The formation, development and classification of rail corrugation: a survey on Chinese metro

Abstract

Investigations into rail corrugation within metro systems have traditionally focused on specific mechanisms, thereby limiting the generalizability of proposed theories. Understanding the commonalities in rail corrugation across diverse metro lines remains pivotal for elucidating its underlying mechanisms. The present study conducted extensive field surveys and tracking tests across 14 Chinese metro lines. By employing t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) for dimensional reduction and employing the unsupervised clustering algorithm DBSCAN, the research redefines the classification of metro rail corrugation based on characteristic information. The analysis encompassed spatial distribution and temporal evolution of this phenomenon. Findings revealed that floating slab tracks exhibited the highest proportion of rail corrugation at 47%. Notably, ordinary monolithic bed tracks employing damping fasteners were more prone to inducing rail corrugation. Corrugation primarily manifested in curve sections with radii between 300 and 500 m, featuring ordinary monolithic bed track and steel-spring floating slab track structures, with wavelengths typically between 30 and 120 mm. Stick–slip vibrations of the wheel–rail system maybe led to short-wavelength corrugations (40–60 mm), while longer wavelengths (200–300 mm) exhibited distinct fatigue damage characteristics, mainly observed in steel-spring floating slab tracks and small-radius curve sections of ordinary monolithic bed tracks and ladder sleeper tracks. A classification system comprising 57 correlated features categorized metro rail corrugation into four distinct types. These research outcomes serve as critical benchmarks for validating various theories pertaining to rail corrugation formation.

References

[1.] Johansson A, Nielsen JCO. Rail corrugation growth—Influence of powered wheelsets with wheel tread irregularities. Wear 2007, 262 11–12 1296-1307

[2.] Correa N, Oyarzabal O, Vadillo EG . Rail corrugation development in high speed lines. Wear 2007, 271 9–10 2438-2447

[3.] Jin F, Xiao H, Nadakatti MM. Field investigation and rapid deterioration analysis of heavy haul corrugation. Appl Sci 2021, 11 14 6317

[4.] Jin X, Li X, Li W . Review of rail corrugation progress. J Southwest Jiaotong Univ 2016, 51 2 264-273(in Chinese)

[5.] Zhang H, Liu W, Liu W . Study on the cause and treatment of rail corrugation for Beijing metro. Wear 2014, 317 1–2 120-128

[6.] Li W, Wang H, Wen Z . An investigation into the mechanism of metro rail corrugation using experimental and theoretical methods. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part F-J Rail Rapid Transit 2016, 230 4 1025-1039

[7.] Cui XL, Chen GX, Yang HG . Study on rail corrugation of a metro tangential track with Cologne-egg type fasteners. Veh Syst Dyn 2016, 54 3 353-369

[8.] Fang G, Wang Y, Peng Z . Theoretical investigation into the formation mechanism and mitigation measures of short pitch rail corrugation in resilient tracks of metros. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part F-J Rail Rapid Transit 2018, 232 9 2260-2271

[9.] Han J, Xiao X, Wu Y . Effect of rail corrugation on metro interior noise and its control. Appl Acoust 2018, 130 63-70

[10.] Lei Z, Wang Z. Generation mechanism and development characteristics of rail corrugation of cologne egg fastener track in metro. KSCE J Civ Eng 2020, 24 6 1763-1774

[11.] Liu X, Wang P. Investigation of the generation mechanism of rail corrugation based on friction induced torsional vibration. Wear 2021, 468–469 203593

[12.] Grassie S, Kalousek J. Rail corrugation: characteristics, causes and treatments. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part F: J Rail Rapid Transit 1993, 207 16 57-68

[13.] Sato Y, Matsumoto A, Knothe K. Review on rail corrugation studies. Wear 2002, 253 1–2 130-139

[14.] Oostermeijer KH. Review on short pitch rail corrugation studies. Wear 2008, 265 9–10 1231-1237

[15.] Grassie SL. Rail corrugation: characteristics, causes, and treatments. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part F: J Rail Rapid Transit 2009, 223 6 581-596

[16.] Guan Q, Zhang B, Xiong J . Review on basic characteristics, formation mechanisms, and treatment measures of rail corrugation in metro systems. J Traffic Transp Eng 2021, 21 1 316-337(in Chinese)

[17.] Matsumoto A, Sato Y, Ono H . Formation mechanism and countermeasures of rail corrugation on curved track. Wear 2002, 253 1 178-184

[18.] Chen X, Qian W, Cui X et al (2014) Understanding the mechanism for the friction modifier suppressing wear-type rail corrugation from the viewpoint of friction-induced vibration, In: International Conference on Noise and Vibration Engineering (ISMA), Leuven, pp. 1843–1851

[19.] Li W, Zhou Z, Zhao X . Formation mechanism of short-pitch rail corrugation on metro tangent tracks with resilient fasteners. Veh Syst Dyn 2023, 61 6 1524-1547

[20.] Jin X, Wen Z, Zhang W . Numerical simulation of rail corrugation on a curved track. Comput Struct 2005, 83 25–26 2052-2065

[21.] Cui X, He Z, Huang B . Study on the effects of wheel-rail friction self-excited vibration and feedback vibration of corrugated irregularity on rail corrugation. Wear 2021, 477 203854

[22.] Vila P, Baeza L, Martinez-Casas J . Rail corrugation growth accounting for the flexibility and rotation of the wheel set and the non-Hertzian and non-steady-state effects at contact patch. Veh Syst Dyn 2014, 52 sup1 92-108

