Influence of different track structures on the development of corrugation in small radius curve section of subway

Abstract

Many studies have shown that the rail corrugation on the small radius curve section of subway floating slab track is serious. And it seems to be different from the rail corrugation on the common track. The track structure must play an important role in the generation and development of rail corrugation. This paper measured a subway line in Tianjin, including 2 different track structures, and analyzed the measured data by using the international evaluation and acceptance indexes of rail corrugation. The results show that the inner rail of short sleeper monolithic track (SSMT) has poor smoothness in the wavelength range of 0-300 mm, and the overall smoothness of outer rail is good; the inner rail of steel spring floating slab track (SSFST) has poor smoothness in the wavelength range of 100-300 mm, and the outer rail has poor smoothness in the wavelength range of 300-1000 mm. Then the vehicle-track coupling model and wheel-rail wear calculation model is established. The calculation results show that in the existing rail corrugation, the short-wavelength rail corrugation of 20-25 mm will continue to appear or deteriorate, and the development of rail corrugation of other wavelengths will slow down or stop to varying degrees; with the increase of train passing times, the rail corrugation of SSFST with the wavelength of 315 mm develops the fastest, and the rail corrugation of SSMT with wavelengths of 20 mm and 160 mm develops the fastest.