The Influence Of Track Stiffness On The Driving Resistance

Track stiffness is an important parameter which affects the vibration and the deformation of the rail, the safety and the stability of the train running. The track stiffness is related to the passenger comfort level, but also is the important factor of the railway maintenance workload. The main method of determining the track reasonable stiffness has the allowable stress method, the allowable deformation method, the critical speed method, etc. However, there is no a method is determined according to the driving resistance. People fears that the track stiffness through small will cause too large driving resistance, and too large driving resistance will be bound to cause a series of new problems. Because the driving resistance not only affects the speed but also involve the energy issues.The track modulus is one of the characteristic parameters of track stiffness. The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of rail rigidity on the driving force with the independent variable(track stiffness) and the dependent variable(driving resistance). First, according to the continuous elastic foundation beam model for track deflection analytical solutions were obtained, the track radius of curvature is obtained based on track deflection analytical solution. and the Hertz contact analytical solution is obtained then combined with the track radius of curvature. Again creep force(a component of the driving resistance) analytical solution is obtained according to Carter’s sliding and the creep zone division, creep force analytical solution. Finally, the climbing force(the other component of the driving resistance) is obtained based on the track deflection. The creep force and the climbing force are the driving force. The relationship curves of the track stiffness and the driving force are obtained by using MATLAB numerical calculation, and the inflection points of the influence of the track stiffness on the driving force are calculated.