Moving Element Analysis of Maglev Train Over Multi-span Elevated Bridge

Abstract

Maglev trains are modern railway transport systems that utilize non-contact magnetic forces for levitation and propulsion. Owing to the advantage of being wear-free, they can travel at a speed that is much higher than conventional wheeled trains with lower noise emissions. For city and inter-city maglev lines, maglev trains often operate on multi-span elevated bridges. The dynamic re-sponse of the coupled maglev train-bridge system is of great interest to research-ers and engineers to ensure safe travel with the ever-increasing demand for higher operating speeds from the society. This study employs the moving element anal-ysis to efficiently compute the dynamic response of a maglev vehicle traversing a multi-span bridge with each span modeled as a simply supported beam with rotational springs connecting to the adjacent spans. The vehicle is modeled by employing the multi-body system. The vehicle and the bridge are coupled via electromagnetic forces. The accuracy of the proposed computational model is examined by comparison with results obtained using the equivalent finite element model. Parametric studies are carried out to investigate the effect of various fac-tors on the dynamic response of the coupled system. These include the speed of the train, the bridge span length and the stiffness of the suspension system.