Effect of the wheelset structure on short-pitch corrugation on tight curved track of subway

Short-pitch corrugation is a very common and frequent wear pattern on tight curved track of subway with complicated formation mechanism and various influencing factors. Service failures of structure components of the vehicle-track system and wheel-rail noise have been associated with short-pitch corrugation. Effective control measures against short-pitch corrugation are still limited. This study was driven by developing mitigation measures of the short-pitch corrugation by investigating the effect of the wheelset structure on rail corrugation. A 3D wheel-rail steady-state rolling contact finite element model was established with the consideration of the wheel inertia. The mixed Lagrangian/Eulerian method was used to describe the steady-state rolling of the wheel. Frequency domain characteristics of the friction-induced vibration of the wheel-rail system were studied by using complex eigenvalue analysis, and the relationship between the friction-induced vibration of the wheel-rail sys-tem and rail corrugation was revealed. Based on the stability analysis of wheel-rail system, the influence of the wheelset structure on short-pitch corrugation was studied. The numerical simulation results show that the shape of wheel web presents evident influence on the friction-induced vibration of wheel-rail system. The wheel-rail system with S-shape web is more prone to unstable than that with straight web. Rail corrugation is more likely to occur in the wheel-rail system with S-shape web. Further studies show that the axial distance between the rim and hub has a remarkable impact on the friction-induced vibration of the wheel-rail system. A significant reduction in the probability of rail corrugation can be achieved by reducing the axial distance between the rim and hub. When the rim-hub axial distance of the wheel with S-shape web is less than 0 mm, the friction-induced vibration of wheel-rail system will disappear, which means that the short-pitch corrugation caused by the friction-induced vibration of the wheel-rail system will no longer occur. As for the straight-web wheel, the friction-induced vibration will disappear when the axial distance is less than 6 mm. The rim thickness also has an obvious influence on the friction-induced vibration of the wheel-rail system. The probability of the friction-induced vibration increases with the decrease of the rim thickness, which indicates that the speed of rail corrugation will increase with the aggravation of wheel wear.