Undulatory wear on tram rails: Triggers and prediction towards wear management

This article examines the impact of grinding frequency, possible weld defects and the effect of the track's frequency response function on the development and growth of rail undulatory wear on a tramline. On the tramline studied, this rail irregularity reached significant levels, resulting in noise and vibration problems in the surrounding area during tram passages. Accordingly, a model developed by the authors was used to predict the evolution of the rail profile. In order to develop the model, a number of field measurements were required as input. These included a characterisation of the hardness of the contact surface materials, coefficient of friction measurements and a dynamic analysis of the wheelset and track. The last criterion was essential to demonstrate the variability of the tram track's frequency response function. The results confirmed that a well-designed maintenance schedule and adequate variation in the frequency response function could substantially reduce this growth of corrugation in the tramline studied.