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Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000

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Transportation Research Procedia 36 (2018) 567–576

www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

Thirteenth International Conference on Organization and Traffic Safety Management in

Large Cities (SPbOTSIC 2018)

A model for dynamic design of a superstructure for magnetic

levitation vehicles
Pavel Pegina*, Georgiy Igolkinb, Marlena Rajczykc
a
Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering
Engineering, 4Vtoraja Krasnoarmejskaja St., Saint Petersburg, 190005,, Russia
b
University, 9MoskovskyProsp., Saint Petersburg, 190031, RussiacCzestochowa
Emperor Alexander I Saint Petersburg State Transport Unive
University of Technology, ul. Akademicka 3, 42-200 Częstochowa, Poland

Abstract

A significant drawback of high-speed

speed railway trains is high values of the dynamic coefficient for overpasses. Therefore, it is
necessary to increase the construction height and weight of superstructures significantly as compared to sections with standard
standa
traffic conditions. The need for construction of high-speed
speed railways (HSR) on overpasses is recognized worldwide. High costs of
their construction will be multiplied by tens of thousands of kilometers, therefore, high
high-speed
speed vehicles will be less investment-
investment
attractive and they will slow down decision-making
making regarding the construction of new rail lines. The magnetic levitation
transport technology, in contrast, has no such drawbacks due to a different kind of load distribution. Magnetic levitation (m(maglev)
aglev)
ins do not concentrate the load transmitted to the overpass superstructure at a single point like in case of the "wheel
trains "wheel-rail"
rail"
technology, but transmit the load in continual spots to the areas of contacts of the passive and active parts of the linear m
motor.
otor. As
a result, maglev trains moving at high speeds possess significantly lower natural frequencies as compared to superstructures: the
resonance effect typical for high-speed
speed railway trains is not observed in maglev trains. Calculations presented in this ar article
ticle
confirm the significant potential of reducing costs during construction of railways based on the magnetic levitation transport
transpor
technology, as compared to conventional "wheel-rail" rail" high speed railways. Besides, due to the uniform distribution of the
high-speed
transmitted
ransmitted load, maglev trains will not cause a significant increase in structural safety margin (taking into account
resonance/dynamic phenomena) in case of further increase in running speeds upon possible placement of the system in a vacuum
tube (Hyperloop technology).
© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
©2018 Theopen
This is an Authors.
accessPublished by Elsevier
article under B.V.
the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND ND licenseof
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
the Thirteenth International Conference on Organization and
Peer-review
Traffic Safetyunder responsibility
Management of the
in Large scientific
Cities committee
(SPbOTSIC 2018).of the Thirteenth International Conference on Organization and
Traffic Safety Management in Large Cities (SPbOTSIC 2018)2018).

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +0-000-000-0000 ; fax: +0-000-000

000-0000 .
E-mail:ppavel.khv@gmail.com

2352-1465© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)Peer-review under
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by
responsibility of the scientific committee of the Thirteenth Interna
International Conference on Organization and Traffic Safety Management in
Large Cities (SPbOTSIC 2018).

2352-1465  2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Thirteenth International Conference on Organization and Traffic Safety
Management in Large Cities (SPbOTSIC 2018).
10.1016/j.trpro.2018.12.151
568 Pavel Pegin et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 36 (2018) 567–576
2 Pavel Pegin, Georgiy Igolkin, Marlena Rajczyk/ Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000

Keywords:magnetic levitation transport technology; dynamic effects; overpasses; resonance.

1. A general concept of dynamic design for high-speed running

The era of high-speed railway transport (with a speed of 250 km/h and higher) imposes new requirements to
studies and evaluation of dynamic effects, development of fundamentally new calculation methods based on the
construction of multi-level models aimed at the integration of all infrastructure elements and trains involved in
traffic in a single integrated structure. Based on their analysis, it is possible to obtain a wide range of data on
accelerations and movement of various parts: superstructures of overpasses, a carriage saloon, a rail track panel, etc.
Experience has proven that results of designing high-speed trains (as compared to conventional railways) lead to a
significant increase in the height of overpass superstructures and cause the need to use damping devices and mats
(Dyachenko et al., 2017; Dyachenko and Benin, 2017; Smirnov et al., 2015; European Committee for
Standardisation, 2003).
The introduction of maglev trains (trains on a magnetic cushion) into the transport network offers great
opportunities for a significant increase in cost-efficient speeds of railway transport(Antonovand Zaytsev, 2014;
Federal Agency of Railway Transportation, 2016).
Conventional rail transport ran out of its potential for development at the speed of 350 km/h mainly due to the
following reasons:

 Losses due to the effect of dissipative friction forces caused by the "wheel-rail" joint.
 Technical characteristics of current pick-up: current collectors wear out exponentially at speeds exceeding 400
km/h.
 Increased wear of infrastructure leads to the need for damping mats and frequent repairs.
 Increased wear of overpasses: due to a large distance between wheelsets, high values of the dynamic coefficient
calculated by Eurocode methods are observed (a hypothetical increase in speeds up to 500 km/h will lead to the
appearance of resonance peaks multiple of the resonant frequency, and this will require a significant increase in
durability and material intensity of structures).

