The wheel squeal noise of a train is often made when it passes a tight curve. The noise annoys the passengers and the people living close to railway tracks. According to the research background, wheel vibration, as a result of unstable contact force, is the main source of wheel squeal noise. This paper presents a novel method to reduce wheel squeal noise based on the active vibration control of wheels and the use of piezoelectric actuators attached to wheel treads. The proposed method is implemented in an experimentally validated time model involving the linear dynamics of wheel and track and nonlinear contact forces. Then, the model is modified to enhance the effect of the piezoelectric actuators. The relationship of the momentum and the voltage applied to the piezoelectric patch is also considered in modeling. To determine the amplitude and the direction of the applied voltage, a feedback controller is designed based on the fuzzy self-tuning PID controller scheme. This controller is similar to the conventional PID controller, but its coefficients are tuned by the fuzzy tuning mechanism according to the wheel response. The results show that the proposed method is capable of suppressing wheel squeal noise especially in high frequencies. Furthermore, it is as applicable to worn wheels as to new ones.
