Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308

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Engineering Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Modelling and analysis of the dynamic response of a railway viaduct using

an accurate and efficient algorithm
S.G.M. Neves , P.A. Montenegro *, P.F.M. Jorge , R. Calçada , A.F.M. Azevedo
CONSTRUCT – LESE, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200 465 Porto, Portugal

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This article describes the simulation of the Korean high-speed train passing over a single-track viaduct and the
Train–structure interaction influence of track isolated defects on the dynamic behaviour of the system. The model of the viaduct is validated
Bridge dynamics and calibrated using a finite element model updating technique, and a three-dimensional (3D) model is used to
Isolated defects
account for the local deformations of the slab accurately. The direct method, an efficient vehicle-structure
Slab deformation
Model updating
interaction algorithm previously developed by the authors, is used to solve the dynamic problem. It proved to
Mesh optimisation be significantly more efficient than the widely used finite element software ANSYS® when solving large and
complex problems. The computational time has been reduced by more than ten times. The results obtained show
that the shape of the isolated defects and the local deformations of the slab strongly influence the dynamic
behaviour of the system. Neither is taken into account in the current standards, and hence further research is
necessary.

1. Introduction wavelength irregularities [12–14], and not so much on the effects

The railway sector faces very demanding challenges that are critical
for the well-being and mobility of people. The European Commission
states that by 2050 most of medium-distance passenger transport should
go by rail and that 50% of road freight over 300 km should shift to other
modes such as rail or waterborne transport [1]. To meet these goals, the
length of high-speed rail network that existed in 2011 has to be tripled
by 2030 and a coherent network including links and accessibility be­
tween all major cities and core network airports has to be developed by
2050. These ambitious plans will inevitably lead to a significant increase
in the construction of railway lines and the number of cases in which the
vehicle-structure interaction has to be taken into account. Furthermore,
the increase of the operating speeds tends to amplify the dynamic ef­
fects, especially when track irregularities are present. Therefore, the
availability of accurate, robust and efficient algorithms that enable the
development of detailed models of the vehicle and structure, which
include their optimisation and calibration, and adequate analysis of the
dynamic behaviour of both systems, are essential prerequisites for
achieving the challenging objectives mentioned above.
Most studies regarding the train running safety and the assessment of
the dynamic response of bridges and trains mainly focus on externally
applied loads, such as wind [2–7] or seismic actions [8–11], or periodic
caused by track local defects. Moreover, most of the studies model the
bridge with beam elements, which are not suitable for capturing the
local behaviour of the structure. The track local defects may lead to high
accelerations in localised regions that largely exceed the limit of 3.5 m/
s2 imposed by EN 1991-2 [15] to avoid ballast instability. However,
since the ballast present in these regions is confined by ballast subjected
to much lower accelerations, this phenomenon may not occur, and the
design of the bridge may allow high acceleration values without
compromising safety. Therefore, the development of more detailed
bridge models is essential to capture the aforementioned effects better
and to further the knowledge on this topic. The selection of efficient and
robust algorithms to perform this type of analyses is also paramount.
Neves et al. [16] developed an accurate, robust and efficient vehicle-
structure interaction algorithm, referred to as the direct method, which
has been implemented in MATLAB® [17]. The structures and vehicles
are created using the ANSYS® finite element method (FEM) software
[18] and can be modelled with a high degree of complexity and with
different types of elements. The developed program is used to analyse
the passage of the Korean high-speed train over a single-track viaduct.
The model of the viaduct is calibrated and validated using three distinct
finite element model updating algorithms that compare the response of
the numerical model with data measured during an ambient vibration