[23.] Matsumoto A, Sato Y, Tanimoto M . Study on the formation mechanism of rail corrugation on curved track. Veh Syst Dyn 1996, 25 sup1 450-465

[24.] Ishida M, Moto T, Takikawa M. The effect of lateral creepage force on rail corrugation on low rail at sharp curves. Wear 2002, 253 1–2 172-177

[25.] Cui X, Li J, Bao P . Investigation into the abnormal phenomenon of rail corrugation superposition in small-radius curve section of intercity railway. Transp Res Rec 2023, 2677 5 540-555

[26.] Mei G, Chen G. Slip of wheels on rails: the root cause for rail undulant wear. Wear 2023, 523 204727

[27.] Song Q, Chen G, Dong B . Study on rail corrugation on curved tracks on metro ramps. Wear 2023, 523 204769

[28.] Wen Z, Tao G, Zhao X . Wear and RCF problems of metro wheel/rail systems: phenomena, causes and countermeasures in China. Wear 2023, 534–535 205118

[29.] Belotserkovskii P, Pugina L. The rolling of a wheel along a corrugated rail. J Appl Math Mech 2008, 72 3 288-295

[30.] Bellette PA, Meehan PA, Daniel WJT. Effects of variable pass speed on wear-type corrugation growth. J Sound Vib 2008, 314 3–5 616-634

[31.] Sun YQ, Simson S. Nonlinear three-dimensional wagon–track model for the investigation of rail corrugation initiation on curved track. Veh Syst Dyn 2007, 45 2 113-132

[32.] Egana JI, Vinolas J, Gil-Negrete N. Effect of liquid high positive friction (HPF) modifier on wheel–rail contact and rail corrugation. Tribol Int 2005, 38 8 769-774

[33.] Wen Z, Jin X, Mao X. Effect of a scratch on curved rail on initiation and evolution of plastic deformation induced rail corrugation. Int J Solids Struct 2008, 45 7–8 2077-2096

[34.] Böhmer A, Klimpel T. Plastic deformation of corrugated rails-a numerical approach using material data of rail steel. Wear 2002, 253 1–2 150-161

[35.] Jin X, Wen Z. Effect of discrete track support by sleepers on rail corrugation at a curved track. J Sound Vib 2008, 315 1–2 279-300

[36.] Daniel WJT, Cheng CY, Meehan PA. Modelling the effects of friction modifiers on rail corrugation in cornering. Veh Syst Dyn 2008, 46 9 845-866

[37.] Qian W, Huang Z, Ouyang H. Numerical investigation of the effects of rail vibration absorbers on wear behaviour of rail surface. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part J-J Eng Tribol 2019, 233 3 424-438

[38.] Meehan PA, Batten RD, Bellette PA. The effect of non-uniform train speed distribution on rail corrugation growth in curves/corners. Wear 2016, 366–337 27-37

[39.] Wang P, Liu Y, Gao Y . A study on influence of surface strengthening on wheel–rail rolling contact behavior at rail corrugation. J China Railw Soc 2020, 42 5 105-112(in Chinese)

[40.] Grassie SL. The corrugation of railway rails: 1. Introduction and mitigationmeasures. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part F-J Rail Rapid Transit 2023, 237 5 588-596

[41.] Yin X, Wei X, Zheng H. Applying system dynamics of discrete supported track to analyze the rail corrugation causation on curved urban railway tracks. Discret Dyn Nat Soc 2021, 2021 9958163

[42.] Wang Y, Xiao H, Nadakatti MM . Mechanism of rail corrugation combined with friction self-excited vibration and wheel–track resonance. Constr Build Mater 2023, 400 132782

[43.] Van der Maaten L, Hinton G. Visualizing data using t-SNE. J Mach Learn Res 2008, 9 86 2579-2605

[44.] Maćkiewicz A, Ratajczak W. Principal components analysis (PCA). Comput Geosci 1993, 19 3 303-342

[45.] Brand M, Huang K (2003) A unifying theorem for spectral embedding and clustering, In: Proceedings of the 9th International Workshop on Artificial Intelligence and Statistics, Key West, pp 41–48

[46.] Khan K, Rehman SU, Aziz K et al (2014) DBSCAN: Past, present and future. The 5th International Conference on the Applications of Digital Information and Web Technologies (ICADIWT 2014), Bangalore, pp 232–238.

[47.] Chen G. Friction-Induced vibration of a railway wheelset-track system and its effect on rail corrugation. Lubricants 2020, 8 2 18

[48.] Wu B, Chen G, Lv J . Generation mechanism and remedy method of rail corrugation at a sharp curved metro track with vanguard fasteners. J Low Freq Noise Vib Active Control 2020, 39 2 368-381

[49.] AbuBakar AR, Ouyang H. A prediction methodology of disk brake squeal using complex eigenvalue analysis. Int J Veh Des 2008, 46 4 416-435

[50.] AbuBakar AR, Ouyang H. Complex eigenvalue analysis and dynamic transient in predicting disc brake squeal. Veh Noise Vib 2006, 2 2 143-155

Funding

the Joint Funds of Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation and Fengtai Rail Transit Frontier Research(L211006); the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Science and technology leading talent team project)(2022JBXT010); the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(2023YJS052); the National Natural Science Foundation of China(52308426)