The maglev technology has the potential to overcome the cost-efficient speed limit of 500 km/h in the open air
and 1000 km/h in a vacuum tube due to the lack of friction between the train and railway infrastructure, lack of need
to supply power to the moving train (long-stator technology), as well as potential arrangement of the entire route in a
vacuum tube (Hyperloop system) (Peginand Igolkin, 2017).
With a view to such speeds which are almost 3 times higher than conventional speeds (nowadays, the maximum
speed of high-speed railway trains is 350 km/h in China), it is necessary to thoroughly examine possible dynamic
effects of maglev trains and develop a corresponding design model to ensure safety and smooth traffic (Gerald et al.,
2014).

2. Features of magnetic levitation trains. Development of a model for dynamic estimation

Nowadays, the magnetic levitation transport technology is represented by a wide range of solutions based
primarily on a variety of linear motor types (Figure 1).
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Pavel Pegin, Georgiy Igolkin, Marlena Rajczyk/ Transportation Research Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 3

Short stator
Linear induction
DC linear motor
motor
Linear motor for
Long stator
transport systems
Multi-phase
linear motor
Short stator
Linear
synchronous
motor
Long stator

Fig. 1. A tree diagram of various linear motor solutions for transport systems.

Nevertheless, synchronous motors with an EMS long stator represent the most preferable option for solving tasks
of achieving high speeds at the lowest possible costs for infrastructure. As the global practice shows, construction
costs for 1 km of a rail line using the EMS system makes up 20–25 mln USD, whereas the Japanese EDS system, its
main competitor, based on the use of superconductors is 4 times more expensive. In addition to that, operating costs
of the rail line using liquid nitrogen will be higher than those of the rail line using stationary coils in the EMS
system.
A greater operating life of the simpler system is also confirmed by the experience of commercial operation. The
EMS system is used on the commercial rail line to the Shanghai Pudong Airport, and the Chinese authorities are
considering expansion of the network to the Hongqiao Airport and further to the southwest to Hangzhou, the capital
of the Zhejiang province. After that its length should amount to 175 km (Hellinger and Mnich, 2009).
The systems with a similar physical principle but with the arrangement of induction coils on board of vehicles
(systems with a short stator) are used in the network of the surface metro in Nagoya (HSST system), on the
Timiryazeskaya–VDNKh line of the Moscow metro, and on many others.
Such arrangement, on the one hand, leads to a significant simplification of the track design and a reduction in
energy losses; on the other hand, it provides only low speed potential (up to 200 km/h) (Munebobu and Masao,
2000).
Qualitative differences between systems with short and long stators are shown in Figure 2.
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Fig. 2. Differences between systems with long and short stators.

The EMS system actually consists of induction coils fixed to the beam of the overpass and magnets installed in
the vehicle. The magnets are installed into segments fixed on the vehicle (Figure 3).

Fig. 3. Transrapid magnetic levitation equipment.

In fact, the uniformly distributed load is transmitted to the beam superstructure. This feature of magnetic
levitation transport qualitatively distinguishes it from high-speed railway transport.
As it was already mentioned in the beginning of the article, accounting of the dynamic impact of a high-speed
train on infrastructure leads to a significant increase in material intensity of overpass superstructures and other
infrastructure facilities (Beninetal., 2015). Superstructures of overpasses for high-speed trains are presented by
reinforced-concrete boxes with a height exceeding 3 m (Figure 4).
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Pavel Pegin, Georgiy Igolkin, Marlena Rajczyk
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Fig. 4. A superstructure of a high-speed

speed railway, 26.4 m high, construction height H = 3200 mm
mm.

Transmission of the load to the wheel actually means movement of a system of concentrated forces, their main
characteristics being the force magnitude and the distance be
between them (Figure 5).

Fig. 5.A design model of a high-speed

speed train. The wheels are replaced with concentrated forces
forces.

The latter determines the frequency of a running train at a given speed ϑ, Hz:

  v / l km/h (1)

wherel is the distance between the outermost wheels on trucks of the same carriage
carriage, km;
vis the speed of the train, h.
In such case, a speed which makes the natural frequency of an overpass superstructure coincide with the natural
frequency of a train represents a dangerous speed for the overpass superstructure when a train with a specific wheel
arrangement system is running (Pegin, 2017).
As a result, the phenomenon of resonance is observed. A diagram in Figure 6 shows the movement of the middle
tructure when a Thalus train is running at a speed of 350 km/h.
part of a superstructure
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Fig. 6.Movements of the middle part of a superstructure when a Thalus train is running at a speed of 350 km/h.

