Life-Time Monitoring of in Service Switches and Crossings Through
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Life-time monitoring of in service switches and crossings through field experimentation ANDREW TOM CORNISH Future Railway Research Centre Department of Mechanical Engineering Imperial College London Supervisors Professor Roderick Smith Professor John Dear Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to Imperial College London May 2014 DECLARATION I can confirm that the work completed in this thesis report is my original work, and whilst gaining information from some relevant sources that are referenced, the words, format and processes have been generated by me. Andrew Tom Cornish The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives licence. Researchers are free to copy, distribute or transmit the thesis on the condition that they attribute it, that they do not use it for commercial purposes and that they do not alter, transform or build upon it. For any reuse or redistribution, researchers must make clear to others the licence terms of this work. - II - ABSTRACT In financial year 2011/2012, Switches and crossings (S&C) cost the UK rail infrastructure owner, operator and maintainer, Network Rail, over £220m in maintenance and £189m in renewals. This represented 24% of the total track maintenance budget, whilst accounting for only 5% of the network mileage. The large costs are due to the complex S&C design that allows network flexibility whilst supporting a vehicle traversing from the switch rail to the stock rail and through the crossing. The motivation for undertaking this research was to understand how S&C reacts to dynamic loading imposed by the vehicles, and to gain a better knowledge of the deterioration of the asset. The understanding and measurement of S&C degradation has never been scientifically measured in real time before, which means that currently the maintenance schedules are cyclic or reactive. The outcome from this investigation could be used to provide a finely calibrated pre-emptive schedule for more effective S&C maintenance and investment. Eight sites were outlined in the design of experiments, of which four were instrumented as part of the first phase of the research in this thesis. High wear and fatigue rates from prior failure statistical analysis showed the need to understand the loading and degradation of S&C. Strain gauges, geophones and accelerometers were used to understand the system reaction to loading, through strain and the sleeper deflection within S&C. The results show that the largest increase in strain over time was at the stock rail with the closed switch rail. The degradation is due to the increased dynamic forces of the vehicle transferring from one line to another. The change in strain indicates that the additional vibrations / frequencies will occur over time, increasing the rate of material change. As speed increases through switches and crossings, a reduction in the strain generated is seen at the gauge locations. This indicates that switches demonstrate lower levels of wear with a higher speed at the locations of the gauges. Degradation of vertical motion of sleepers at the crossing is shown, with no change in the bending strain generated due to the whole asset deforming at a similar rate. Key words: S&C instrumentation, deterioration, strain gauge, vertical displacement - III - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank everyone who has supported me during this process; Network Rail for the funding and financial support, with Engineering function and Switch and Crossing team support and great foundation knowledge, Phil Winship for the application knowledge and organisational skills that he has shown throughout the project. Prof Roderick Smith, Dr Elias Kassa and Prof John Dear for their academic applications, guidance and belief in the project. I would also like to thank Catherine Griffiths for her excellent guidance on writing. Whilst completing the research, often talking things through have clarified issues. For his help in general discussions and assistance, I would like to thank Ian Coleman – with whom I hope to continue in collaboration for many years to come. I would like to honour my family for the mental support and encouragement that they have shown: Joanne Cornish (Wife) and Sally Cornish (Mother) for their significant support; Hannah Elizabeth Cornish (daughter) and Jacob Patrick Cornish (son) for enduring the missed bedtimes with understanding and constant affection. Thank you. - IV - NOMENCLATURE Symbol Unit (SI) Meaning 'T Thermal output adjusted for instrument gauge factor setting O T Thermal output from gauge package data sheet O Weight of rail, same rail weight as 56kg/m 113A lb/y Angle of o The difference between the position of the axle and the attack angle to the centre of the curve C length switch (c.f. Table 5-1) C Difference in elevation between one rail and the other Cant mm Cant Reduction in cant below the design cant outlined in mm deficiency Network Rail standard TRK/L2/001 The relative velocity between the wheel and the rail Creepage D length switch (c.f. Table 5-1) D Instrument gauge factor during strain measurement FI G length switch (c.f. Table 5-1) G milli-Volts, unit of voltage from the strain gauges before mV conversion Switch and Crossing X (c.f. Table 5-1) SCx Strain gauge number SGX Any number of vehicles, running on the network Train Tonnage level X, defined by certain parameters (c.f. Table TX Tonnes 5-1) The contact patch energy, Creep Force x creepage Tγ J/m Unsprung The mass of a vehicle between the contact of the rail and kg mass the first suspension system Velocity V m/s - V - A single carriage Vehicle Velocity level X, defined by certain parameters (c.f. Table VX m/s 1) Displacement x m Change of length of material against the original length ε µε Strain calculated through use for the gauge factor εactual µε Axial strain (longitudinal) εaxial µε Strain recorded from gauges and converted from volts to ε µε raw strain Transverse strain (Vertical and compressive) εtransverse µε υ Poisson’s Ratio - VI - ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Meaning Complete Abaqus Environment – Finite Element Analysis software Abaqus/CAE programme to complete the analysis found in section 8 British Rail Research – a section of British Rail funded to complete BRR research for the railway industry European Committee for Standardisation – use European standards to CEN create similar policies for technical boards Central Processing Unit – hardware within a computer the carries out the CPU operations requested DAQ Data AQusition system Design of Experiment DOE Electro Magnetic Current – Electromagnetic current generates a noise through the electrical system at 50Hz. Currents are undesirable due to the EMC impedance of the metal cable running through the electromagnetic field generating an electrical noise and distorting any signal. Equivalent Million Gross Tonnes Per Annum – a method of normalising track damage. Axle number, Axle load and speed are multiplied by factors EMGTPA to generate a annual figure for each vehicle. A good reference for the potential damage that will be seen over the site Finite Element Analysis FEA High Speed Train – the original high speed train in the UK, with the HST configuration of a class 43, Mk3 coaches and a class 43 locomotive Latin Hypercube Sampling – a semi-randomised sampling technique, LHS using probability to define bins for random sampling Louis Le Pen – member of the University of Southampton (UoS) which LLP calibrated for some of the geophone research and processing Load Measuring Wheelset – Strain gauges are attached to a wheel to gain LMWS the loading from the vehicle into the track New Measurement Train – a train used by Network Rail to dynamically NMT measure the track geometry Public Performance Measure – train performance measure, usually as a PPM percentage, of trains arrival against the schedule Points Operating Equipment – manoeuvres the switch rail to allow for POE functionality and holds in position Pway Permanent way – features of the railway, including the rails, ballast, - VII - sleepers and switches and crossings Root mean squared – a mathematical term of taking the mean of the RMS squared values from the data and square rooting. This allows for the more larger, and more significant, data points to have greater influence. Switch and Crossing S&C Train Operating Company – franchise owners that operate the trains TOC University of Southampton – collaboration was completed with Louis Le UoS Pen at the UoS on the geophone conversation and analysis - VIII - CONTENTS DECLARATION ...................................................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................................... iv NOMENCLATURE ................................................................................................................. v ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................ vii CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. 1 FIGURES .................................................................................................................................. 6 TABLES .................................................................................................................................