VERTICAL DYNAMIC INTERACTION BETWEEN TRAIN AND TRACK INFLUENCE OF WHEEL AND TRACK IMPERFECTIONS

Abstract The vertical dynamic behaviour is investigated for a railway bogie moving on a rail which is discretely supported, via railpads, by sleepers resting on an elastic foundation. The transient interaction problem is numerically solved by use of an extended state-spacer vector approach in conjunction with a complex modal superposition for the track. Application examples are given in which the influences of three types of practically important imperfections in the compound vehicle/track system are investigated. The first is a sinusoidal corrugation of the railhead and the second a skid flat on the wheel tread (a wheelflat). The third imperfection is a case where a single sleeper has lost its support due to erosion of the ballast. Physical explanations of the calculated interaction behaviour are given.