Sound radiation from railway sleepers

Abstract

The sleepers supporting the rails of a railway track are an important source of noise at low frequencies. The sound radiation from the sleepers has been calculated using a three-dimensional boundary element model including the effect of both reflective and partially absorptive ground. When the sleeper flexibility and support stiffness are taken into account, it is found that the radiation ratio of the sleeper can be approximated by that of a rigid half-sleeper. When multiple sleepers are excited through the rail, their sound radiation is increased. This effect has been calculated for cases where the sleeper is embedded in a rigid or partially absorptive ground. It is shown that it is sufficient to consider only three sleepers in determining their radiation ratio when installed in track. At low frequencies the vibration of the track is localised to the three sleepers nearest the excitation point whereas at higher frequencies the distance between the sleepers is large enough for them to be treated independently. Consequently the sound radiation increases by up to 5dB below 100Hz compared with the result for a single sleeper whereas above 300Hz the result can be approximated by that for a single sleeper. Measurements on a 1/5 scale model railway track are used to verify the numerical predictions with good agreement being found for all configurations.