Rail roughness level assessment based on high-frequency wheel-rail contact force measurements

Abstract

A strategy for the assessment of rail surface quality in terms of a limit value for the mean rail roughness level in the wavelength interval 3 - 8 cm is outlined. The assessment may be used for planning of rail grinding intervals if used together with a system for regular monitoring of rail roughness levels. One such system could be based on instrumented wheelset technology that measures vertical wheel-rail contact forces on a disc-braked passenger wheel in the frequency range up to about 2 kHz. The root mean square value of the vertical wheel-rail contact force after band-pass filtering with cut-off wavelengths 3 cm and 8 cm is shown to be an efficient indicator for detection of track sections with short-pitch rail corrugation. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.