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: paires@fe.up.pt (P.A. Montenegro).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2020.111308
Received 12 February 2020; Received in revised form 15 July 2020; Accepted 8 September 2020
Available online 14 October 2020
0141-0296/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S.G.M. Neves et al.
test performed by Malveiro et al. [19]. Even though the computational
efficiency of a vehicle-structure interaction algorithm is of critical
importance, most studies addressing this type of methods do not provide
enough information on the subject (see Section 2). Hence, the accuracy
and efficiency of the direct method are addressed in this paper by
comparing the computational times and results obtained with this
method against those obtained with the widely used ANSYS® com­
mercial software. Unlike in previous publications related with the direct
method [16,20], in which only simple structures and vehicles were
addressed, this article demonstrates the efficiency of the algorithm using
large and complex finite element models of the viaduct and train
mentioned above. The numerical example is used to study the influence
of isolated defects of the longitudinal level of the track on the dynamic
behaviour of the train-structure system. Special attention is given to the
instability of the ballast, which depends on the local deformations of the
slab.
2. Overview of vehicle-structure interaction methods
A summarized overview of the different vehicle-structure interaction
algorithms is given in this section, with particular attention given to
their accuracy, robustness, efficiency and simplicity.
The vehicle-structure system can be defined using two widely used
methodologies: one that formulates the structural matrices of the entire
system, i.e., without separating the two subsystems into independent
meshes [21,22], and another that models the structure and vehicle as
two separate subsystems with non-matching meshes. Most of the contact
mechanics literature only addresses methodologies dealing with non-
matching meshes, and hence only these are addressed here. The most
widely used approaches to couple the vehicle and structure independent
meshes are direct equilibrium of contact forces, variational formulations
and condensation methods.
When the equilibrium of contact forces is established directly, these
forces are considered explicitly and treated as external loads. The
equations of motion are complemented with additional constraint
equations that relate the displacements of the vehicle and structure.
These equations form a single system that can be solved using the direct
method [16,20] or iterative methods [23–28]. Although iterative tech­
niques have been applied to vehicle-structure interaction problems for
more than four decades, there is little information in the literature
concerning their convergence properties. Since the direct method avoids
the iterative procedure, it leads to a more robust and accurate algorithm.
This becomes even more important for the case of nonlinear analyses,
where convergence is a critical issue. In terms of computational effi­
ciency, the direct method requires more time to solve a single system of
equations but avoids the iterative procedure. For this and other reasons,
comparing the computational efficiency of these two types of methods is
not a straightforward task.
The variational formulations take into account the variations of the
total energy of the system instead of explicitly considering the inertial,
damping and elastic forces [29]. A term is added to the total energy of
the system to impose the constraint equations. These methods are well-
known in the optimisation and contact mechanics fields and are used by
most commercial finite element packages. The Lagrange multiplier
method leads to the same system of equations as the direct method, and
so the same conclusions in terms of computational efficiency apply. The
penalty method does not introduce additional variables, but the stiffness
matrix becomes time-dependent. Again, comparing the computational
efficiency of these methods is a difficult task. The main advantage of the
direct equilibrium of forces, when compared to the variational formu­
lations, is a better understanding of the physical meaning of the gov­
erning equations. The former is based on simple concepts that are easily
understood, such as the formulation of the equations of motion and the
establishment of constraint equations. This also allows for easier iden­
tification of eventual errors and better optimisation of the algorithm.
In the condensation methods [30,31], all the degrees of freedom (d.
2
Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308
o.f.) of the vehicle (slave) are expressed in terms of the master d.o.f. of
the structure elements contacting the vehicle and condensed out. The
main disadvantage of these methods is that no separation between the
vehicles and structure is allowed. Also, the equations of motion of the
coupled vehicle-bridge system might be difficult to determine when
nonlinearities are considered in the vehicle models. The condensation
methods avoid the iterative procedure, but the system matrices are time-
dependent and must be updated and factorised at each time step.
All the vehicle-structure interaction methods described in this sec­
tion suffer at least from one of the following disadvantages: requiring an
iterative procedure, introducing additional variables into the system of
linear equations or leading to time-dependent structural matrices. Esti­
mating the degradation of the computational efficiency implied by each
of these disadvantages is a challenging task. The only objective way to
perform this evaluation is to solve the same numerical example using the
different methods and the same computer. As far as the authors are
aware, this type of comparison has not yet been published. Therefore,
there is not enough evidence to make an informed decision of the most
suitable vehicle-structure interaction method based on computational
efficiency. The only disadvantage of the direct and the Lagrange
multiplier methods is the introduction of additional variables. Unlike
the Lagrange multiplier method, the direct method is based on simple
concepts, that can be easily understood, and therefore is the only
method considered here.
In the present paper, the dynamic response of a viaduct is analysed
using the formulation of the direct method described in [16,20,32],
which uses an enhanced node-to-segment contact element that includes
a Hertzian spring that relates the forces acting at the contact interface to
the local deformations. The formulation of this method is based on a
single system of equations formed by both constraint equations, which
relate the displacements of the train with the nodal displacements of the
viaduct, and dynamic equilibrium equations of the train-structure sys­
tem. This system of equations, whose unknowns are both displacements
and contact forces, can be defined as
[ ][ ] [ ]
K D Δa ψ
= (1)
H 0 ΔX r
where K is the effective stiffness matrix of the vehicle-bridge system, D
is a transformation matrix that relates the contact forces with the
equivalent nodal forces and H is a transformation matrix that relates the
nodal displacements of the target elements with the displacements of the
contact points. The vectors Δa and ΔX are the incremental nodal dis­
placements and contact forces, respectively, ψ is the residual force
vector and r are the irregularities between the target and contact ele­
ments. This vehicle-structure formulation is implemented in MATLAB®
[17]. The vehicle and structure are modelled with ANSYS® [18], and
their structural matrices are imported into MATLAB.
An incremental formulation based on the Newton-Raphson method
is adopted to handle nonlinear behaviour. This formulation does not
take into account the tangential forces transmitted across the contact
interface. Since only the vertical response of the system is analysed here,
this simplification is considered to be acceptable. An extension of the
present formulation to three-dimensional contact problems can be found
in [33].
3. Train model
The Korean high-speed train (KHST) is used in this work for ana­
lysing the dynamic train-track interaction [34]. A high-speed train is
chosen to analyse several scenarios characterised by large dynamic
amplifications, such as resonance effects, which generally occur at high
speeds [35].
The KHST is an articulated train that has two-axle bogies positioned
between the car bodies and is designed for a maximum speed of 350 km/
h. The model adopted in this study is composed of a power car at each
S.G.M. Neves et al. Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308

Fig. 1. Main dimensions of the KHST.

z z
y
y x x m
L2 L1 cb

k s , y , cs , y b3
h2
k s , z , cs , z k s , x , cs , x mbg

k p,z , c p ,z k p,x , c p ,x h1
mws

k p,y , cp,y R0
L3 b1
b2

(a) (b)
Fig. 2. Schematic model of the KHST power car: (a) lateral view and (b) front view.

Table 1 Table 2
Mechanical and geometrical properties of the power car. Mechanical and geometrical properties of the motorised trailer.
Parameter Value Unit Parameter Value Unit

