Investigation of vibro-acoustic mitigation characteristics of a double-ball magnetorheological rail absorber

This study develops a novel double-ball rail damping system designed for source-level mitigation of vibration and noise during railway transit. The proposed architecture integrates magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) with the mechanism of a tuned mass damper, enabling real-time modulation of structural stiffness and loss factors via external magnetic field control. Finite element simulations demonstrate that the MRE-based device significantly outperforms conventional elastomeric rail absorbers. Specifically, the system achieves a substantial reduction in the reactive acceleration amplitude and a marked increase in the vertical vibration decay rate Furthermore, results indicate its superior performance in suppressing structure-borne noise radiation, particularly when the magnetic flux density is optimized. This adaptive control approach offers a promising methodology for extending infrastructure service life and enhancing acoustic comfort in urban rail environments.