On a Simplified Measurement of Rail Irregularity by Axle-box Accelerometers

축상 진동가속도계를 이용한 궤도불규칙의 간이검측에 관한 연구

This paper is focused on a simplified measurement of rail irregularity by some axle-box accelerometers for high-speed rail condition monitoring with in-service high-speed trains. Generally, the rail condition monitoring has been done by a special railway inspection vehicle with a 10m versine method. But, the monitoring method needs some expensive measurement system, and have been performed only at night due to its speed limit. In this research, a simplified measurement of rail irregularity using axle-box accelerometers is proposed to monitor the rail condition with in-service high-speed trains. The acceleration is measured by using two accelerometers on a axle-box, and stored in an on-board data acquisition system. The displacement is estimated from the acceleration data by a combination of Kalman filter and the frequency selective filter. The estimated results are compared with the measurement from a laser rail inspection system which is near the axle-box. From the comparison, the proposed method shows promise as a tool for the simplified measurement of rail irregularity at high-speed.