Effects of the highway live load on the additional forces of the continuously welded rails of a long-span suspension bridge

High-speed running trains have higher regularity requirements for rail tracks. The track-bridge interaction of long-span bridges for high-speed railways has become a key factor for engineers and researchers in the last decade. However, studies on the track-bridge interaction of long-span bridges are rare because the bridges constructed for high-speed railways are mainly short- or moderate-span bridges, and the effects of the highway live load on the additional forces of continuously welded rails (CWRs) have not been reported. In the present study, the effects of the highway live load on the additional forces of a CWR of a long-span suspension bridge are investigated through numerical simulations. A track-bridge spatial analysis model was established using the principle of the double-layer spring model and the bilinear resistance model. The additional stress and displacement of the rail are calculated, and the effects of the highway live load are analyzed and compared with those without a highway live load. The results show that the highway live load has an obvious effect on the additional forces of a CWR. Under a temperature force, the highway live load increases the maximum tensile stress and compressive stress by 10 and 13%, respectively. Under a bending force, the highway live load increases the maximum compressive rail stress and maximum displacement by 50 and 54%, respectively. Under a rail breaking force, when the highway live load is taken into consideration, the rail displacement at both sides of the broken rail varies by 50 and 42%, respectively. The highway live load must be taken into consideration when calculating the additional forces of rails on highway-railway long-span bridges.