A full-scale test rig for railway rolling noise – simulation and measurements of dynamic wheelset-track interaction

Other conference contribution, 2003

A newly built outdoor rolling-noise test rig on a separate 25 m stretch of full-scale track will enable the study of vibrations of wheel and rail and of the pertinent noise emission under controlled conditions. The arrangement can be seen as a physical realisation of the TWINS (Track-Wheel Interaction Noise Software) computer software. The track and wheel, which are not in mechanical contact, are excited in vertical and lateral directions using electrodynamic actuators. The track can be statically preloaded by up to 30 tonnes. The use of the rig is presently under development. The aim is that the radiated noise from each one of different railway components should be found as the wheel and the track can be excited both together and separately. Amplitude and phase of the applied forces are predetermined by use of an algorithm taking into account real wheel-rail interaction properties. In that way different wheel-rail contact conditions can be simulated. Eight parties co-operate in the development and operation of the CHARMEC/Lucchini Railway Noise Test Rig (RNTR) in Surahammar, Sweden. In ongoing experiments the dynamics of wheel and rail have been examined in the frequency domain. For the track, comparisons have been made between data obtained from the rig and those from in-field measurements on a standard Swedish line. Both dynamic response and spatial decay rate have been studied. The performance of the rig has also been compared to results from TWINS and to results from the literature. Good agreement was obtained in the relevant frequency range 100-5000 Hz. Some results from preliminary measurements of noise emission will be given.