Rail corrugation: Characteristics, causes, and treatments

Rail corrugation is a phenomenon of great diversity but appears now to be substantially understood. This review proposes some differences in classification of the phenomenon to take account of work undertaken since a widely cited review was published by Grassie and Kalousek in 1993, it attempts to fill holes in an overall understanding of the problem, and answers questions that remained open in 1993 and several that have arisen since. All types of corrugation that have been documented to date are essentially constant-frequency phenomena. By treating the vehicle—track system in its entirety, treatments are proposed that impinge upon track and vehicle design as well as upon the wheel—rail interface where corrugation appears. There is no neat solution to rail corrugation, but it can be treated comprehensively and in many cases also prevented by using products that are already commercially available. Since the frequency of common wavelength-fixing mechanisms varies roughly in the range 50—1200 Hz, trains travelling at different speeds can produce corrugation of substantially similar wavelength by different mechanisms in different locations. Although historical data can no longer be checked, this is the most likely explanation of the belief that rail corrugation was a substantially constant-wavelength phenomenon.