Abstract
For the conventional narrow-gauge railways in Japan, main noise source is wheel/rail noise. In order to reduce railway noise, it would be appropriate to make a better understanding of wheel/rail noise. In this paper, the purpose is to make clear vibration behaviors in rail-track systems. The rail-track system is idealized as an infinite beam periodically supported by spring/mass/spring system. The model is tuned through field tests and validated in terms of vertical rail accelerance and decay rate. Using the model, various physical phenomena of importance to rail vibration are shown. Finally, parametric study on railpad stiffness is performed, and the relationship between the railpad stiffness and rail vibration behavior is pointed out.
