Abstract
This paper presents the development of a multi-body system (MBS) vehicle–crossing model and its application in the structural health monitoring (SHM) of railway crossings. The vehicle and track configurations in the model were adjusted to best match the real-life situation. By using the measurement results obtained from an instrumented crossing and the simulation results from a finite element (FE) model, the MBS model was validated and verified. The results showed that the main outputs of the MBS model correlated reasonably well with those from both the measurements and the FE model. The MBS and FE models formed the basis of an integrated analysis tool, which can be applied to thoroughly study the performance of railway crossings. As part of the SHM system for railway crossings developed at Delft University of Technology, the MBS model was applied to identify the condition stage of a monitored railway crossing. The numerical results confirmed the highly degraded crossing condition. By using the measured degradation as the input in the MBS model, the primary damage sources were further verified. Through identifying the crossing condition stage and verifying the damage source, necessary and timely maintenance can be planned. These actions will help to avoid crossing failure and unexpected traffic interruptions, which will ultimately lead to sustainable railway infrastructure.
Highlights
When a train is passing through a turnout crossing, the wheel on the inner rail has to pass the gap between the wing rail and the crossing nose rail
The numerical models for crossing performance analysis available nowadays are mainly based on the multi-body system (MBS) methods and the finite element (FE) methods
The MBS models are already applied in the parameter studies and design optimization of railway crossings [31,32,33,34,35,36,37], but their application combined with experimental studies are still limited, where the measurement results are mainly used for model validation
Summary
The properties of the track and the corresponding elements in the MBS models were thoroughly checked and adjusted to ensure that the MBS model and the FE model (used for the model verification) described the same real-life railway system (the monitored crossing). The total axle load was calculated from the wheelset, bogie, and car body masses, which was 10 t in this model. In the FE model [4], the axle load was 10 t, while the weights of the bogies and the car body were all integrated into the simplified half-moving wheelset. The main properties of the rail model were Young’s modulus and density. The main track properties are given, referring to Hiensch et al [41]
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