Experimental study of the treatment measures for rail corrugation on tracks with Egg fasteners in the Beijing metro

Abstract

Rail corrugation occurring on track fitted with Egg fasteners has become a serious problem on newly operated lines of the Beijing metro in recent years. Investigations and field measurements show that the dominant wavelengths of corrugation are 63-100 mm, inducing dominant frequencies of vibration on the rail in the frequency range 160-310 Hz for train speeds 60-70 km/h. Due to the influence of the track dynamic behaviour on the formation of rail corrugation, various options for changing the dynamic behaviour of the track structure can be considered as possible solutions to treat the corrugation. Four treatment measures have been considered: rail grinding, adding a rubber pad within the fastener, replacing the fastener with a compression-type fastener, and installing rail dampers on the rail. Field experiments have been carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of these rail corrugation treatments on two lines of the Beijing metro. Frequency response functions (FRFs), track decay rates, and pass-by acceleration on the rail were measured, and the development of rail roughness was monitored. Experimental results show that the four measures are all effective to control or at least slow the growth of rail corrugation on tracks with Egg fastener. Rail grinding is mostly used to limit the effects of corrugation; here, it was noted that low-amplitude corrugation on some straight lines did not reappear after rail grinding. After adding a rubber pad within the fastener, existing corrugation reduced in amplitude, while corrugation did not reappear on newly ground rail. Replacing the fastener with a compression-type fastener and installing rail dampers on the rail were both found to slow the growth of corrugation.

Effect of Rail Pad Stiffness on Vehicle–Track Dynamic Interaction Excited by Rail Corrugation in Metro

“…Nevertheless, there are contradictory findings in the literature. Some researchers ( 14 , 22 ) have attributed severe rail corrugation to low vertical support stiffness and believed that increasing the stiffness of the fastener will slow down the development of corrugations. On the contrary, Ilias ( 7 ) and Egana ( 8 ) believed that lower fastener stiffness was helpful to suppress rail corrugation.…”

Parametric Study of Track Support Structure to Minimize the Occurrence Possibility of Rail Corrugation

“…A minor difference is that the fastener and track slab are simulated by point-to-point spring-damper elements, and the foundation is simulated by point-to-ground elements. Generally, it is assumed that the lateral stiffness of the fastener and slab are equivalent to the relevant longitudinal stiffness ( 17 ). The spring-damper elements are generated automatically in batches by a Python script, and the huge workload of creating point-to-point spring-damper elements manually is thereby avoided.…”

“…Ilias ( 15 ) and Egana et al ( 16 ) proposed that using fasteners with lower stiffness is conducive to reducing the normal wheel–rail force, thereby slowing the generation of rail corrugation. Liu et al ( 17 ) presented three measures to suppress rail corrugation by on-site investigations of the Cologne egg fastener, which consists of adding a rubber mat to the fastener, replacing the fastener, and installing a vibration absorber. Similarly, Wu ( 18 ) proposed to use the absorber to suppress the pinned-pinned response, which can suppress rail corrugation in some cases.…”

Field Investigation and Rapid Deterioration Analysis of Heavy Haul Corrugation

“…The topic of rail corrugation has attracted enough interest among researchers, and their research outcomes have been implemented in the mitigation of rail corrugation using a friction modifier [17,18], a frequency regulation measurement [19,20], and suggestions regarding the deficiency of current evaluation criteria have even been made [21]. Due to the complexity of the mechanism of rail corrugation, current understandings regarding corrugation are not sufficient to reach a consensus, and it still acts as a major and common defect in rail systems.…”