The Behaviour of Railway Wheelsets and Track at High Frequencies of Excitation

The dynamical response in the frequency range 50–1500 Hz is investigated of a railway wheelset resting on the track and excited vertically, laterally and longitudinally at a point of contact. A mathematical model of a railway wheelset is developed which comprises a few simple components to which analytical methods can be applied. Good agreement is obtained between experimental data and calculations made using this model. For a given sinusoidal displacement imposed between wheel and rail, the contact force is in general greatest longitudinally and least laterally.