Title: Development and Commissioning of an Experimental Apparatus Used for the Investigation of Rail Corrugation
Abstract: Noise, vibrations and high dynamic loads between rail and wheel are the result of wear type rail corrugation. It is very expensive to rectify this problem via regrinding of the rail and currently no cost effective preventative measures exist. Due to this further research is required to gain a better understanding which will hopefully lead to better management of rail corrugation.The aim of this thesis was to commission and further the development of a two disc rolling contact test rig. Part of this involved collecting data from test runs to verify theoretical and numerical models that predict the generation of rail corrugation. Due to time restrictions and unplanned delays throughout the commissioning process these tests could not be run.A compulsory requirement of the commissioning stage involved writing an operation manual and conducting a risk assessment for the test rig, both of which can be viewed in the appendices. The risk assessment identified a number of hazards that required control measures to be either put in place or improved before the test rig was considered safe for operation. It was also identified that there was interference between some of the components of the test rig. These issues were rectified and changes are outlined in section 4.2.2.5 of the report.Future work on this project could involve collecting data from the test rig and using it to verify the theoretical and numerical models. The project could also be extended by varying the angle of attack of the two disks, as this has been identified as a major contributor to the generation of rail corrugation in curved sections of track.
Publication Year: 2004
Publication Date: 2004-01-01
Language: en
Type: dissertation
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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