The <i>sonRAIL</i> emission model for railway noise in Switzerland

T. Thron, Mariana Hecht

Acta acustica united with Acustica · 2010 · 36 citations · 0 references

Concepts

TL;DR

The article presents the sonRAIL model for Swiss railway noise and explains its calculation and measurement procedures. The model computes sound power spectra at five source heights, derives rolling noise from wheel‑rail roughness spectra, separates track and vehicle contributions, incorporates superstructure effects via transfer functions, and uses indirect roughness measurements for data acquisition. The model enables precise calculation of railway noise emission levels by accounting for all relevant variables.

Abstract

In this article, the sonRAIL emission model for railway noise in Switzerland is presented. The model allows precise calculation of emission levels taking into account all relevant variables. The emission levels are determined as sound power spectra for five source heights. The rolling noise is calculated using roughness spectra for wheel and rail. Total rolling noise is sub-divided into track superstructure and vehicle components. The influence of different superstructure types is taken into account using transfer functions. The article explains the calculation procedures as well as the measurement procedures used to generate the model. A method of noise monitoring based on indirect roughness measurements is presented for the acquisition of model data.