Mechanism and Experimental Formation of Wheel/Rail Corrugation

The relationship between wheel/rail (W/R) corrugation and the wavelength of longitudinal self-vibration and the longitudinal axis of contact ellipse was analyzed based on the nonlinear vibration and Hertzian theories. The analysis shows that the mechanism of W/R corrugation is that the wavelength of longitudinal selfvibration is larger than the longitudinal axis of contact ellipse; for a real W/R system, the criterion is that the lateral displacement of the wheelset is larger than a critical value. Numerical simulation and test were conducted to verify the proposed mechanism and criterion. The simulation results show that corrugations with lengths between 16 to 20 mm appear when the lateral displacement of the wheelset is 8 mm. Corrugation test was conducted on a rolling vibration test rig. Corrugations form when the lateral displacements of the wheelset are 8 and 11 mm, and the lengths are about 20 mm and 18 to 27 mm, respectively, under the former and the latter conditions. There is no obvious corrugation when the lateral displacement is 6 mm.