Train and track interactions

Under the background of higher train running speed and greater wheel-axle load, extensive agreement has been reached that interactions between train and track should be fully considered instead of treating the vehicles and the track as two independent systems. Train and track interactions have been quite important research topic in the railway community. This chapter first presents an overview of train and track interactions, and some representative improvements and extensions developed in the train/vehicle-track coupled dynamics model are introduced. Then, the principle and methodology for modeling of train/vehicle-track coupled systems are illustrated briefly with some new insights. Two numerical examples regarding the influence of long-term degradation of high-speed railway infrastructures on train-track interaction, and the effect of various extreme weather conditions on train operation safety related to train-track interaction are given in detail.