Abstract
Real-time and continuous monitoring through smart sensors is considered to be the evolution of traditional track testing, enabling the earlier detection of the main failure modes that degrade railway tracks. Through carrying out preventive maintenance operations, infrastructure resources may be optimized, leading to smarter and more sustainable infrastructure. For this reason, under the larger goal of creating a synergy with various types of sensors for railway tracks, this article presents a critical review on the different, currently available sensors for smart and continuous monitoring. Specifically, the most appropriate monitoring technologies for each of the main railway track failure modes have been assessed and identified, thus deriving the advantages and capacities of each solution. Furthermore, this review presents some of the main experiences carried out to date in literature by using sensor technologies, such as strain gauges, piezoelectric sensors, fiber-optics, geophones and accelerometers. These technologies have proven to offer appropriate characteristics and accuracy for the continuous monitoring of a railway track’s structural state, being capable of measuring different parameters, such as deflections, deformations, stresses or accelerations that would permit the technical tracking of various forms of degradation.
Highlights
The transport of both people and goods plays a fundamental role in the advancement of society and the economy
This paper assesses the characteristics of the main types of smart sensors which have the potential to be used for the continuous monitoring of railway tracks, via studying their possible implementation in tracks per the main failure modes and providing understanding on the key parameters to measure in each mode
These type of devices have been developed in different countries, such as TU Delft’s High Speed Deflectograph (HSD) in the Netherlands [32], Track Loading Vehicle (TLV) in the USA [33], Rolling Stiffness Measurement Vehicle (RSMV) in Sweden, Szybka Kolej Miejska w Trójmiescie (SKMT) device developed by the Czech Technical University of Prague and the Commercial Railway Research Ltd. (KZV) in Czech Republic or Schweizerische Budesbahnen (SBB) in Switzerland [34]
Summary
The transport of both people and goods plays a fundamental role in the advancement of society and the economy. Track deflection and change in railway stiffness, as well as other railway pathologies that could appear, in railroads can be monitored in different ways, from more simple systems (such as the traditional hydraulic jack-loading method, load cells or deflectometers) to the more sophisticated auscultator train [5] This last solution, despite obtaining good results, is very expensive (one of them can cost more than EUR 45 million), and for this reason, its use is very limited. This paper assesses the characteristics of the main types of smart sensors which have the potential to be used for the continuous monitoring of railway tracks, via studying their possible implementation in tracks per the main failure modes and providing understanding on the key parameters to measure in each mode For this purpose, the methodology followed consisted of, firstly, identifying and studying the main modes of railroad failure through the literature review of scientific indexed journals as well as technical reports. A discussion section provides an analysis of the information reviewed, assessing the suitability and potentiality of each sensor for the continuous monitoring of railway tracks per the main modes of railroad failures and the principal current demands
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