Short pitch rail corrugation cause and （短节距铁路和起皱原因）.pdf

Short pitch rail corrugation - cause and contributing factors K.H. Oostermeijer Holland Railconsult, Utrecht, the Netherlands Abstract In this paper a review of observations form test sites, varies surveys and studies on the subject of short pitch rail corrugation over the last 100 years is made. Based on this research, complemented by own surveys, the cause for short pitch corrugation formation is described as a sequence of events. The main and lower level contributing factors are identified that impact upon this sequence of events. The paper ends with a description of work that is being carried out as follow up. Introduction The first report of corrugation in the literature dates back to 1889 on the Midland line in Great Britain [16]. Both engineers from Britain and Germany had no explanation for this type of wear. The second report is from the United States in 1895. On a cable car track, corrugations were observed giving rise to very poor ride comfort and high noise levels [10]. It was believed that in the curve the cable exerted a force in lateral direction that caused the wheel to slip. th There are also reports from the end of the 19 century from a cable railway in Great Britain. Here corrugations with a wavelength of around 50 mm were observed on both curves and tangent track. th In the beginning of the 20 century, corrugations were already a serious problem at tramways. At a conference in 1910 the results of a questionnaire that was sent to 75 tramways administrations around the world were presented: 72 reported rail corrugations [10]. The German Railways were among the first railways to encounter excessive lengths of corrugated track, with