A method for the quantitative evaluation of rail corrugation from the vertical acceleration of the axle-box

Corrugation has attracted increasing attention in railways due to its destructive nature, and axle-box acceleration can provide an effective method of detecting corrugation. However, there is a lack of direct relationship between axle-box acceleration and unacceptable levels of corrugation. Based on the excitation characteristics of corrugation, this study proposes a method to quantitatively evaluate corrugation via axle-box vertical acceleration (ABVA). First, a 3D wheel-rail dynamics model was established by using parameters from China’s high-speed railway, the transfer characteristics of the wheel-rail system were investigated by steady-state response analysis, and the influence of corrugation wavelength in the range of 40 to 300 mm on ABVA was revealed; Second, ABVA excited by corrugation with grinding limit was numerically simulated at a speed of 300 km/h, the map relationship between corrugation and ABVA was obtained, and then influences of natural frequency and contact behavior of wheel-rail system on the map relationship were discussed, a method based on the intervention value was introduced to quantify the degree of corrugation to be ground. Finally, field measurements in high-speed railways were carried out to verify the feasibility of the method, the results showed that the hit rate between the intervention value and the actual scenarios of corrugations was 90.0%, indicating that the proposed method has a good performance in quantitatively evaluating corrugations. This work can provide a scientific reference for decision-makings on whether or not the corrugation is severe enough to be ground.