Dynamic performance analysis of floating slab track system considering flexible wheelset

Floating slab track (FST) has been widely used in urban rail transportation. To analyze the dynamic performance of the vehicle-FST system accurately, a vehicle-FST dynamic interaction model considering the flexibility of wheelsets is established. A method for flexible wheelset-rail relationship is described in detail. In addition, a virtual degrees of freedom method is adopted to improve the computational efficiency. To solve the stiffness nonlinearity of the rubber spring, an incremental numerical integration and matrices updating method is adopted. The numerical validation shows the reliable of the incremental numerical integration. Finally, the influence of the rubber spring parameters, stiffness nonlinearity of the rubber spring and wheelset flexibility on the dynamic performance of the system is analyzed in detail from the perspective of the frequency-domain and time-domain.