Abstract
The railway noise from conventional narrow-gauge lines in Japan mainly consists of rolling noise and traction-motor fan noise. Rolling noise is generated by vertical vibration of the wheel and rail, which is induced by a relative displacement between them due to the roughness on their surfaces. Through the field tests, it is found that the excitation of rolling noise is determined by both the wheel/rail roughness and the vibratory behaviour of rolling stocks and tracks. Then, the theoretical model, such as TWINS, for rolling noise is applied to Japanese railways, and the predictions show good agreement with the measured results. In terms of noise spectra, the rail has greater contribution to rolling noise than the wheel in much of the frequency range. An attempt to estimate the effect of track parameters on rolling noise has been made by using the TWINS model. For the railpad, the stiffness has influence on the balance between the rail and sleeper components of noise. The additional damping for the rail makes the rail component of noise reduced effectively.