In the meantime, the need to used high-speed railway transport on overpasses is becoming more obvious from
year to year. This happens due to the following reasons:

 prevention of collisions with other means of transportation(Skirkovsky and Pegin, 2017);

 smooth traffic (Peginand Kapsky, 2015);
 protection against vandals and terrorists;
 eliminations of issues related to track irregularities in case of soil constraints;
 no indirect costs typical for subgrade maintenance;
 Costs of ballastless track sections over the subgrade are comparable to costs of overpass construction.

However, due to high values of dynamic coefficients, construction of overpasses for high-speed railways leads to
excessive height of superstructures and significant project cost increase (Dyachenko, 2017; Chizhovetal., 2016).
That is why magnetic levitation transport transmitting the uniformly distributed load to the superstructure should
be devoid of the above-mentioned drawbacks.
To confirm this assumption, the following calculations are made.

3. Calculations of the dynamic coefficient for a magnetic levitation train

A procedure for determining the dynamic coefficient is similar to the case with conventional high-speed railways:
1. the natural frequency of the designed beam ϑ is determined, Hz;
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2. the dangerous speed is determined in accordance with (1);

3. a dynamic design of the beam is performed at a certain speed, the dynamic coefficient is determined as
the ratio of the maximum dynamic deflection to static deflection.
An experimental model was chosen as a transport vehicle to carry out the necessary calculations (Figure 7).

Fig. 7.A scheme of maglev loading for container transportation.

This model is based on the Transrapid system(Maglev Technical Committee, 2007; Shi and Wang, 2011) being
the most preferable option nowadays according to the price/quality ratio. A passenger compartment was replaced by
a compartment for the installation and fixation of a 40-foot container or a tank-container of the corresponding size.
This replacement is based on the fact that the estimated weight of this structure without a container makes up 30
t(Igolkin and Potapova, 2016).
The maximum container load amounts to 26.58 t.
The tare weight of a container is 3.9 t.
The total weight of a carriage amounts to 60.48 t.
During movement, the weight of the train is transmitted to the beam, therefore, the value of the equivalent
uniformly distributed load makes up 4.48 t/m.
In addition, the beam carries its own weight and the weight of equipment, which is 32 t per a beam 25 m
long(Walraven et al., 2008).
Within the framework of possible static design, the reliability factor shall be taken as at least 1.5 in view of the
experimental nature of the task.
The task of determining the dynamic coefficient coincides with the procedure for determining the dynamic
coefficient of a high-speed train according to a technique set forth in the Project-specific Technical Specifications
"Artificial structures of the Moscow–Kazan section".
Let us perform modeling of a superstructure 25 m high using the Midas Civil software package. Geometric
characteristics are chosen based on the strength conditions, permissible deflection and calculations for crack
resistance (Figure 8).
8574 Pavel Pegin, Georgiy Pavel Pegin
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Fig. 8.Cross-section of a reinforced-concrete beam superstructure 25 m high intended for magnetic levitation trains.

Natural frequencies are calculated taking into account the weight of equipment and the own weight. The first
natural frequency is 4.03 Hz (Figure 9).

Fig. 9.The first frequency of 4.03 Hz.

The first six natural frequencies are listed in the table: we will need those to specify the dynamic loading
parameters.

Table 1. Natural superstructure frequencies.

Mode No. 1 2 3 4 5 6
Frequency Hz 4.03 5.63 16.1 22.5 33.41 36.232
Period s 0.25 0.18 0.06 0.04 0.03 0.03

The most frequent distance between concentrated forces is 1 m.

Therefore, the dangerous speed is equal to 4 m/s in accordance with (1).
A diagram of movements of the middle part of the beam at a given speed, obtained after the dynamic design, is
displayed in Figure 10.
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Fig. 10.The maximum movement of the middle part of the beam (8.93 mm) at a speed of 14.4 km/h.

Let us analyze the obtained diagram:

The curve is smooth and has no peaks occurring when calculating movements caused by high-speed trains.
Such distinctive features reduce the height and material intensity of beams used when the magnetic levitation
technology is applied. This results in a simpler installation technology and a shorter rail line construction time.
To get the whole picture, let us calculate movements at high speeds of 100, 200, 300, 400 km/h which are given
in Table 2.

Table 2. Deflection values.

Speed, km/h 100 200 300 400 Static load
Deflection, mm 8.92 8.96 9.02 8.97 8.68

The beam deflection under static load made up 8.68 mm according to the loading results.
Therefore, the dynamic coefficient in this case makes up 1.04.
For further calculations, the dynamic coefficient can be takes as 1.05.

4. Conclusions

Based on the performed calculations, it can be concluded that the hypothesis of the absence of resonance
phenomena during the movement of magnetic levitation trains along overpass superstructures is confirmed.
This makes magnetic levitation transport a more promising option for intercity transportation as compared to
conventional railways.
The absence of resonance phenomena will make it possible to reduce the following costs significantly:
1. on construction of beam superstructures;
2. on transportation to the place of installation;
on installation itself. Structures can be erected without using expensive cantilever gantry cranes.

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