Some aspects regarding the roughness of the railway surface and rolling noise at locomotives

Abstract

Railway noise is activated by irregularities on the running surfaces of rails and wheels, these being more significant for the most part of the wavelength and the frequency range of interest. The rolling noise generation mechanism consists of two major structural components: the wheel and rail. The contribution to the noise of the track can be further separated into noise radiation on the rails and in the sleepers. To mitigate the rolling noise, these components must be analysed. To direct and manage mitigation methods within Faurei Railway Testing Center, the rail surface roughness in accordance with EN 15610 was determined in a line of alignment, this being a direct method of measuring the surface roughness of the rail, in association with the rolling noise introduction. In this paper, it is proposed a fractal analysis of the microgeometry of the rail surface, with the possibility of using it as an acoustic parameter.