Abstract
Railway infrastructure plays a major role in providing the most cost-effective way to transport freight and passengers. The increase in train speed, traffic growth, heavier axles, and harsh environments make railway assets susceptible to degradation and failure. Railway switches and crossings (S&C) are a key element in any railway network, providing flexible traffic for trains to switch between tracks (through or turnout direction). S&C systems have complex structures, with many components, such as crossing parts, frogs, switchblades, and point machines. Many technologies (e.g., electrical, mechanical, and electronic devices) are used to operate and control S&C. These S&C systems are subject to failures and malfunctions that can cause delays, traffic disruptions, and even deadly accidents. Suitable field-based monitoring techniques to deal with fault detection in railway S&C systems are sought after. Wear is the major cause of S&C system failures. A novel measuring method to monitor excessive wear on the frog, as part of S&C, based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) optical fiber sensors, is discussed in this paper. The developed solution is based on FBG sensors measuring the strain profile of the frog of S&C to determine wear size. A numerical model of a 3D prototype was developed through the finite element method, to define loading testing conditions, as well as for comparison with experimental tests. The sensors were examined under periodic and controlled loading tests. Results of this pilot study, based on simulation and laboratory tests, have shown a correlation for the static load. It was shown that the results of the experimental and the numerical studies were in good agreement.
Highlights
Analytical Modeling of the Effect of Cut. In this is is developed to to examine this paper, paper,the thetime-dependent time-dependentloading loadingsimulation simulationmodel model developed examthe geometric effects on the metallic part
fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors can offer an innovative solution by providing information about
FBG sensors can offer an innovative solution by providing information about the the behaviors (e.g., strain(e.g., measurement) of the Switches and crossings (S&C)
Summary
There are, primarily, two main approaches in the railway condition monitoring field [1,2,3]: direct and indirect. Indirect approaches evaluate degradation using a data acquisition system to collect different types of signals produced by the wheel–rail interaction. These signals can be vibration signals, pressure, normal force, and speed. Switches and crossings (S&C) are significant components of the railway infrastructure due to their important contributions to traffic delay and maintenance costs. S&C are critical systems in the railway network, and are required to be reliable in order to prevent delays or Sensors 2021, 21, 3639.
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