Mass of the carbody (mcb) 54,960 kg Mass of the carbody (mcb) 39,770 kg
Moment of inertia of the carbody (Icb,x, 59.4 × 103, 1132.8 × 103, kg⋅m2 Moment of inertia of the carbody (Icb, 55.5 × 103, 1641.51 × 103, kg⋅m2
Icb,y, Icb,z) 1112.9 × 103 x, Icb,y, Icb,z) 1694.89 × 103
Mass of the bogie (mbg) 2420 kg Mass of the bogie (mbg) 2514 kg
Moment of inertia of the bogie (Ibg,x, Ibg, 1645, 2593, 3068 kg⋅m2 Moment of inertia of the bogie (Ibg,x, 2070, 3260, 3860 kg⋅m2
y, Ibg,z) Ibg,y, Ibg,z)
Mass of the wheelset (mws) 2050 kg Mass of the wheelset (mws) 2050 kg
Moment of inertia of the wheelset (Iws,x, 1030, 0.8, 1030 kg⋅m2 Moment of inertia of the wheelset (Iws, 1030, 0.8, 1030 kg⋅m2
Iws,y, Iws,z) x, Iws,y, Iws,z)
Stiffness of the primary suspension (kp, 40000, 9000, 1250 kN/m Stiffness of the primary suspension (kp, 40000, 9000, 1250 kN/m
x, kp,y, kp,z) x, kp,y, kp,z)
Damping of the primary suspension (cp, 0, 0, 10 kN⋅s/ Damping of the primary suspension 0, 0, 10 kN⋅s/
x, cp,y, cp,z) m (cp,x, cp,y, cp,z) m
Stiffness of the secondary suspension 303, 303, 1270 kN/m Stiffness of the secondary suspension 100, 150, 370 kN/m
(ks,x, ks,y, ks,z) (ks,x, ks,y, ks,z)
Damping of the secondary suspension 0, 100, 20 kN⋅s/ Damping of the secondary suspension 0, 30, 20 kN⋅s/
(cs,x, cs,y, cs,z) m (cs,x, cs,y, cs,z) m
Dimensions L1, L2, L3, b1, b2, b3, h1, h2 7, 7, 3, 1.435, 2, 2.46, 0.1, 1.16 m Dimensions L1, L2, b1, b2, b3, h1, h2 5.977, 12.723, 1.435, 2, 2.46, m
0.1, 0.975

end, connected to 16 passenger cars through two motorised trailers (see

Fig. 1). The axle load of each wheelset is about 170 kN.
The vehicle body, wheelsets, bogie frames and spring-dampers of the
power car are schematically illustrated in Fig. 2. The meaning of each
symbol is explained in Tables 1 to 3. The axes x , y and z of the global
coordinate system correspond to the longitudinal, lateral and vertical
directions, respectively. The finite element model of the KHST is
developed using ANSYS® [18].
The mechanical and geometrical properties are based on Kwark et al.
[34] and Lee and Kim [36] and are listed in Tables 1 to 3. The masses of
the carbody of the motorised trailer and passenger car have been
modified so an axle load of 170 kN, as given in Shin et al. [37], could be
obtained. The nominal rolling radius of the wheel, r0, is equal to 0.46 m.

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S.G.M. Neves et al. Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308

Table 3 4. Track model

Mechanical and geometrical properties of the passenger car.
Parameter Value Unit 4.1. Finite element model
Mass of the carbody (mcb) 26,950 kg
Moment of inertia of the carbody (Icb,x, 33.94 × 103, 971.81 × 103, kg⋅m2 A detailed description of the mechanical and geometrical properties
Icb,y, Icb,z) 971.81 × 103 of the track can be found in [38]. The finite element model of the track is
Mass of the bogie (mbg) 3050 kg developed using ANSYS® [18]. The rail is modelled with the element
Moment of inertia of the bogie (Ibg,x, Ibg, 2030, 3200, 3790 kg⋅m2 type BEAM4 using a discretisation size of 0.075 m. The beam element
y, Ibg,z)
Mass of the wheelset (mws) 2000 kg
type has two nodes, each with six d.o.f., and Hermitian shape functions,
Moment of inertia of the wheelset (Iws, 1030, 0.8, 1030 kg⋅m2 and includes shear deformation. The rail pads are modelled using a
x, Iws,y, Iws,z) spring-damper element named COMBIN14, and the ballast and sleepers
Stiffness of the primary suspension (kp, 55000, 11000, 800 kN/m are modelled with hexahedral solid elements of the type SOLID186. The
x, kp,y, kp,z)
spring-damper element type is a uniaxial tension-compression element
Damping of the primary suspension (cp, 0, 0, 6 kN⋅s/
with two nodes, each with three d.o.f. The solid element type has twenty
x, cp,y, cp,z) m
Stiffness of the secondary suspension 100, 170, 303 kN/m nodes, each with three d.o.f., and quadratic shape functions. Since the
(ks,x, ks,y, ks,z) behaviour of the track is only of interest in the low- and mid-frequency
Damping of the secondary suspension 0, 0, 0 kN⋅s/ range (up to 200 Hz), this modelling approach is considered to be
(cs,x, cs,y, cs,z) m
Dimensions L1, L2, b1, b2, b3, h1, h2 8.926, 9.774, 1.435, 2, 2.46, m
acceptable [39]. An extension of track containing 220 sleepers is used in
0.1, 1.063 this section.
Several numerical models of the track are considered to reduce the
size of the mesh and decrease the associated computational cost. Some

Model A (157108 d.o.f.) Model B (24968 d.o.f.)

Model C (8090 d.o.f.) Model D (3943 d.o.f.)

Fig. 3. Numerical models of the ballasted track.

-7 -7
10 10
Receptance (m/N)

Model A Model A
Receptance (m/N)

Model C Model D
10-8 10
-8

-9 -9
10 10
0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Frequency (Hz) Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 4. Comparison of the track receptances of the alternative numerical models of the track.

