Rail corrugation in The Netherlands—measurements and simulations

Rail roughness growth on Dutch railway tracks has been monitored since the early 1990s. On the track between Amersfoort and Baarn, significantly different levels of roughness have been detected on adjacent tangent track sections. The only obvious difference between two selected test sites located 250 m apart, one with a smooth rail and one with a corrugated rail, is the rail manufacturer. Detailed metallurgical investigations on samples taken from the test sites are discussed. Roughness growth is also studied through numerical simulation of dynamic train/track interaction. Traffic data and track properties collected from databases and field measurements are adopted in the simulation. The occurrence of a corrugated and a non-corrugated rail on the same track is explained by differences in wear resistance. The material quality of the two investigated rail samples is similar, but a clear difference in interlamellar spacing and cementite content at the surface is observed. The non-corrugated rail proved to be less wear resistant. Good agreement between simulated and measured roughness growth at the corrugated site is obtained with respect to wavelength content and wear rate. From simulations, the large growth rate is explained by a low track receptance near the sleepers around 1200 Hz.