Introduction of a novel smart sleeper design for railway track condition monitoring

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Railways commonly use ballasted track systems as their primary infrastructure. Increased track tonnage and service speeds require enhanced track condition monitoring and active maintenance protocols. Modern railway track maintenance involves digital and visual inspection algorithms, which becomes time-consuming and costly with increased track lengths. Real-time condition monitoring of railways is important to determine the possible problems cost-effectively and rapidly. Smart sleepers offer real-time data for continuous monitoring of critical track zones. This paper presents the conceptual development of a novel smart sleeper utilizing embedded accelerometers and strain gauges for railway condition monitoring. The conceptual design and prototype production of the smart sleeper involves the installation of accelerometers with three degrees of freedom placed at the sleeper center and the two rail seats of a B70-type prestressed concrete sleeper. The initial phase of this study involves tests conducted in the laboratory to examine the sensitivity of embedded sensors. Sensors are selected to indicate a substantial acceleration interval due to abrupt, rapid, and gradual roughness variations in the track profile and abrupt lateral variations due to track buckling. An embedded electronic circuit board specially engineered for data acquisition is also a part of the smart sleeper. This paper presents the progress made within the first phase of this research and development project that includes the conceptual development of the smart sleeper and its electronic architecture.