Abstract
The rolling noise arises from the interaction of the vibration characteristics between a rail and wheels through the contact points. This paper deals with the coupled vertical vibrations between a rail and wheels, regarding the rail as an infinitely long Timoshenko beam installed on an elastic foundation and the wheels as point masses. The authors analyse the linear and the nonlinear vibration s due to the linear and the nonlinear Hertzian elastic contact forces between the rail and the wheels respectively for the case that two wheels move along the rail with a sinusoidal irregularity, and examine especially the influences of the vibrations of the rail between wheels upon the coupled vibration characteristics. The random vibrations due to the irregularity of the rail are also discussed.
