Investigation into the effect of asymmetric train speed distribution on rail corrugation growth in cornering

The transportation phenomenon known as wear-type rail corrugation is a significant problem in railway engineering, manifesting as an oscillatory wear pattern on the rail head. These profile variations induce unwanted vibrations, excessive noise and other associated problems. Recent studies have shown that uniformity in train passing speed accelerates the corrugation growth process and conversely, widening the probabilistic speed distribution can be used as a mitigation tool. This paper investigates the effects of an asymmetric speed distribution on corrugation growth rate for a train in cornering. A frequency domain corrugation growth prediction model, based on experimental vertical rail receptance, is developed further to achieve this. Results provide insight into optimum asymmetric conditions required to minimize corrugation growth using speed distribution control