to simulate
CA mortar layer, whose stiffness is taken as 1.2 × 109 N / m, damp as 8.3 × 104 N • s / m. Then we use 9 spring
damper units COMBIN14 to simulate the fastening system, whose stiffness is taken as 7.8 × 107 N / m, damp as 5 ×
104 N • s / m. As the three-dimensional finite element model of slab type ballastless rail installed with the constrained
damped DVA shown in Figure 3. The design parameters of constrained damped DVA are: stiffness 90893625.41N / m,
damping ratio 0.163, and damp 9418.7 N • s / m; 

Figure 3 Three-dimensional model of slab type ballastless rail installed with the constrained damped DVA

2.2. Track irregularity simulation and module loading

In this paper, the method of moving load is loaded, when a a train wheel goes through the rail with the speed of
300km/h, axle load is 7.5t; in the operating process, due to the continuous accumulation of deformation increases, a
variety of different Irregularities are formed. These irregularities excited vibration of the train and the track, so that
ambient vibration increases, so irregularity must be considered when loading the value.
The power spectral density function PSD is the most important and commonly used statistical functions in
 Linya Liu and Wenjie Shao / Procedia Engineering 15 (2011) 4983 – 4987 4985

expressing irregularity during a stationary random process. Track irregularity power spectrum is a continuous curve
with the ordinate as spectral density and abscissa as wave length, which clearly shows the relationship between
irregularity changes and frequency.
In this paper, the Federal Railway Authority railway track irregularity power spectrum density function is used to
calculate the value of track irregularity. The function is applied to the wavelength range of 1.524m ~ 304.8m, the
following formula is for the irregularity power spectrum density function[4].
kAv ω c2
S v (ω ) = 2 cm 2 ⋅ m / rad (1)
(ω + ω c )ω
2 2

S v (ω )---- Track irregularity power spectrum density˗

ω ——spatial frequency˗
ω c ——cut-off frequency˗
Av ——roughness coefficient, related to the grade of lines. See details at chart 2, k is usually defined as 0.25.
Table2: the irregularity parameter of rail in America

Parameter Parameter of rails at different levels

Mark Measurement 1 2 3 4 5 6

Av cm 2 ⋅ rad / m 1.2107 1.0181 0.6816 0.5376 0.2095 0.0339

ωc rad / m 0.8425 0.8425 0.8425 0.8425 0.8425 0.8425

Suppose the train is running on the track and the wheels in constant contact with the rails, the force of rear track
irregularity are considered as:
∂ 2η
F = mw g + mw (2)
∂t 2
⎛ ∂η ∂x ⎞
∂⎜ ⎟
∂η
2
⎝ ∂x ∂t ⎠
since =
∂t 2 ∂t
⎛ ∂η ∂x ⎞
∂⎜ ⎟
∂η2
⎝ ∂x ∂t ⎠ ∂x
= (3)
∂t 2 ∂x ∂t
∂x ∂ 2η 2 ∂ η
2
then v = ˈso˄3˅ 2 = v (4)
∂t ∂t ∂x 2
apply˄4˅to˄2˅then˖

∂ 2η
F = mw g + mw v 2 (5)
∂x 2
m w —— wheel load˗η —— According to the U.S. track irregularity power spectrum, trigonometric series
methodis used to get the value of the track irregularity. Figure 3 is for the U.S. six track irregularity and the
relationship between longitudinal length˗x —— longitudinal length
4986 Linya Liu and Wenjie Shao / Procedia Engineering 15 (2011) 4983 – 4987

Figure3: U.S. six track irregularity

In Type (5), the value of F is the vertical force in the model on loading, and giving model the transient analysis [5]
(also known as time-history analysis).

3. The Dynamic Response Analysis of Rail with Constrained Damped DVA

1. By giving a transient dynamic analysis of standard rail and rail installed with constrained damped dynamic
vibration absorber separately, we can get a comparison chart of the vertical displacement and vertical acceleration
between them, as shown in Figure 5, 6. It can be seen from the figure that compared to the rail where the constrained
damped dynamic vibration absorber is not installed, the response of maximum vertical displacement and acceleration
of the rail where the constrained damped dynamic vibration absorber is installed is obviously reduced. The maximum
vertical displacement and acceleration of the rail where a single-layered constrained damped dynamic vibration
absorber is installed was reduced by about 68%; the maximum vertical displacement and acceleration of the rail where
a three-layered constrained damped dynamic vibration absorber is installed was reduced by around 72%.

Figure 5 Comparison of vertical displacement of rail Figure 6 Comparison of vertical acceleration of rail

2. It can be seen from the comparison figure7,8 that compared to the track where the DVA is not installed, the
response of maximum vertical displacement and acceleration of the track where the DVA is installed is obviously
reduced. The maximum vertical displacement and acceleration of the track where a single-layered constrained damped
dynamic vibration absorber is installed was reduced by about 65%; the maximum vertical displacement and
acceleration of the track where a three-layered constrained damped dynamic vibration absorber is installed was
reduced by around 70%.
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Figure 7 Comparison of vertical displacement of track Figure 8 Comparison of vertical acceleration of track

4. Conclusion
1. Through the above dynamic response analysis, the rail and track where the constrained damped dynamic
vibration absorber is installed has a good vibration-reducing effect. For the peak value of vertical displacement and
acceleration reduction, the three-layered constraint damped dynamic vibration absorber has a slightly better
vibration-reduction effect than the single-layered constraint damped dynamic vibration absorber.
2. The rail installed with constrained damped dynamic vibration absorber has a good vibration-reducing effect.
Compared to the rail and track where the constrained damped dynamic vibration absorber is not installed, the
maximum vertical displacement and acceleration of the rail and track where a single-layered constrained damped
dynamic vibration absorber is installed was reduced by 65% to 68%; the maximum vertical displacement and
acceleration of the rail and track where a three-layered constrained damped dynamic vibration absorber is installed
was reduced by 70% to 72%.

Acknowledgements
The research reported herein was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant
No.50768004, No.51068007) and Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University(Grant
No.NECT-09-0167).

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