4
S.G.M. Neves et al.
Fig. 5. Simplified model of the KHST.
of the models considered in the selection process are illustrated in Fig. 3.
As shown in Fig. 4, the track receptance is used to validate that the
dynamic behaviour of the track in the frequency range of interest (below
200 Hz) is not affected by the size increase of the finite elements. The
differences between models A and C observed in the low-frequency
range do not affect the dynamic behaviour of the track. The differ­
ences observed between models A and D are less satisfactory, and hence
model C has been adopted. This modification of the finite element model
of the track allowed the reduction of the number of d.o.f. from 157,108
to 8090 (95% reduction) and the elapsed time of the analysis from
23232 s to 1464 s (94% reduction).
4.2. Influence of the 2D track model
A track with a significant length must be modelled to support the
vehicle. Since the total length of the KHST is 380.15 m, a two-
dimensional (2D) track model is used before and after the 3D track to
avoid a prohibitive computational cost of the dynamic analyses. A
simple one-eighth model based on the KHST is used in this section to
analyse the influence of using a 2D rigid or flexible track model (see
Fig. 5). The natural frequencies of the bouncing of the carbody, bogie
and wheelset are 1.24 Hz, 8.93 Hz and 173.2 Hz, respectively.
For the frequency of the harmonic excitation (f) caused by the
discrete support of the sleepers to be similar to the bouncing frequency
of the wheelset (a rounded value of 200 Hz is used), the train speed
needs to be equal to
v = d × f = 0.6 × 200 = 120m/s
(a)
Fig. 6. Contact force: (a) time history and (b) frequency content.
Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308
where d is the sleeper spacing. A time step equal to 2.5 × 10–4 s and 5000
time steps are used to analyse the passage of the simplified model of the
KHST over the track. A 2D rigid track is used initially. The following
parameters of the HHT-α method are considered: α = 0, β = 0.25 and γ =
0.5 [40]. The time history and the frequency content of the contact force
are plotted in Fig. 6. The red vertical dashed lines mark the beginning
and end of the 3D track modelled with solid elements. Since the rigid
beam is constrained at both ends, the 3D track is completely unloaded
until the vehicle leaves the rigid beam. As can be observed in Fig. 6,
when the vehicle moves from the rigid to the flexible track and vice-
versa, the latter is suddenly loaded and unloaded, and the system vi­
brates with a frequency of 67.87 Hz. This frequency of vibration is
associated with the first vertical vibration mode of the coupled vehicle-
track model. The additional frequency of vibration of 200.20 Hz is
related to the harmonic excitation caused by the discrete support of the
sleepers.
A 2D flexible track model is used to avoid the sudden transition
between the rigid and flexible track. The ballast is now modelled using
the spring-damper element COMBIN14 and the structural mass element
MASS21, which also accounts for the mass of the sleeper. The mass
element type has three d.o.f. The values of the stiffness and damping
coefficients of the spring-damper and the value of the structural mass are
calibrated separately by comparing the structural responses of the 2D
and 3D track models. The optimal values are calculated using the
MATLAB® optimisation function fmincon [17]. This function is used to
find the minimum of constrained nonlinear functions and has different
optimisation algorithms implemented (see Table B.3). The interior-point
algorithm has been used in this section. The following procedure is used:
1) A vertical unit load is applied to the rail between sleepers, and a
static analysis is performed. The objective function used to optimise
the stiffness of the spring-damper compares the vertical displace­
ments of the 2D and 3D models at the point where the load is applied.
2) The value of the structural mass is calibrated by performing a modal
analysis. The objective function compares the natural frequencies
associated with the first vertical vibration mode of the track.
Table 4
Bound constraints of the track parameters.
Parameter Bound constraints Unit
k [0.5, 1.5] × 108 N/m
m [50, 150] kg
(2) c [10000, 13000] N s/m
(b)
5
S.G.M. Neves et al.
10 -7
3D model
Receptance (m/N)
2D model
-8
10
10 -9
10 0 10 1 10 2
Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 7. Track receptances of the 2D and 3D track models.
3) The objective function used to optimise the damping of the spring-
damper compares the maximum values of the track receptances be­
tween sleepers.
The bound constraints of the track parameters used in the optimi­
sation process are shown in Table 4 and have been obtained based on the
values indicated in [41] and by trial and error. The optimised 2D track
parameters are: k = 0.935 × 108 N/m, m = 103.8 kg and c = 11930 N s/
m.
The track receptances of the 2D and 3D track models are compared in
Fig. 7 and a good agreement can be observed for frequencies up to 170
Hz. Since the main objective of using the 2D track model is to avoid the
sudden transition between the 2D and 3D models, and the results outside
the 3D model are of little interest, the performed calibration is consid­
ered acceptable.
The passage of the simplified model of the KHST over the railway
track is now analysed using the 2D flexible track. The time history and
frequency content of the contact force are plotted in Fig. 8. As can be
observed, the effects of the sudden loading and unloading of the 3D track
have almost vanished.
The execution times of the dynamic analyses using the 2D rigid and
flexible track models are 1993 s and 2312 s, respectively. Since this
difference is not very significant, the 2D flexible track model is adopted
in this work.
(a)
Fig. 8. Contact force: (a) time history and (b) frequency content.
Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308
5. Viaduct model
5.1. General description
The Alverca flyover viaduct is located on the Northern Line of the
Portuguese railway network, between the cities of Lisbon and Porto. It is
a single-track viaduct with 47 simply supported spans and a total length
of 1091 m. The modelling and analyses presented in this work are
focused on the first three spans (see Fig. 9). A detailed description of the
mechanical and geometrical properties of the viaduct is given in
[19,38]. The cross-section of the spans and a detail of the deck joint
above the piers are illustrated in Fig. 10. Each span is composed of a
10 3
prefabricated U-shaped prestressed beam and a cast-in-situ upper slab,
which form a single-cell box-girder deck.
5.2. Finite element model of the viaduct
A three-dimensional model has been adopted due to the complex
geometry and mechanical behaviour of the structure (see Fig. 11).
Although the spans of the viaduct are simply supported on the piers and
abutments, there is a longitudinal connection due to the continuously
welded rails and uninterrupted ballast, which cannot be accurately
modelled with more simplified models. The ballasted track must be
taken into account to accurately calculate the vertical accelerations of
the deck of the viaduct [42]. The model has 755,131 unconstrained d.o.
f.
The modelling of the track is explained in Section 4. The U-shaped
beams, the upper slabs and the ballast retaining walls are modelled in
ANSYS® with the shell element type SHELL281 (see Fig. 12). This
element type has eight nodes, each with six d.o.f., and quadratic shape
Fig. 9. First three spans of the Alverca viaduct.
(b)
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S.G.M. Neves et al. Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308

7.20
safeguard edge beam 0.60 = 0.60 = 0.60
4.30
rail
ballast layer
sleepers
ballast layer
in-situ slab
0.29
pre-slab 0.29 pre-slab
in-situ slab precast beam
0.20 1.20 1.20
0.18
precast beam
0.15 0.15
bearings bearings
0.50 0.50
3.00 0.65 1.50 0.65

column column

2.00 1.00
Fig. 10. Cross-section of the viaduct and deck joint over the piers.

