Identification of track irregularities with the multi-sensor acceleration measurements of vehicle dynamic responses

AbstractTrack irregularities induce potential risks to the safety and stability of railway track systems. This paper proposes a novel methodology to identify vertical and lateral track irregularities. The method involves measuring system-based attitude calculation and a model-based unknown input observer estimator, based on the dynamic responses of distributed multi-sensors on the vehicle and bogie. First, a mechanical model of wheel-rail contacts is built with dynamic methods. The model considers the different directions of motion for a railway vehicle and consists of two bogies and four wheelsets. Based on the multi-sensor acceleration measurement, the vertical and lateral acceleration signals of the vehicle and bogies are integrated into the displacement signal. Then a state-space description of the vehicle suspension model is established for inverse dynamical analysis to extract the input signals. A suitable unknown input observer is constructed to estimate the track irregularities by transforming the state space equations of the vehicle into an augmented system that can monitor the track irregularities in-service. This method provides an opportunity to reduce the costs of the monitoring infrastructure and provide quicker and more reliable information about the status of a track.KEYWORDS: Track irregularity identificationcondition monitoringdynamic responsesonboard measurementsattitude calculationunknown input observer Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China: [grant no 11772010 and 11832002]; Key Laboratory of Vibration and Control of Aero-propulsion System (Northeastern University), Ministry of Education: [grant no VCAME 202004]; Tianjin natural science foundation [grant no 19JCZDJC32300].