Geometry evolution of rail weld irregularity and the effect on wheel-rail dynamic interaction in heavy haul railways

Rail welded joints are important structural connections in the formation of continuous welded rail (CWR). Due to the difference in the stiffness and material at rail welded joints, rail damage and geometric degradation will occur and evolve under repeated train loads, which will significantly influence the wheel-rail dynamic interaction. In this paper, geometric measurements of the rail surface are made at the single flush welding zone by a tracking test on Datong-Qinhangdao heavy haul railway line in China. Fractal geometry theory is applied to calculate the fractal dimension and describe the geometric evolution of rail weld irregularities. Then, the vehicle-track coupled dynamic model is used to investigate the effect of the geometric evolution of rail weld on the wheel-rail dynamic interactions both in the time and frequency domains. The calculation results show that rail weld irregularities have fractal characteristics due to the fractal dimension of measured geometries mostly larger than 1.1. The geometry evolution of rail welded irregularity has great effects on the wheel-rail dynamic interactions in the time domain, but has little effects in the frequency domain. Fractal geometry theory can be used to describe the geometry evolution of rail weld irregularity and the effect on the wheel-rail dynamic interactions. The results can provide novel ideas for the evaluation and evaluation of the rail weld irregularity.