Aerodynamic effect of wind barriers and running safety of trains on high-speed railway bridges under cross winds

For high-speed railways (HSR) in wind prone regions, wind barriers are often installed on bridges to ensure the running safety of trains. This paper analyzes the effect of wind barriers on the running safety of a high-speed train to cross winds when it passes on a bridge. Two simply-supported (S-S) PC bridges in China, one with 32 m box beams and the other with 16 m trough beams, are selected to perform the dynamic analyses. The bridges are modeled by 3-D finite elements and each vehicle in a train by a multi-rigid-body system connected with suspension springs and dashpots. The wind excitations on the train vehicles and the bridges are numerically simulated, using the static tri-component coefficients obtained from a wind tunnel test, taking into account the effects of wind barriers, train speed and the spatial correlation with wind forces on the deck. The whole histories of a train passing over the two bridges under strong cross winds are simulated and compared, considering variations of wind velocities, train speeds and without or with wind barriers. The threshold curves of wind velocity for train running safety on the two bridges are compared, from which the windbreak effect of the wind barrier are evaluated, based on which a beam structure with better performance is recommended.