Experimental study on vibration and sound radiation reduction of the web-mounted noise shielding and vibration damping wheel

A railway wheel installed with the web-mounted noise shielding and vibration damping assemblies is introduced in this paper. The shielding and damping assemble is alternant constrained to the both ends connecting to the tyre and hub. This design can produce shear strain in periodical variation, and then vibration energy of the shielding plate and the wheel is dissipated effectively. Assembles can also reduce the noise radiation from the wheel web. In order to investigate the vibration and sound radiation reduction of this new type of wheel relevant tests are carried out in a semi-anechoic room. In the test, damping ratio, acceleration, sound energy, sound field and directivity of the damping wheel are given and analyzed. The same tests are conducted for a standard wheel as a comparison. The test results show that the damping ratio of the damping wheel increases significantly compared to the standard one, especially for the damping ratios at the prominent resonance frequencies. The increase of the damping ratio is as much as 44 times. The sound energy levels (SEL) of the damping wheel in the overall range and at a dominant resonance frequency are, respectively, 15 and 40 dB, much less than those of the standard one. By comparing the sound fields and directivities of the two wheels, the sound radiation of the damping wheel is lower in all directions. (C) 2014 Institute of Noise Control Engineering.