In-Service Detection and Quantification of Railway Wheel Flat by the Reflective Optical Position Sensor

Abstract

Railway wheel tread flat is one of the main faults of railway wheels, which brings great harm to the safety of vehicle operation. In order to detect wheel flats dynamically and quantitatively when trains are running at high speed, a new wheel flat detection system based on the self-developed reflective optical position sensor is demonstrated in this paper. In this system, two sensors were mounted along each rail to measure the wheel-rail impact force of the entire circumference by detecting the displacement of the collimated laser spot. In order to establish a quantitative relationship between the sensor signal and the wheel flat length, a vehicle-track coupling dynamics analysis model was developed using the finite element method and multi-body dynamics method. The effects of train speed, load, wheel flat lengths, as well as the impact positions on impact forces were simulated and evaluated, and the measured data can be normalized according to the simulation results. The system was assessed through simulation and laboratory investigation, and real field tests were conducted to certify its validity and correctness. The system can determine the position of the flat wheel and can realize the quantification of the detected wheel flat, which has extensive application prospects.

Condition Monitoring of Rail Transport Systems: A Bibliometric Performance Analysis and Systematic Literature Review

“…Some studies were focused on freight rail transport only (the presented solutions are connected to cars; nevertheless, energy harnessing may also be applied for sensors analyzing tracks; therefore, it is also included in this review paper). The authors of Gao et al [ 142 ] noted that electrical wires are not provided for freight wagons; therefore, power monitoring sensors such as pressure sensors and accelerometers cannot be directly applied for such vehicles’ condition monitoring. Nevertheless, these types of sensors are essential for ensuring operational safety; therefore, the authors investigated the approach of harnessing freight wagons’ vibrational energy in order to power monitoring sensors (a pressure sensor and a triaxial MEMS accelerometer) with the use of an electromagnetic vibrational energy harvester with an inertial pendulum.…”

“…These systems in Gao et al [ 142 , 144 , 145 ] are called self-powered wireless sensor networks for wireless communication . The condition-monitoring system based on energy harvesting was described in the abovementioned paper Gao et al [ 142 ].…”

“…These systems in Gao et al [ 142 , 144 , 145 ] are called self-powered wireless sensor networks for wireless communication . The condition-monitoring system based on energy harvesting was described in the abovementioned paper Gao et al [ 142 ]. A track-side, vibration-based, electromagnetic-energy-harvesting prototype was previously analyzed in Gao et al [ 144 ]; however, this system was designed for track analysis only.…”

State-of-the-Art Wayside Condition Monitoring Systems for Railway Wheels: A Comprehensive Review

“…For detecting and quantifying online dynamic wheel flats when trains reached high speed, Gao et al [33] demonstrated…”

Fuzzy Logic-Based Identification of Railway Wheelset Conicity Using Multiple Model Approach

“…In this work, a wayside monitoring strategy is adopted for wheel flat detection using sensors with the emphasis on their optimal position of installation. Similar work for detecting wheel flats is proposed using a reflective optical position sensor where not only the position of the wheel flat is determined but also its quantification is realized [31]. However, quantification of wheel flats is still a daunting challenge for the research community due to the limitations of the various measuring conditions.…”