Rail corrugation development in high speed lines

Rail corrugation wear is one of the most important types of track wear in the railroad industry. The most common cases of rail corrugation that have been documented in the literature were classified by Grassie [1] in six categories, according to the damage and wavelength fixing mechanisms. Except for heavy haul railroads corrugation and for light rail corrugation, in all the other four types of rail corrugation the damage mechanism is wear. This paper analyses the possible existence and degree of rail corrugation wear on four types of high speed tracks (RHEDA 2000, AFTRAV, STEDEF and high performance ballasted track), examining different vehicle velocities and track radii, and taking into account the dynamic behaviour of the high speed wheelset rolling on the rails. A numerical method that takes into account the dynamics of the track and the wheelset as well as the wear mechanism has been used. The four high speed tracks are ranked according to rail corrugation wear development. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.