Title: Estimation of wheel-rail dynamic load in vicinity of track local defects using on-board train acceleration measurements

Authors: M. Hassan Esmaeili; Javad Sadeghi; S. Masoud Nasr Azadani; Saeed Motamedi

Addresses: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Department of Railway Engineering and Transportation Planning, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, 81746-73441, Iran ' School of Railway Engineering, Iran Univ. of Science and Technology, 16846-13114, Tehran, Iran ' School of Railway Engineering, Iran Univ. of Science and Technology, 16846-13114, Tehran, Iran ' School of Railway Engineering, Iran Univ. of Science and Technology, 19818-78181, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: This research addresses the limitations of the current wheel-rail dynamic load (WRDL) measurement techniques by considering the effect of track local defects. A new model is developed based on measurement of train accelerations passing over five common track local defects. The defects are step up, step down, corrugation, negative pulse joint and pulse joint. A train is instrumented on the bogie frame, axle and car body. On-board accelerations are then measured. Kalman filter was used to obtain WRDL from recorded accelerations. The effectiveness of the new model was shown, comparing its results with corresponding values of multi-body dynamic models (MBD) currently used in WRDL calculations. Results showed that the new model is able to consider the effect of track local defects in WRDL calculations. As the new method does not require direct access to the track, it is faster and easy to use compared with existing approaches.

Keywords: track local defects; wheel rail dynamic load; rail corrugation; track joint; track monitoring.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2025.149287

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2025 Vol.32 No.5, pp.626 - 646

Received: 27 Oct 2024
Accepted: 25 Jan 2025
Published online: 22 Oct 2025 *

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