J. Cent. South Univ.

(2013) 20: 1426−1433

DOI: 10.1007/s11771-013-1631-7

Applicability of small resistance fastener on

long-span continuous bridges of high-speed railway

DAI Gong-lian(戴公连), LIU Wen-shuo(刘文硕)

School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410075, China
© Central South University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Abstract: Ballastless tracks have been widely applied in high-speed railway (HSR). The adaptability research between continuous
welded rails (CWR) and long-span bridges of HSR is of great practical engineering significance. Based on the HSR long-span
continuous bridges, the integrative spatial finite element model of track-bridge-pier-foundation system was established with the
nonlinear spring element simulating the longitudinal resistance between track and bridge. Comparative study on the various
additional longitudinal forces of CWR using the common fasteners and small resistance fasteners was carried out. Analysis results
indicate that the additional expansion forces and additional rail-breaking forces in long-span ballastless continuous girders can be
reduced evidently by 40%−50% after adopting small resistance fasteners, but lead to greater rail broken gap. The small resistance
fasteners have little influence on the additional force only caused by vertical load, but can reduce the additional force caused by
vertical load combined with braking load by over 10%. Besides, transient analysis method is proved to be more accurate and safe in
calculating additional longitudinal forces when the train running or braking on the bridge, compared with the traditional static
method.

Key words: ballastless track; small resistance fasteners; additional longitudinal force; long-span continuous beam; high-speed railway

Procedures on Railway Shinkansen Bridge (DS899/59)”

1 Introduction
With the advantages of large rigidity and little
deformation, bridges are suitable to be built as the
substructure of tracks carrying high-speed trains, so
bridges are accounting for a large proportion in
high-speed railway lines (about 86.5% in Beijing−
Shanghai high-speed railway (HSR)) [1]. In order to
adapt to the main development trends of the railway,
high speed and heavy haul traffic, continuous welded rail
(CWR) has been widely applied in the world because of
its large integral stiffness and good smoothness [2].
Especially, the ballastless track, with the merits of low
building height, high integrity, low noise and less
maintenance [1, 3], is favored by high-speed railway
gradually.
Due to the mutual constraints and interaction, the
bridge and the track constitute a unified interactional
mechanics-balanced system. To ensure the running safety,
the calculation of additional longitudinal force between
the beam and the CWR is indispensable in the design
process of high-speed railway bridges [4−5]. With regard
to this problem, a great number of theoretic researches
and field experiments were carried out. The “Special
[6] was formulated in Germany in 1985. The “Track-
bridge Interaction Recommendations for Calculations
(UIC774-3)” [7] was enacted in Europe in 1991 to
calculate the forces and displacements related to the
track−bridge interaction phenomena. In China, the
“Temporary Provision of CWR Design on Newly Built
Railway Bridge” and “Code for Design of Railway CWR
(draft)” [8] were promulgated in 2003 and 2008,
respectively, so as to guide the design of high-speed
railways.
Compared with the ballast-deck bridge, the
additional force between CWR and the ballastless-deck
bridge is much greater, and it is more evident for
long-span continuous bridges. In order to reduce the
great additional force between the track and bridge, all of
the tracks laid on ballastless-deck bridges in Japan’s
Shinkansen adopted small resistance fasteners
(10 kN/(m·line)), and Germany has committed to the
development of small resistance fasteners in recent years
and has put them into practical application in some
high-speed railway lines, such as Cologne−Mainz HSR
and Nuremberg−Ingolstadt HSR [3, 9]. However, during
the early construction stage of HSR in China, large
resistance fasteners were commonly used in the CWR

Foundation item: Projects(50908232, 51108460) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
Received date: 2012−05−07; Accepted date: 2012−09−11
Corresponding author: LIU Wen-shuo, PhD Candidate; Tel: +86−15874181762; E-mail: liuwenshuo@csu.edu.cn
J. Cent. South Univ. (2013) 20: 1426−1433
design [8−10], and rail expansion devices were widely
installed in long multi-span bridges or large-span beams
to ensure that the strength of rails could meet the
requirements. But excessive use of rail expansion
devices not only affects the smoothness and rigidity
uniformity of railway lines, intensifies the vibration of
running trains and causes serious noise pollution, but
also increases the construction costs and maintenance
work.
Along with the large-scale railway construction in
China, relative researches on small resistance fasteners
are conducted gradually. In Ref. [10], a new mechanical
FE model was established to analyze the additional
longitudinal force transmission between rails and bridges
of ballast track with small resistance fasteners. In
Ref. [9], small resistance fasteners were recommended in
the ballastless-track railways in China, while the
application of the rail expansion devices was advised to
be avoided or reduced. XIAO et al [11] proved that
laying small resistance fasteners was an economic and
reliable approach to lay CWR on urban viaducts. In
Ref. [12], the reasonable value of WJ7 and WJ8-type
fasteners with small resistance was determined by field
measuring in the test section of Wuhan−Guangzhou
High-speed Railway. In Ref. [13], the elastic
displacement and longitudinal resistance value of small
resistance fasteners under load were measured and
researched through laboratory tests.
However, the existing researches on small
resistance fasteners are mostly focused on the simply-
supported beams or small and medium continuous beams
with the same section [4−11, 14], while such research on
long-span continuous bridges is still rare and insufficient.
It is well known that continuous beam bridges have the
characteristics of small deformation, little expansion
joints, beautiful appearance, good earthquake resistant
capability, simple maintaining, smooth track for
travelling, as well as great flexibility for crossing
established lines and various obstacles. Therefore, the
analysis of the applicability of small resistance fasteners
on long-span continuous bridges is very necessary, which
Fig. 1 Finite calculating model of track-bridge interaction
1427
can provide new ideas and reference for the design of
CWR on high-speed railway bridges.
2 Calculation model for track-bridge
interaction
Accurate simulation of the correlations between the
track and the bridge is the key part of the track-bridge
calculation. An integrative finite element model of track-
bridge-pier-foundation system was established (as shown
in Fig. 1). Rails and beams were simulated by elastic
spatial beam elements, with the longitudinal resistance
between rails and bridge simulated by nonlinear spring
elements. To achieve the simulation of beams’ bending,
the neutral axis and the upper flange of the beam were
connected by a rigid beam element. In the finite element
model, bearings were simulated according to the actual
arrangement, piers were simulated in accordance with
actual dimensions, and foundation’s stiffness was
achieved by establishing linear spring elements at the
bottom of piers. Besides, five standard simply-supported
beams of 32 m were established around each side of the
main bridge to make the calculating result much closer to
the reality, and each 100 m-rail on the subgrade at the
both ends was simulated in the model to minimize the
influence of boundary conditions.
As to the longitudinal resistance between the track
and bridge, the bilinear resistance model recommended
in UIC code [7] and widely used [15−19] was selected
and simulated by nonlinear spring in calculation process.
XU et al [10] indicated that the displacement of the
sleeper can be ignored in the track-bridge model if the
ballastless track is adopted, and the value of longitudinal
resistance should be the resistance of fasteners. WJ7 and
WJ8-type fasteners with ordinary resistance (Fastener A)
and small resistance (Fastener B) are the two most
widely applied fasteners in the ballastless-track railways
in China, and the additional force of the two kinds of
fasteners are calculated and compared in this work. The
resistance-displacement curve of the two fasteners is
selected according to the CWR code of China [8], as