Abstract Summary
Strong crosswinds may significantly affect the runnability of trains moving over viaducts. However, the actual influence of the viaduct’s behaviour under these circumstances in the performance of the train is still not rigorously discussed, particularly in high-pier viaducts characterized by large lateral flexibilities and very low frequencies. The present work aims to fill this gap, by studying the behaviour of the Arroyo de las Piedras high-pier viaduct, which belongs to the Spanish high-speed (HS) network, and the corresponding runnability of trains moving over it. To assess the actual influence of the lateral flexibility in the train’s performance, the study takes into consideration not only the original viaduct, but other scenarios with different flexibilities based on the original one. The vehicle’s performance is analysed in terms of running safety through different derailment criteria, as well as in terms of passenger comfort using the indexes stipulated in the norms. The results show that the influence of the lateral flexibility is almost negligible in the presence of crosswinds, since the main impact is related with the wind that hits the train directly, and not so much with the lateral movement of the deck.
