Analysis of railway wheel-squeal due to unsteady longitudinal creepage using the complex eigenvalue method

Abstract

Railway wheel-squeal is a major source of noise nuisance in the proximity of curves where squeal occurs. Wheel-squeal results from frictional instability in the wheel-rail contact patch due to the creep forces generated during vehicle guidance. In the present study, an investigation of railway wheel-squeal due to mode-coupling instability is performed by implementing complex eigenvalue analysis using finite element software. The results of the study show that squeal in 1000 m radius curves can be attributed to the coupling of doublet wheel modes in the presence of saturated longitudinal creepage. More specifically the model validates the experimentally obtained squeal frequencies.