Measurement of railroad track irregularities using an automated recording vehicle

• Published in: Measurement : journal of the International Measurement Confederation Vol. 183; p. 109765
• Main Authors: Urda, Pedro, Aceituno, Javier F., Muñoz, Sergio, Escalona, José L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2021; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Automated recording vehicle; Brushless motors; Coders; D C motors; Electric motors; Experimental validation; Geometry; Inclinometers; Instrumented railway vehicle; Irregularities; Measurement; Measurement methods; Optimization; Railway construction; Railway tracks; Recording; Scaled track; Sensors; Shafts (machine elements); Track irregularities; Track surveying; Trains; Instrumented railway vehicle; Scaled track; Track surveying; Experimental validation; Automated recording vehicle; Track irregularities
• ISSN: 0263-2241; 1873-412X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.measurement.2021.109765

•Design, construction and instrumentation of an automated track inspection vehicle.•Measurement of track irregularities applied to an experimental scaled track.•General procedure for the calculation irregularities using the recording vehicle.•Comparison of the proposed method with an accurate manual surveying method.•Experimental validation of the vehicle and proposed method on a scaled track. This paper presents the design, construction and experimental validation of a scaled railway vehicle for the automated and quick survey of the geometry of an experimental scaled track. The method, that can be extended to full scale tracks, validates the measurements of the automated recording vehicle (ARV) by comparison with respect to a precise but slow manual measuring method (MMM). The two-axle vehicle, which is powered by a brushless DC motor, has its leading axle instrumented with a LVDT, an inclinometer, a reflector and a precision encoder. These sensors, together with the help of a total station, allow the measurement of the scaled track geometry and its irregularities following an optimization procedure that first determines the ideal track centreline. The ARV has been tested on a scaled track and its measurements are validated with the MMM results showing a good agreement between both approaches.