Fig. 11. Numerical model of the first three spans of the viaduct.

functions. The masses of non-structural elements, such as safeguards and
edge beams, are included with the truss element type LINK180. This
element type has two nodes, each with three d.o.f.
The mesh of the viaduct illustrated in Fig. 11 has been optimized to
reduce the number of elements and decrease the computational cost (see
Appendix A for a detailed explanation). The relative differences between
the natural frequencies of the analysed models and the Modal Assurance
Criterion (MAC) values between the mode shapes are used to validate
that the increase of the size of the elements does not affect the dynamic
behaviour of the model in the frequency range of interest (below 200
Hz). The model optimisation reduced the number of d.o.f. from 755,131
to 242,530 (68% reduction) and the elapsed time of the modal analysis
from 828 to 21 s (98% reduction).
5.3. Modal parameters
The first three global vertical vibration modes (1G, 2G, 3G) of the
viaduct associated with the bending of the spans are represented in

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S.G.M. Neves et al. Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308

measurement points located in Span 2, with particular incidence in the

northern half of that span. Several setups were carried out taking into
consideration the accelerations measured in the vertical direction.
Although the local modes were not taken into account in the model
updating described in Appendix B, a good agreement can be observed
between the numerical and experimental modes. However, a thorough
investigation of the local modal behaviour of the deck, such as that
performed by Matsuoka et al. [43], will be studied in a forthcoming
article.

5.4. Damping

When the dynamic response of a system is calculated using the mode-

Fig. 12. FEM model of the U-shaped beams, upper slabs and ballast retain­
ing walls.
Fig. 13. These modal parameters have been obtained with a model
updated using the procedure described in Appendix B. This procedure
compares the numerical results and the responses measured in an
ambient vibration test performed by Malveiro et al. [19] (see Fig. 14), in
which the modal parameters were obtained based on accelerations
measured in the vertical direction. The numerical natural frequencies of
the first two vibration modes are not sorted in ascending order due to the
sequence considered in [19].
Similarly, the numerical and experimentally mode shapes and fre­
quencies of the four local modes measured in the ambient vibration test
performed by Malveiro et al. [19] are illustrated in Figs. 15 and 16,
respectively. The experimental campaign performed by Malveiro et al.
[18] to identify the local modes of the track and slabs considered 84
superposition method, the total response is given by the sum of the
uncoupled modal responses of each mode of vibration and the damping
of the system can be defined in terms of the different modal damping
ratios of each mode. When step-by-step numerical integration tech­
niques are used for directly solving the equations of motion in their
original coupled form, the damping of the system cannot be defined in
terms of the modal damping ratios and an explicit damping matrix has to
be used. The damping matrix of the viaduct is formulated assuming
Rayleigh damping, which only ensures the damping ratios of two vi­
bration modes. The numerical Rayleigh damping and the damping ratios
of the global and local vibration modes measured in the ambient vi­
bration test (see Figs. 14 and 16) are plotted in Fig. 17. The damping
factors a0 = 2.48 s-1 (mass proportional) and a1 = 1.58 × 10–4 s (stiffness
proportional) led to the damping matrix that best fits the measured
damping ratios.
6. Dynamic response of the viaduct
Numerical results, attending to the accuracy and computational ef­
ficiency of the direct method, are described in this section. The influence

Mode 1G: f = 6.82 Hz Mode 2G: f = 6.79 Hz Mode 3G: f = 9.64 Hz

Fig. 13. Numerical global vibration modes and natural frequencies of the viaduct after the model updating.

Mode 1G: f = 6.76 Hz, ξ = 1.63 % Mode 2G: f = 6.95 Hz, ξ = 3.56 %

Mode 3G: f = 9.65 Hz, ξ = 2.39 %

Fig. 14. Measured global mode shapes, natural frequencies and damping ratios of the viaduct [19]

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S.G.M. Neves et al. Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308

a) Mode 1L: f = 25.89 Hz b) Mode 2L: f = 27.39 Hz

c) Mode 3L: f = 52.07 Hz d) Mode 4L: f = 59.23 Hz

Fig. 15. Numerical local vibration modes and natural frequencies of the viaduct.

a) Mode 1L: f = 25.48 Hz, ξ = 2.16 % b) Mode 2L: f = 27.41 Hz, ξ = 2.13 %

c) Mode 3L: f = 53.18 Hz, ξ = 4.47 % d) Mode 4L: f = 60.18 Hz, ξ = 4.81 %
Fig. 16. Measured local mode shapes, natural frequencies and damping ratios of the viaduct [19].

of isolated defects of the longitudinal level of the track on the dynamic
behaviour of the train-structure system is also analysed. Particular
attention is given to the ballast instability, which is assessed based on
the vertical accelerations of the deck. The 3D FEM model used allows for
the adequate evaluation of the local deformations of the slab. The
following parameters of the HHT-α method are used in all the dynamic
analyses presented in this section: α = − 0.05, β = 9/20 and γ = 9025/
40000 [40]. The value adopted for α is recommended in ANSYS Theory
Reference Manual [18] to damp the spurious participation of higher
modes without affecting the lower ones.
6.1. Comparison between MATLAB and ANSYS
The results calculated with MATLAB® and ANSYS® are compared

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S.G.M. Neves et al. Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308

