Abstract
Railway infrastructure must meet safety requirements concerning its construction and operation. Track geometry monitoring is one of the most important activities in maintaining the steady technical conditions of rail infrastructure. Commonly, it is performed using complex measurement equipment installed on track-recording coaches. Existing low-cost inertial sensor-based measurement systems provide reliable measurements of track geometry in vertical directions. However, solutions are needed for track geometry parameter measurement in the lateral direction. In this research, the authors developed a visual measurement system for track gauge evaluation. It involves the detection of measurement points and the visual measurement of the distance between them. The accuracy of the visual measurement system was evaluated in the laboratory and showed promising results. The initial field test was performed in the Vilnius railway station yard, driving at low velocity on the straight track section. The results show that the image point selection method developed for selecting the wheel and rail points to measure distance is stable enough for TG measurement. Recommendations for the further improvement of the developed system are presented.
Highlights
The transport sector is a vital sector of the economy in European Union countries
The results show that the image point selection method developed for selecting the wheel and rail points to measure distance is stable enough for track geometry (TG) measurement
The absolute value of acceleration may exceed almost 100 g, which occurs due to short-wavelength railway track components and, simultaneously, accelerations caused by long-wavelength irregularities due to the wheelset oscillation phenomena often being below 1 g, which makes the estimating of long-wavelength components challenging and requires high-accuracy accelerometers that support a wideenough range of measured accelerations [4]
Summary
There are many challenges, such as congestion in urban areas, oil dependency, emissions, and unevenly developed infrastructure, that need to be solved. In tackling these challenges, the railway sector needs to take on a larger share of transport demand in the few decades. More frequent inspection can generate more information on TG degradation over time, leading to more reasonable maintenance decisions. This results in a higher level of safety and reliability for railway infrastructure.
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