Railway overhead contact wire monitoring system by means of FBG sensors

Abstract

Safety of infrastructures represents one of the most significant concerns for governments and service providers to preserve people's well-being. One of the main ways to keep in safe facilities (buildings, bridges, railways, etc.) involves the use of monitoring sensor systems in charge of measuring critical operating conditions. Those measurements together with periodical maintenance, contribute to minimize potential risks that the infrastructure faces. The paper aims at designing, developing, and testing a monitoring system for mechanical stresses acting on the overhead contact wire (OCW) to ensure the operational safety of the railway network. In this regard, the paper proposes two Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors-based solutions, relying on the ability of these sensors to allow real-time and continuous data acquisition. The first one consists in a polyimide-coated sensor bonded on an OCW clamp, the second one is a copper-coated sensor hanging between the two separated halves of an OCW clamp. Significant results have been obtained mechanically testing both solutions, trying to simulate the operative conditions.

Railway Catenary Condition Monitoring: A Systematic Mapping of Recent Research

“…Additionally, accelerometers can also be installed on the contact wire or the message wire to measure vertical acceleration, enabling the evaluation of wave propagation and dynamic behavior in the catenary system [89,91,[94][95][96][97]. Strain sensors are the third most popular sensor type, accounting for 10.6% of all sensors used [102][103][104][105][106][107]. In these studies, the majority of accelerometers and strain sensors are FBG-based (Fiber Bragg Gratingbased) sensors.…”

Modelling and Analysis of Expansion Joints’ Effect on Dynamic Performance of Railway Rigid Overhead System

“…In electrified railways, rigid overhead systems and flexible overhead systems are two mainly used approaches for supplying electricity to the train. The main difference lies in the fact that the flexible overhead system is suspended overhead through support columns, cantilever arm systems, and tensioning cables, offering greater overall elasticity [ 1 ]. On the other hand, rigid OCS primarily relies on fixed positioning supports on tunnel walls or columns for suspending the contact wire overhead.…”