The wheel rail contact causes an important portion of the noise emission of the rail traffic. Mechanical load results in corrugation of the tracks, short and long ripples on the rail surface. These ripples lead to oscillation of the rail in the frequency range perceivable by the human ear. Such ripples can be eliminated by means of grinding. Depending on the amount of wear grinding results in a noise level reduction of 3 dBA up to 20 dBA.

The effectiveness of the grinding procedures can be still improved. Disadvantages of the present grinding technology are:

• low speed during the grinding process (only 3 to 5 km/h, leading to severe operation restrictions and high costs)
• too long time cycles of the currently practised grinding compared to generation of ripples.

The subject of the project is the development and the optimisation of a preventative grinding strategy based on a new grinding machine for regular fast care of rails. The operating speed should be up to 100 km/h (avoiding restrictions of operation due to the high operating speeds) while at the same time warranting a noise reduction of 3 dBA. The creation of rolling contact fatigue failure and ripples should be prevented by regular rail care (significant reduction of the grinding cycles). The life span of the rail should be extended (thus reduction of the life cycle costs) due to the minimisation of the material removal by grinding. This will result in a significant reduction of the entire maintenance cost compared to conventional procedures.