The influence of reflections from the train body and the ground on the sound radiation from a railway rail

Purpose – The vibration of the rails is a significant source of railway rolling noise, often forming the dominantcomponent of noise in the important frequency region between 400 and 2000 Hz. The purpose of the paper is toinvestigate the influence of the ground profile and the presence of the train body on the sound radiation fromthe rail.Design/methodology/approach – Two-dimensional boundary element calculations are used, in which therail vibration is the source. The ground profile and various different shapes of train body are introduced in themodel, and results are observed in terms of sound power and sound pressure. Comparisons are also made withvibro-acoustic measurements performed with and without a train present.Findings – The sound radiated by the rail in the absence of the train body is strongly attenuated by shieldingdue to the ballast shoulder. When the train body is present, the sound from the vertical rail motion is reflectedback down toward the track where it is partly absorbed by the ballast. Nevertheless, the sound pressure at thetrackside is increased by typically 0–5 dB. For the lateral vibration of the rail, the effects are much smaller. Oncethe sound power is known, the sound pressure with the train present can be approximated reasonably well withsimple line source directivities.Originality/value – Numerical models used to predict the sound radiation from railway rails have generallyneglected the influence of the ground profile and reflections from the underside of the train body on the soundpower and directivity of the rail. These effects are studied in a systematic way including comparisons with measurements.