Analysis of concrete damage at anchorage end of the high-speed railway bridge sound barrier under the 400 km/h train-induced wind loads

The sound barrier installed on high-speed railway bridges withstands repeated train-induced wind load, which may lead to concrete damage at its anchorage end. This paper focuses on the assessment of concrete static damage at the sound barrier anchorage end under train-induced wind loads. The nonlinear finite element model of the sound barrier anchorage system is established to analyze the stress distribution, strain distribution and static damage of concrete structure at the anchorage end under 400 km/h train-induced wind loads in respect of different bolt preloads. The simulated results illustrate that both mortar and concrete near bolt holes suffer a certain degree of tensile and compressive damage. The maximum tensile and compressive damage factor values for mortar and concrete are 0.930, 0.643 and 0.892, 0.434 respectively. In addition, the effects of train-induced wind load on the internal force of the sound barrier anchorage take nearly no account, with a maximum of only 0.68 %. The results indicate that bolt preload is the most significant factor for concrete static damage, while the train-induced wind load appears negligible. An appropriate bolt preload can avoid the concrete static damage of the sound barrier anchorage end, and guarantee the structural stability of the sound barrier.