Modelling of railway curve squeal including effects of wheel rotation

Abstract

Railway vehicles negotiating tight curves may emit an intense high-pitch noise. The underlying mechanisms of this squeal noise are still a subject of research. Simulation models are complex since they have to consider the non-linear, transient and high-frequency interaction between wheel and rail. Often simplified models are used for wheel and rail to reduce computational effort, which involves the risk of over-simplifications. This paper focuses on the importance to include a rotating wheel instead of a stationary wheel in the simulation models. Two formulations for a rotating wheel are implemented in a previously published wheel/rail interaction model: a realistic model based on an Eulerian modal coordinate approach and a simplified model based on a rotating load and moving Green's functions. The simulation results for different friction coefficients and values of lateral creepage are compared with results obtained for the stationary wheel. Both approaches for the rotating wheel give almost identical results for the rolling speed considered. Furthermore, it can be concluded that a model of a stationary flexible wheel is sufficient for both capturing the tendency to squeal and predicting the resulting wheel/rail contact forces.