Uneven settlement threshold of continuous beam pier based on analytic mapping relationship

Currently, there is no regulation on the settlement threshold of continuous beam bridge pier of high-speed railway (HSR), a method is proposed in the present study to calculate the settlement threshold of continuous beam pier based on the analytic mapping relationship. First, the dynamic model of the train-track-continuous beam bridge was established. Then, the mapping rail irregularities caused by pier settlement obtained from the analytic mapping relationship superimposed with the initial rail irregularities converted from the Chinese track irregularities spectrum by using the trigonometric series method. Furthermore, the proposed method was verified by comparative analysis with the measured data and the existing results. Finally, the types and thresholds of uneven settlement of continuous beam bridge pier were revealed based on the parameter discussion method. It was found that the influence of pier settlement on the train dynamic performance index had a strong correlation with the train running direction. The settlement threshold of long-span continuous beam pier was looser than that of simply supported beams with a 32 m span. The settlement threshold of continuous beam piers can be appropriately relaxed in design.