Research on the damping performance of a sleeper damping track with elastic side-supporting pad

A new sleeper damping track with four elastic side-supporting pads (SDTESSP) has been proposed to resolve issues such as water accumulation, the aging of elastic components, and difficult maintenance in traditional designs. Although the engineering feasibility and dynamic performance of SDTESSP have been investigated, its damping capacity of SDTESSP has not been quantitatively evaluated. To provide a better understanding of the damping capacity of SDTESSP, the stiffness and damping values of the SDTESSP were first calculated for practical applications based on the comprehensive experiments using an electro-hydraulic servo test platform. Then, the drop hammer test was employed to assess the damping performance of the SDTESSP. Lastly, the dynamic performance and damping capacity of the SDTESSP were further assessed using the developed vehicle-SDTESSP coupled dynamics model. The results indicate that the SDTESSP has excellent damping performance, and its damping capacity increases with the decrease of the ESSP hardness, reaching a maximum of 16.2 dB under train load. As a result, the damping capacity of SDTESSP can be effectively graded by adjusting the ESSP hardness, enabling it to meet the requirements for different damping levels in metro lines. •Novel SDTESSP resolves water accumulation, aging, and maintenance challenges.•Quantitative evaluation reveals excellent damping performance.•Adjustable ESSP hardness grades damping capacity for diverse metro line requirements.