Overturning and Derailment of Railway Vehicles by Lateral Track Movements

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This study investigates the safety and performance of railway vehicles excited by lateral track movements which could occur during large earthquakes or strong winds. Such studies have practical importance, especially for the safety of railway vehicles running at very high speeds on long-span suspension bridges, because these vehicles may be subject to levels of excitation that are highly amplified by the bridge. Two types of test models are constructed in this study, and the dynamic response of these models on horizontally vibrating tracks is investigated experimentally under both standing and running conditions. As a result, for the some excitation within a certain range of frequencies, two modes of vibration, i.e., rolling and rocking responses, are observed. A jump phenomenon between these two modes is recognized. The behaviors during rocking and overturning are then examined in detail. In order to explain the experimental results, two kinds of mathematical models are considered. For each model, the nonlinear differential equations of motion are developed, and their numerical solutions are obtained by high-speed computers. It is concluded that both analytical models are useful to explain the experimentally obtained results.