Effects of rail dynamics and friction characteristics on curve squeal

Curve squeal in railway vehicles is an instability mechanism that arises in tight curves under certain running and environmental conditions. In developing a model the most important elements are the characterisation of friction coupled with an accurate representation of the structural dynamics of the wheel. However, the role played by the dynamics of the rail is not fully understood and it is unclear whether this should be included in a model or whether it can be safely neglected. This paper makes use of previously developed time domain and frequency domain curve squeal models to assess whether the presence of the rail and the falling characteristics of the friction force can modify the instability mechanisms and the final response. For this purpose, the time-domain model has been updated to include the rail dynamics in terms of its state space representation in various directions. Frequency domain and time domain analyses results show that falling friction is not the only reason for squeal and rail dynamics can play an important role, especially under constant friction conditions.