Fig. 17. Rayleigh damping and damping ratios of the global and local vibra­
tion modes.
using the same models of the vehicle and viaduct for validating the
accuracy and efficiency of the direct method. In the analyses performed
with ANSYS®, the Lagrange multiplier method is used. The system of
linear equations used in this method is the same as that used in the direct
method, as explained in Section 2. The train travels at a constant speed v
= 120 m/s (see Section 4.2). A time step of 2.5 × 10–4 s is used and the
total number of time steps is 6500. A sensitivity analysis of the time step
has been performed (minimum value considered was 5 × 10–5 s) to
guarantee that the results are not affected in the frequency range of
interest (below 200 Hz). The vertical accelerations at the midpoint of the
second span and the contact forces of the first right wheel are plotted in
Figs. 18 and 19.
The frequency content of the contact forces is plotted in Fig. 20. The
high-frequency oscillations observed in the response obtained with
ANSYS® are a spurious excitation caused by the spatial discretisation of
the target elements used in this software. These elements use linear
displacement interpolation functions, whereas the target elements
implemented in MATLAB® use cubic functions. The frequencies of these
harmonic excitations are given by
vi 1 1 1
f = , i = 1, 2, 3, 4, ⋯, , , , ⋯ (3)
d 2 3 4

where d is the length of the target elements. A length of 0.075 m with i =

1/2 and i = 1 leads to 800 Hz and 1600 Hz, respectively, which corre­
spond to the frequencies observed in Fig. 20.
All the calculations have been performed using a desktop computer
with an Intel Core i7-4790 processor running at 3.6 GHz. For an
adequate comparison, the calculations in ANSYS® and MATLAB® have
been performed using a single execution thread. The elapsed time is
Fig. 18. Vertical accelerations at the midspan of the upper slab of the deck.
204975 s using ANSYS® and 18257 s using MATLAB®, which is about
11 times faster. The total size of each of the ANSYS® and MATLAB®
working directories is 470 GB and 45.4 GB, respectively. This difference
is important since, for example, during the design of bridges or viaducts,
several trains running at tens of different speeds may have to be
considered, resulting in hundreds of dynamic analyses.

6.2. Influence of the track irregularities

Fig. 19. Contact forces of the first right wheel.
The passage of the KHST over the railway viaduct is analysed for a
speed v = 350 km/h. The standard EN 13848-5 [44] only defines the
mean to peak value of isolated defects for speeds up to 300 km/h. The
speed of 350 km/h is considered because current high-speed lines are
designed for speeds equal to or higher than this value. An isolated defect
is considered only in the right rail in the middle of the second span. A

(a) (b)
Fig. 20. Frequency content of the contact forces obtained using: (a) ANSYS and (b) MATLAB.

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S.G.M. Neves et al. Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308

a) b)
Fig. 21. Shape of the track isolated defects for a value of a) k = 0.9 and b) A = 16 mm.

Fig. 22. Contact forces in the first right wheel for k = 0.9.

Fig. 23. Contact forces in the first left wheel for k = 0.9.

sensitivity analysis of the time step has been performed to guarantee that
the results are not affected in the frequency range of interest (below 200
Hz). The selection of the time step took into account the rate of variation
of the isolated defects and the frequency range of interest of the struc­
tural system. The dynamic analyses are performed using a time step
equal to 1 × 10–4 s.
The shape and sequence of isolated defects strongly influence the
dynamic behaviour of the train-structure system. However, these char­
acteristics are not addressed in the standard EN 13848-5 [44]. The
following function with a bump shape, defined based on irregularities
observed in measured track data, is adopted [45]
2
r(x) = Ae− 1/2(kx)
(4)
where A is the zero to peak value and k is used to control the wavelength
of the defect. A sensitivity analysis is performed to evaluate how these
parameters influence the dynamic response of the system. The values
0.5, 0.7 and 0.9 are considered for the parameter k, and the values 10, 12
and 16 mm are adopted for the parameter A. These values correspond to
the alert, intervention and immediate action limits defined in EN 13848-
5 [44] for the wavelength range D1 (wavelengths between 3 and 25 m)
and the speed range 230 < V⩽300 km/h. The irregularities considered
in the sensitivity analysis are plotted in Fig. 21.
The contact forces of the first right and left wheels, when using a
constant value of k = 0.9 and A = 10, 12 and 16 mm, are plotted in
Figs. 22 and 23, respectively. There is a loss of contact (null contact
force) between the right wheel and the rail for A = 12 and 16 mm. In the

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S.G.M. Neves et al. Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308

Fig. 24. Vertical accelerations of the upper slab of the deck for A = 10 mm.

Fig. 25. Vertical accelerations of the upper slab of the deck for A = 12 mm.

Fig. 26. Vertical accelerations of the upper slab of the deck for A = 16 mm.

latter case, this loss of contact occurs for a more extended period, which
might explain the much higher peak observed at t = 0.36 s. Since the
isolated defect is considered only in the right rail, the magnitude of
forces in the left wheel is much lower.
The maximum vertical accelerations of the upper slab of the deck
that occur when the first wheelset passes over the isolated defect for A =
10, 12 and 16 mm are plotted in Figs. 24–26, respectively. Since the
isolated defect is considered only in the right rail, the distribution of
accelerations is not symmetrical about the centre line of the slab. The
high accelerations of the upper slab that occur near the contact regions
are a localised phenomenon. The standard EN 1990-A2 [46] specifies
the deflection and vibration limits that must be taken into account in the
design of railway bridges. These limits guarantee traffic safety in terms
of, for example, vertical acceleration and torsion of the deck, and
vertical and horizontal deformation of the deck. For the case of ballasted
deck bridges, the standard specifies that the vertical acceleration of the
deck should not exceed 3.5 m/s2 (≈ 0.35 g) to prevent instability of the
ballast. However, this does not take into account the local deformation
of the slab. The localised regions of ballast subjected to high accelera­
tions are confined by the surrounding ballast, which has much lower
accelerations. Hence, the vertical accelerations might exceed the limit
without causing instability. Further studies taking into account the
wheel-rail interaction and the local deformations of the slab are neces­
sary to validate this assumption. The high accelerations that occur for A
= 16 mm might be associated with the fact that the loss of contact be­
tween the wheel and rail occurs for an extended period, which leads to a
high impact force.
Fig. 27 depicts the contact forces of the first right wheel using a

12
S.G.M. Neves et al. Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308

Fig. 27. Contact forces of the first right wheel for A = 16 mm.

constant value of A = 12 mm and k = 0.9. The value used for k corre­

sponds to the most abrupt change of geometry considered in this study,
and further work is necessary to evaluate if this is a realistic variation of
geometry. However, the fact that the standards currently used to control
the track quality do not take into account the shape of the isolated de­
fects is concerning.

