Characterization of Track Irregularities With respect to vehicle response

In this thesis a study, investigating the correlation between vehicle/track forces and track irregularities, is presented. The aim is to see if the correlation increases, using the first and second order derivatives of the track irregularities instead of the amplitude of the irregularities themselves. Data from on track tests during the DynoTRAIN measurement campaign is used as input to a MatLab program. The program processes the data with filtering and calculation of the derivatives, as well as a meter-by-meter alignment of the parameters. A linear regression analysis is done and the results are presented in scatter diagrams along with their correlation coefficients. The results are inconclusive implying that there are more parameters affecting the results than the ones analyzed, suggesting multidimensional regression analysis to be used