Rail Wheel Noise in Road to Rail Maintenance of Way Vehicles
Name
rizo-tjrizo-bs-dme-2023-thesis.pdf
Description
Thesis PDF
Size
11.4 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
a31d446c2a874b970838c8c07dd4f83c
Author(s)
Rizo, Theodore
Advisor(s)
Wendell, Dawn
Date Issued
February 2023
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Railroads across North America use railgear devices to enable street legal vehicles to travel on the same railroad tracks used by trains. Thousands of these vehicles are used to regularly inspect and maintain the infrastructure that keeps the North American economy running. A common complaint when operating these vehicles when traveling on rail is an excessive wheel noise at 29 MPH. Because this noise only exists at 29 MPH it was determined through testing to be the result of a resonant natural frequency response in the railgear excited by manufacturing irregularities in the rail wheels. To dampen the resonant natural frequency response and improve the operator experience using railgear equipped vehicles manufacturing changes were identified to improve the rail wheels. These changes will improve an operator’s experience when using railgear-equipped vehicles by reducing noise and vibration.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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