Wheel/rail dynamic interaction due to excitation of rail corrugation in high-speed railway

Abstract

Characteristics of wheel-rail dynamic interaction due to the rail corrugation in a high-speed railway are analyzed based on the theory of vehicle-track coupled dynamics in this paper. Influences of the corrugation wavelength and depth on the wheel-rail dynamic performance are investigated. The results show that, under the excitation of a measured rail corrugation, the wheel-rail dynamic interaction of high-speed railway is enhanced obviously, and the high-frequency dynamic force between wheel and rail is generated, which has an obvious impact on the vibrations of the wheelset and rail, and little effect on the vibration of the frame and carbody. If the corrugation wavelength is shorter than the sensitive wavelength, the wheel-rail vertical force will increase with the growth of the corrugation wavelength, otherwise, it will decrease. However, the wheel-rail vertical force keeps increasing with the growth of corrugation depth. Furthermore, if the corrugation wavelength is shorter than the sensitive wavelength, the wheel-rail vertical force will increase with the decrease of the running speed, otherwise, it will decrease. It is also found that the critical wavelength of corrugation increases with the growth of the corrugation depth and the running speed, and the critical depth of corrugation is nonlinearly related to the sensitive wavelength.