Influence of track irregularities in high-speed Maglev transportation systems

Track irregularities of high-speed Maglev lines have significant influence on ride comfort. Their adjustment is of key importance in the daily maintenance of these lines. In this study, an adjustment method is proposed and track irregularities analysis is performed. This study considers two modules: an inspection module and a vehicle-guideway coupling vibration analysis module. In the inspection module, an inertial reference method is employed for field-measurements of the Shanghai high-speed Maglev demonstration line. Then, a partial filtering, integration method, resampling method, and designed elliptic filter are employed to analyze the detection data, which reveals the required track irregularities. In the analysis module, a vehicle-guideway interaction model and an electromagnetic interaction model were developed. The influence of the measured line irregularities is considered for the calculations of the electromagnetic force. Numerical integration method was employed for the calculations. Based on the actual field detection results and analysis using the numerical model, a threshold analysis method is developed. Several irregularities modalities with different girder end's deviations were considered in the simulations. The inspection results indicated that long-wavelength irregularities with larger girder end's deviations were the dominant irregularities. In addition, the threshold analysis of the girder end's deviation shows that irregularities that have a deviation amplitude larger than 6 mm and certain modalities (e.g., M- and N-shape) are unfavorable. These types of irregularities should be adjusted during the daily maintenance.