7. Conclusions

The methodologies used to optimise the meshes of the track and

viaduct led to a significant reduction of the computational cost with
almost no loss of accuracy. The 2D flexible track model adopted in this
work led to the elimination of the sudden transitions observed when a
rigid track is used. This modification does not imply a significant in­
crease in computational cost. The values adopted for the geometrical
Fig. 28. Influence of the train speed on the contact forces. and mechanical properties have been calibrated using a FEM model
updating technique using information from the global vibration modes.
constant value of A = 16 mm and k = 0.9, 0.7 and 0.5. As expected, the A good agreement between the measured and numerical local and global
isolated defects with a smoother variation (see Fig. 21) lead to a lower vibration modes has been achieved, although the formers were not used
variation of the contact forces. It is a concern that the standard EN in the calibration process. The model updating using local modes will be
13848-5 [44] only establishes limits for zero to peak value and does not addressed in a forthcoming publication.
address the shape and sequence of the defects. In the calculation of the dynamic response of the train-viaduct sys­
Figs. 22 and 27 show that isolated defects of the longitudinal level of tem, a good agreement is observed between the results obtained with the
the track can lead to significant variations of the contact forces. High direct method and the ANSYS® program. The calculations performed
values can lead to track damage and consequent instability of the train, with the direct method have been eleven times faster. The influence of
and low values can lead to derailment. Fig. 28 shows the extrema of the the isolated defects of the longitudinal level of the track on the dynamic
contact forces of the first right wheel for different train speeds and a behaviour of the train-structure system has been analysed accordingly to
the standard EN 13848-5 [44]. The results obtained show that the shape
of the isolated defects strongly influences the dynamic behaviour of the
train-structure system. Since this is not taken into account in the current
Table A1
standard, further work is necessary to improve the control of the track
Numerical models of the viaduct used in the mesh optimisation process.
quality. The high accelerations of the upper slab that occur due to iso­
Model Modifications Number of Elapsed lated defects are a localised phenomenon that strongly depends on the
d.o.f. time (s)
deformation of the slab. The standard EN 1990-A2 [46], which defines
A Model with the most refined mesh 755,131 828 the deflection and vibration limits for the design of railway bridges, does
B Based on model A; decreased the number of 712,867 84
not take into account these local deformations. The high accelerations of
elements along the U beam transverse and
vertical directions the slab occur only in the vicinity of the wheel-rail contact points, and
C Based on model B; decreased the number of 562,927 53
elements along the slab transverse direction Table B1
D Based on model C; decreased the number of 541,795 55
Experimental and numerical natural frequencies and MAC values.
elements along the cantilever transverse
direction Mode Natural frequency MAC
E Based on model D; decreased the number of 499,531 51
Experimental (Hz) Numerical (Hz) δ (%)
elements along the ballast wall vertical
direction 1G 6.76 6.39 − 5.5% 0.98
F Based on model E; decreased the number of 242,530 21 2G 6.95 6.34 − 8.8% 0.95
elements along the longitudinal direction 3G 9.65 9.07 − 6.0% 0.98

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S.G.M. Neves et al. Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308

a) b) c)

d) e) f)
Fig. A1. Numerical models of the viaduct used in the mesh optimisation process: a) model A; b) model B; c) model C; d) model D; e) model E; f) model F.

Table B2
Initial values of the parameters considered in the optimisation process. Table B3
Characteristics of the optimisation algorithms.
Parameter Description Adopted Unit
value Algorithm Characteristics

Ec1 Modulus of elasticity of concrete of the 35.4 GPa interior- The interior-point approach to constrained minimization is to solve a
upper slab (span 1) point sequence of approximate minimization problems. These problems can
Ec2 Modulus of elasticity of concrete of the be seen as a sequence of equality constrained problems that are easier
upper slab (span 2) to solve than the original inequality-constrained problem. Details
Ec3 Modulus of elasticity of concrete of the about this optimisation algorithm can be found in [47].
upper slab (span 3) active-set The active-set algorithm uses sequential quadratic programming (sqp)
Ec Modulus of elasticity of concrete of the 40.9 GPa methods. These methods are based on constrained nonlinear
prefabricated beam optimisation techniques that solve a sequence of sub-problems to
ρc Density of the concrete 2469.8 kg/ optimize a quadratic model of the objective function. This type of
m3 optimisation methods aims to transform the problem into an easier
kh1 Longitudinal stiffness of the supports (span 3.6 MN/ sub-problem that can then be solved and used as the basis of an
1) m iterative process. If no constraints are defined, the model reduces to
kh2 Longitudinal stiffness of the supports (span the Newton method. Details about this optimisation algorithm can be
2) found in [48].
kh3 Longitudinal stiffness of the supports (span sqp The sqp algorithm is similar to the active-set algorithm. The
3) differences are mainly related to the linear algebra functions used to
solve the quadratic sub-problems. In the sqp algorithm, the functions
are more efficient, both in terms of speed and memory usage.
Moreover, unlike the active-set algorithm, when constraints are
for this reason, the vertical accelerations might exceed the limit without
defined, the sqp algorithm combines the objective with the constraint
causing instability of the ballast. Further studies taking into account the functions into a new function, called merit function, that is minimized
wheel-rail interaction and the local deformations of the slab are neces­ during the process. Details about this optimisation algorithm can also
sary to validate this assumption. be found in [48].

