Thermally induced roughness of tread braked railway wheels: Part 2: modelling and field measurements

Abstract

Roughness (corrugation, waviness) on the tread of a rolling railway wheel leads to vibrations in wheels, bogies and superstructure and also in rails, sleepers and roadbed. These vibrating components radiate noise to the surroundings. A lowering of the noise levels from tread braked freight cars is of utmost importance for the future of rail traffic. The thermomechanical interaction between brake block and wheel tread during braking has been found to cause hot spots on the wheel tread. This phenomenon is believed to be a main contributor to the development of a wavy tread surface. Due to thermal expansion of the rim material, the hot spots will protrude from the wheel tread and be more exposed to wear during the wheel/block contact than the rest of the tread surface. The non-even wear results in roughness on the tread of the wheel after cooling. In the present paper, a theoretical and numerical model of the interaction between wheel rim and brake block has been developed. Simulations with this model demonstrate the principal phenomena occurring at the wheel/block contact. Furthermore, results from field measurements of wheel roughness are presented.