Rail Grinding and Track Vibration Resonances

Transit agencies in North America typically specify the ISO 3095:2005 rail roughness limits as an acceptance requirement in the grinding specifications. However, in practice, this requirement is rarely achieved, and the rail grinding industry typically proposes the EN 13231–3:2012 limits as alternate criteria for rail roughness. Rail grinding leaves grinding marks that show up as spectral roughness peaks at approximately 30 mm, 23 mm and 15 mm wavelengths. The roughness levels of these peaks are typically 5 to 15 decibels above the 2005 ISO curve. At 56 km/h train speeds, these peaks tend to increase the wayside noise by 1 or 2 decibels, or more where grinding marks are excessive. Measurements of track acceleration have shown that these roughness peaks generate vibration that coincides with the resilient fastener component resonance frequencies (800–900 Hz) at 89 km/h train speeds. These peaks are also close to the pin-pin vertical vibration mode of the rail. This paper focuses on an extreme case of this roughness peak exceeding the ISO curves and causing premature fatigue-induced failure of the rail clips installed on direct fixation fasteners.

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  • English

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  • Accession Number: 01874281
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 9783030702885
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Feb 23 2023 9:31AM