Monitoring bolt tightness of rail joints using axle box acceleration measurements

Monitoring bolt tightness of rail joints using axle box acceleration measurements

Oregui Echeverria-Berreyarza, M. (TU Delft Railway Engineering)
Li, S. (TU Delft Railway Engineering)
Nunez, Alfredo (TU Delft Railway Engineering)
Li, Z. (TU Delft Railway Engineering)
Carroll, R (External organisation; Stagecoach Supertram Maintenance Ltd)
Dollevoet, R.P.B.J. (TU Delft Railway Engineering)

2016

Rail joints are a weak component in railway tracks because of the large impact and wheel-rail contact forces. Every train passage contributes to the deterioration of rail joints, causing visible (e.g. battered rails) and invisible (e.g. loose bolts) damages. The invisible damage cannot be detected by the commonly performed visual inspection, which is labor intensive, unreliable, intrusive and unsafe. In this paper, a vehicle-borne monitoring system is used to automatically detect and assess the tightness condition of bolts at rail joints. The monitoring method is developed based on field Axle Box Acceleration (ABA) measurements using different bolt tightness conditions. The suitability of the method is assessed by bolt tightness prediction and verification of a set of rail joints in the tram network of Sheffield, United Kingdom. The results show that ABA system can be employed to monitor bolt tightness conditions at rail joints.With this information better planning for selective preventive maintenance actions can be taken over rail joints.

bolt tightness
rail joint
axle box acceleration measurements
health condition monitoring
characteristic frequency

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:095b131a-694e-4f64-9a5f-d4f10845f2a6

https://doi.org/10.1002/stc.1848

2017-12-01

1545-2255

Structural Control and Health Monitoring: the bulletin of ACS, 24 (2)

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2016 M. Oregui Echeverria-Berreyarza, S. Li, Alfredo Nunez, Z. Li, R Carroll, R.P.B.J. Dollevoet