Performance Analysis of Piezoelectric Actuators in Railway Wheel Squealing Noise Mitigation

Abstract

Application of a shunted piezoelectric system in reduction of the squeal noise level in railway wheels is studied. A wheel squeal model including the railway track, wheel, and nonlinear interaction contact forces is taken into account in the time domain. Consequent vibration of the wheel is calculated at incident of sharp curve passing. The sound pressure level (SPL) of the noise is then calculated by an analytical method. Performance of different shunt circuits including the R (resistance) and RL (resistance inductance) is evaluated in different frequency ranges. A new methodology is proposed to achieve multimode damping. According to results, the SPL of wheel squeal noise can effectively get reduced by the proposed method, up to 5 dB at near-field and 10 dB at far-field.

Active Vibration Control for the Mitigation of Wheel Squeal Noise Based on a Fuzzy Self-Tuning PID Controller

“…is is due to the different geometry and mass of the worn wheel, which changes its natural frequencies. Table 5 presents a comparison of the results that the authors gained in this research and their previous studies [25,26]. e table regards the noise reduction in different frequency bands.…”

“…e two previous studies mentioned in the table are about the dithering control of wheel squeal noise [25] and the increase in wheel damping by means of shunted piezoelectric patches [26].…”

“…e other mitigation methods, such as adding preloaded rings to wheels [22], installing constrained layer dampers [23], and using composite material on wheels [24], have been introduced for noise suppression by increasing wheel damping. Rahim Marjani and Younesian [25,26] also applied shunted piezoelectric patches to increase the modal damping of wheels. According to the results, an increase in damping can efficiently suppress wheel squeal noise.…”

Passive Shunted Piezoelectric Systems for Vibration Control of Wind Turbine Towers: A Feasibility Study

“…Lastly, in acoustic noise reduction applications, these systems generate anti-noise signals to cancel out unwanted noise, improving acoustic comfort and reducing environmental impact. An example is described in [50], where a shunted piezoelectric system is implemented for the reduction of the squeal noise level in railway wheels. Through their multifaceted capabilities, passive shunted piezoelectric systems continue to advance engineering solutions across diverse fields, addressing critical challenges and driving innovation forward.…”