Rail corrugation formation studied with a full-scale test facility and numerical analysis

Abstract The current paper reviews and discusses the results of some important papers on rail corrugation in detail, and introduces the experimental study on mechanism of rail corrugation formation on curved track carried out using a full-scale test facility. The corrugation with different wavelengths on the test wheel tread is reproduced in the experiment. It is found that the passing frequency of the reproduced corrugation is the same as the excited natural frequency of the test rig. The natural frequencies of the test rig are identified through the modal experiment of the test rig using impulse method. The corrugation in the experiment is numerically analysed in the paper. In the analysis the contact geometry and steady creepage of the wheels/rollers in rolling contact are calculated. Kalker's rolling contact theory with non-Hertzian form is modified and used to calculate the frictional work density in the contact area of the wheel/roller. A model concerning the material loss per unit area proportional to the frictional work density is used to determine the wear on the contact surface of the wheel. The numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental results. They show that the test rig vibrating at high frequency can initiate a corrugation passing the same frequency on the smooth contact surface of the wheel under specific test conditions. The specific conditions include the non-zero steady creepage of the wheelset/rollers, the circumference of the wheel rolling circle approximately equal to multiple of the corrugation wavelength. The corrugation wavelength depends on the excited natural frequency of the test rig and the rolling speed of the wheelset. The depth and growth speed of corrugation depend on the fluctuation amplitude of the contact normal load of the wheelset/rollers.