Application of rubber mats in transition zone between two different slab tracks in high-speed railway

Rubber mats are widely used as a common vibration reduction material in urban rail transit and highspeed railway, due to its excellent technical characteristics. At the transition zones between different types of slab tracks, a moving wheel experiences a rapid change in elevation. Severe vibration and deterioration of track structures may occur because of the sudden change in the vertical track stiffness. This paper focuses on applying rubber mats to solve the transition problem by changing stiffness gradually. A self-compiling program was used for establishing the vehicle-track coupled dynamic analysis model. Dynamic responses of vehicle-track system without transition scheme are simulated to demonstrate the necessity of designing a track transition. One 5-slab-transition scheme is proposed and optimized according to the simulation results. The smoothness of the transition zone is significantly improved with the proposed design. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.