Analysis of bending waves and parametric influence on band gaps in periodic track structure

Vibration of railway tracks generated due to rail-wheel interaction is a key research concern. A rail with equally spaced supports can be regarded as a periodic structure. Such a structure possesses unique property of band gap because of that they act as vibro-acoustic filters. Here, the propagation behavior of vertical and lateral bending waves is studied in a periodic ballastless track structure. Bloch-Floquet theorem is used to formulate the dispersion relations for the propagation of two types of waves which is validated by corresponding finite element model. The results show coexistence of both resonance and Bragg type band gaps they are owing to locally resonant units and spatial periodicity in the track. Furthermore, the study also explores the impact of track parameters, such as pad stiffness and sleeper spacing, on the properties of these band gaps.