Mechanical characteristics optimization of ballast bed variable on operating process for the dynamic track stabilizer

The ballast bed is the foundation of the track system, simulation analysis of the variation rule of the ballast bed variable under the operating process of the dynamic track stabilizer, is valuable for the simulation of vehicle track systems. In this paper, a method for calculating the equivalent stiffness and damping of the ballast bed by discrete element method was presented. EDEM was a software of discrete element method, which was used to simulate the operating process of the dynamic track stabilizer. It was found that after two times of stabilize operating, the state of ballast bed tends to be stable, and there was no practical effect on the ballast bed when it is continuous operating, and the value of the support stiffness of sleeper was increased by about 7 times than before. According to the simulation data, the function model of the support stiffness of sleeper, damping and cumulative settlement of ballast bed was established under the operating process of the dynamic track stabilizer, which provides the effective ballast bed variables in order to further improve the accuracy of dynamic stability of vehicle track coupling systems.