Measurements on Correlation Between Rail Corrugation and Vertical Loads

This paper focuses on rail corrugation, specifically on roaring rails and possible solutions to mitigate their impact. Rail corrugation is especially present in metro lines, due to the constant speed, direction and type of vehicles. The current standard solution to reduce the consequences of rail corrugation is to grind or mill the rails more frequently. This requires track closures, leading to shorter operating windows. We suggest the possibility of using different vehicle speeds as proposed in other papers to reduce the harmonic load part on the rail, and therefore reduce the effects of corrugation. To validate this statement, we performed measurements of vertical loads and rail stresses in a metro line in Vienna, recording both the existing rail corrugation and the reaction of the track to trains passing at these locations with various speeds. The results indicate a general reduction in the peak-to-peak values of both rail foot strain and vertical load at lower speeds. Interestingly, there is no clear influence of corrugation depth at higher vehicle speeds.