Analysis of Coupled Vibration between Railway Vehicle Wheels and a Rail in Both Vertical and Horizontal Directions Using an Approximate Model with an Infinite Number of Vehicles

Rolling noise arises from the interaction of the vibration characteristics of rails and railway vehicle wheels through the points of contact. This paper deals with the coupled linear vibration between wheels and a rail using an approximate model with an infinite number of vehicles which are arranged with a certain periodicity on an infinitely long and straight rail installed on three distributed springs, taking the coupling in both vertical and horizontal directions into account. The vertical irregularity on the head surface of the rail is regarded as a source of excitation. As a result, it was clarified that (1) the vertical vibration of the rail, the horizontal vibrations of wheel and rail, and the vertical vibration of the wheel contribute to the rolling noise according to the high vibration level, and (2) the vibration levels are high on the rail within the narrow intervals between adjacent wheels.