TY - JOUR
T1 - Study of loaded versus unloaded measurements in railway track inspection
AU - Wang, Haoyu
AU - Berkers, Jos
AU - van den Hurk, Nick
AU - Layegh, Nasir Farsad
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - To ensure railway operations safe, track geometry parameters, e.g., track gauge, are usually inspected using track geometry cars. The measurement frequency of track geometry cars is low (twice per year) due to high operational costs and track possession. An innovative way to perform track inspection at high frequency and affordable cost is using mobile track inspection systems, which can be easily mounted on passenger or freight trains. Besides track geometry, it also creates a digital copy of railway corridors providing asset managers with the ability to make fully informed decisions on track assets. Differently, the collectors of mobile systems are further away from the axle than track geometry cars, which are regarded as unloaded and loaded measurement respectively. This difference may lead to a discrepancy in measurement results. This paper studies the difference between loaded and unloaded measurements, using experimental and numerical methods. In the experimental research, a section of track was measured using both systems. The track longitudinal level measured using unloaded and loaded methods were compared, and the discrepancy reported. It was found that although the measuring distance can cause discrepancies, the unloaded measurement method still meets the measurement requirement. The largest discrepancies are in track transition zones, which is explained using the numerical method. After that, a case study using the unloaded measurement method is presented, wherein a section of track has been measured every month. The results show the advantages of frequent measurements in track inspections and the potential applications of unloaded track inspections.
AB - To ensure railway operations safe, track geometry parameters, e.g., track gauge, are usually inspected using track geometry cars. The measurement frequency of track geometry cars is low (twice per year) due to high operational costs and track possession. An innovative way to perform track inspection at high frequency and affordable cost is using mobile track inspection systems, which can be easily mounted on passenger or freight trains. Besides track geometry, it also creates a digital copy of railway corridors providing asset managers with the ability to make fully informed decisions on track assets. Differently, the collectors of mobile systems are further away from the axle than track geometry cars, which are regarded as unloaded and loaded measurement respectively. This difference may lead to a discrepancy in measurement results. This paper studies the difference between loaded and unloaded measurements, using experimental and numerical methods. In the experimental research, a section of track was measured using both systems. The track longitudinal level measured using unloaded and loaded methods were compared, and the discrepancy reported. It was found that although the measuring distance can cause discrepancies, the unloaded measurement method still meets the measurement requirement. The largest discrepancies are in track transition zones, which is explained using the numerical method. After that, a case study using the unloaded measurement method is presented, wherein a section of track has been measured every month. The results show the advantages of frequent measurements in track inspections and the potential applications of unloaded track inspections.
KW - Mobile track inspection system
KW - Track geometry
KW - Track geometry car
KW - Track longitudinal level
KW - Unloaded measurement
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85092390165&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.measurement.2020.108556
DO - 10.1016/j.measurement.2020.108556
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85092390165
SN - 0263-2241
VL - 169
SP - 1
EP - 11
JO - Measurement: Journal of the International Measurement Confederation
JF - Measurement: Journal of the International Measurement Confederation
M1 - 108556
ER -