1.2 Table B4
Optimal values of the parameters and relative difference between these and the
1
initially adopted values.
Objective function

0.8 Parameter interior-point active-set sqp

Optimal δ Optimal δ Optimal δ
0.6 value (%) value (%) value (%)

Ec1 36.9 4.3 36.2 2.3 37.5 6.0

0.4
Ec2 36.6 3.5 36.8 3.9 38.0 7.3
Ec3 37.6 6.3 37.6 6.3 38.7 9.3
0.2
Ec 47.1 15.0 47.2 15.3 47.5 16.0
ρc 2346.2 − 5.0 2299.3 − 6.9 2363.3 − 4.3
0 kh1 3.4 − 6.7 3.6 0.1 3.6 0.1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
kh2 3.4 − 6.8 3.6 − 0.3 3.6 − 0.3
Iteration number
kh3 3.4 − 6.6 3.6 0.3 3.6 0.2

Fig. B1. Value of the objective function.

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S.G.M. Neves et al. Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308

Table B5
Natural frequencies, MAC values and contribution of each mode to the objective function.
Mode interior-point active-set sqp
f (Hz) MAC Obj. func. f (Hz) MAC Obj. func. f (Hz) MAC Obj. func.

1G 6.78 0.98 0.02 6.82 0.98 0.03 6.82 0.98 0.03

2G 6.76 0.98 0.05 6.79 0.98 0.04 6.80 0.98 0.04
3G 9.61 0.98 0.03 9.64 0.98 0.03 9.64 0.98 0.02

editing. A.F.M. Azevedo: Supervision, Writing - review & editing.

Table B6
Summary of the optimisations performed with the alternative fmincon options. Declaration of Competing Interest
Algorithm Iterations δ(%) Objective function value
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interior-point 82 6.8 0.10
active-set 78 4.4 0.10 interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
sqp 54 5.4 0.10 the work reported in this paper.

CRediT authorship contribution statement
S.G.M. Neves: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Valida­
tion, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft, Writing -
review & editing. P.A. Montenegro: Methodology, Software, Writing -
review & editing. P.F.M. Jorge: Investigation, Writing - review &
editing. R. Calçada: Visualization, Supervision, Writing - review &
Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by: Base Funding - UIDB/
04708/2020 and Programmatic Funding - UIDP/04708/2020 of the
CONSTRUCT - Instituto de I&D em Estruturas e Construções funded by
national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC).

Appendix A. Mesh optimisation of the Alverca viaduct

The numerical model illustrated in Fig. 11 has been optimised in order to reduce the size of the finite element mesh and decrease the computational
cost. The several models considered in the optimisation process, as well as the number of d.o.f. of each one and the elapsed times for calculating the
first 20 vibration modes with an Intel i7-4790 quad-core processor running at 3.6 GHz, are listed in Table A.1. The main differences between the
models in terms of the mesh characteristics are illustrated in Fig. A.1.
The maximum relative difference between the natural frequencies of all the analysed numerical models is 1.7%, while the minimum MAC value
between the mode shapes obtained with the different models is 0.99. These results show that there is good agreement between all the models.
Therefore, since the reduction in the mesh size does not influence the dynamic behaviour of the viaduct but significantly improves the computational
efficiency, model F has been adopted in the present paper to perform the dynamic analyses.

Appendix B. model updating of the Alverca viaduct

The model of the viaduct is calibrated and validated by comparing the response of the numerical model with data measured during an ambient
vibration test performed by Malveiro et al. [19]. The relative differences between the experimental and numerical natural frequencies of the vibration
modes (δ) and the MAC values of the corresponding mode shapes are listed in Table B.1. It can be observed that the numerical natural frequencies
obtained in the original model before updating and listed in Table A.1 are lower than the experimental ones.
In order to improve the numerical results, more accurate values of the mechanical properties are obtained using a FEM model updating procedure.
The objective function used by the optimisation algorithm is defined by
⃒
n ⃒ num
⃒
∑ fi − fiexp ⃒ ∑n
[ ( )]
f =a exp +b 1 − MAC ϕnum
i , ϕexp
i (B.1)
i=1
fi i=1

where the superscripts exp and num denote experimental and numerical values, respectively. The variables fi and ϕi are the natural frequencies and
mode shapes, and n is the number of vibration modes. Since all the terms of the objective function range from zero to one, the weighting factors a and b
are assumed to be unitary.
Malveiro et al. [19] have performed a sensitivity analysis to identify the variables that most influence the objective function, which they concluded
to be the modulus of elasticity, the density of the concrete and the longitudinal stiffness of the supports. The initial values of the parameters considered
in the optimisation process are defined in [19] and listed in Table B.2.
The model updating of the viaduct is performed using the MATLAB® function fmincon with the options interior-point, sqp or active-set. Table B.3
briefly describes the main characteristics of each of these algorithms and what distinguish them.
In all the algorithms mentioned above, when the objective function value is less than 0.1 the iteration process is stopped, and the corresponding
solution is considered to be acceptable. Fig. B.1 shows the evolution of the objective function using the active set algorithm. A value of 0.15 is reached
after 23 iterations, but a value of 0.1 is only achieved after 78 iterations.
The optimal values of the parameters and the relative differences between these and the initially adopted values are shown in Table B.4. The three
moduli of elasticity of the concrete increase and its density decreases, which is in line with the fact that the natural frequencies of the initial numerical
model are lower than the experimental ones.
For each mode, the optimal natural frequencies, the MAC values between the numerical and experimental mode shapes, and the corresponding

15
S.G.M. Neves et al. Engineering Structures 226 (2021) 111308

contributions to the objective function are shown in Table B.5. The total number of iterations, the average absolute relative difference between the
optimal and initial values of the numerical parameters (δ), and the final value of the objective function are listed in Table B.6. The three algorithms
converge to the same value of the objective function, but the option active-set leads to the lowest average relative difference between the initial and
optimised values. For this reason, the corresponding parameters are used in the optimal numerical model of the viaduct (see numerical mode shapes of
the optimized model and corresponding natural frequencies in Fig. 13).

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