A method for numerical simulation of train induced track vibration and wave propagation in subgrade has been proposed. The method uses a mass to simulate the bogie of a train and considers the effect of rail roughness. For this method, rail roughness is considered as a randomly generated signal and a filter is used to block the undesired components. The method predicts the particle velocity around the track and can be applied to many kinds of railroad trackbeds including traditional ballast trackbed and modern Hot mix asphalt (HMA) trackbed. Results from ballast and HMA trackbeds are compared and effects of HMA layer on damping track vibration and dissipating wave propagation are presented. To verify the credibility of the method, in-track measurements were also conducted. Site measurements included performing geophysical tests such as spectral analysis of surface wave test and seismic refraction test to determine the subsurface conditions at the test site. Ballast and HMA samples were tested in the laboratory by resonant column test to obtain the material properties. Particle velocities were measured and analyzed in the frequency domain. Results from in-track tests confirm the applicability of the numerical method. The findings and conclusions are summarized and future research topics are suggested.

The rate at which a railway track deteriorates depends on the response of the track under different static and repeated dynamic forces. These wheel/rail forces lead to imperfections in the rail surface and deviation in track geometry alignment. The wheel/rail forces are dependent upon the quality of maintenance of the characteristics of both train and track. If train components such as wheelsets and suspensions are maintained to a high standard, less dynamic forces are generated at the wheel/rail interface and less damage is caused over time. Therefore, the amount and cost of maintenance of track are reduced. However, there is little known about how the characteristics of train components affect time-dependent track degradation. Track degradation through deviation of track from its ideal position has the most effect on maintenance costs. Therefore, the present research aims to investigate this track degradation and improve understanding of the effects of train characteristics (such as train mass and speed, suspension stiffness and damping) on railway tracks. The research is conducted by looking into the relationship between wheel/rail forces and track degradation on one hand and between wheel/rail forces and train characteristics on the other hand, with the objective of assisting in managing vehicle/track interaction in order to minimise track degradation. This aim is achieved by investigating the above two relationships to attain the desired relationship between track degradation and train characteristics. The research focuses on wheel/rail vertical forces (both amplitudes and frequencies), vertical track alignment (longitudinal vertical profile), and rail head defects. The study started by collecting wheel/rail vertical forces data in addition to data on vertical track degradation under sustained traffic loads on a heavy haul railway section of track in Central Queensland. Also, five years of degradation and maintenance history data were collected on three other test sections of railway track under variety of traffic conditions and loads in Central Queensland. There were four main analyses of this data employed to probe the study. The first analysis was performed by examining the track degradation history data. The standard deviation method was used in this first analysis to acquire the rate of deterioration in terms of its relationship to track profile (roughness). The second analysis was accomplished by correlating the vertical wheel/rail forces to both vertical track profile and rail roughness using signal processing principles and a function know as coherence. The third analysis was carried out by using the computer simulation software NUCARS to obtain the link between wheel/rail forces and the deterioration of the vertical track profile. The fourth analysis was achieved by combining the results obtained from the above three analyses to acquire the rate of track deterioration in terms of its relationship to varying train characteristics. The first analysis mentioned above quantified the relationship between the level of roughness of the track and rate at which that roughness deteriorated. An important outcome of this relationship is that there is a threshold of roughness below which track deterioration is minimal. The track maintenance planners can now use that threshold for cost effective targeting of tamping activities. The correlation study between track roughness and wheel/rail forces using the coherence function found, surprisingly, that the overall deterioration of the track roughness, in the absence of frequencies of forces above 30 Hz, is due to the so-called quasi-static lower frequency oscillations of dynamic forces. This conclusion together with the relationship between vehicle characteristics and track forces, established in the analyses above, has significant implications for the design of wagon bogies and for charges track owners might levy on trains using their tracks. This research is part of a larger Rail CRC project 11/4 called 'Enhancing the Optimisation of Maintenance/Renewal' being carried out in the School of Urban Development in Queensland University of Technology.

Le bruit de roulement est la principale source de bruit des transports ferroviaires pour des vitesses conventionnelles. Il est produit par les vibrations puis le rayonnement acoustique du matériel roulant et de la voie provoqués par le déplacement de la roue et du rail. Ce déplacement est imposé par les défauts microscopiques de surface présents sur les bandes de roulement appelés rugosité.La directive Européenne 2002/49/CE exige la réalisation la cartographies du bruit des infrastructures de transport. Le bruit dans l’environnement peut être prédit par des modèles dont les paramètres d’entrées sont notamment le comportement dynamique de la voie et la rugosité des rails. Ces données sont généralement évaluées par des systèmes de mesures statiques, ce qui limite la caractérisation de la voie à quelques dizaines ou centaines de mètres.Cette thèse a pour objectif de proposer et de valider une méthodologie de mesure de l'état acoustique de la voie sur l’ensemble du réseau. La solution proposée est un système de mesure en situation embarquée nommé LECAV pour « LECture Acoustique de la Voie », qui utilise le bruit rayonné par la voir et par la roue. Leurs gammes de fréquences de rayonnement distinctes permettent de traiter le problème inverse séparément pour la roue et pour le rail, et ceux à partir de l’impédance acoustique.Un modèle vibroacoustique basé sur la méthode des éléments finis et la formulation intégrale de Rayleigh est proposé afin d’estimer l’impédance acoustique de la roue. Pour le rail, les théories des poutres épaisses et des sources ponctuelles élémentaires sont utilisées dans le but de modéliser son impédance acoustique. / The rolling noise is the main source of noise in the railway transport sector at conventional speed. It is produced by the vibration and the acoustic radiation of the vehicle and the railway track, caused by the movement of at the wheel and the rail. These movements are imposed by microscopic irregularities on the rolling surface called roughness.The 2002/49/EC European directive imposes to build noise maps of transport infrastructure. The noise propagating in the environment can be assessed from models whose input parameters are particularly the dynamic behavior of railway tracks and the roughness of rails. These data are generally measured thanks to static systems, which narrow down to the analysis of railway tracks to a few meters.The aim of this Phd is to propose and validate a measurement methodology for the acoustic characterization of tracks for the whole railway network. It is an on-board measurement system named LECAV for "LECture Acoustique de la Voie" in French ("Acoustic reading of railway track") that uses the noise radiated from the wheel and the rail. The respective frequencies ranges of noise emission allow solving the invers problem separately for the wheel and for the rail, and this with the acoustic impedance.