Evolution of Rail Contact Fatigue on Crossing Nose Rail Based on Long Short-Term Memory

Abstract

The share of rail transport in world transport continues to rise. As the number of trains increases, so does the load on the railway. The rails are in direct contact with the loaded wheels. Therefore, it is more easily damaged. In recent years, domestic and foreign scholars have conducted in-depth research on railway damage detection. As the weakest part of the track system, switches are more prone to damage. Assessing and predicting rail surface damage can improve the safety of rail operations and allow for proper planning and maintenance to reduce capital expenditure and increase operational efficiency. Under the premise that functional safety is paramount, predicting the service life of rails, especially turnouts, can significantly reduce costs and ensure the safety of railway transportation. This paper understands the evolution of contact fatigue on crossing noses through long-term observation and sampling of crossing noses in turnouts. The authors get images from new to damaged. After image preprocessing, MPI (Magnetic Particle Imaging) is divided into blocks containing local crack information. The obtained local texture information is used for regression prediction using machine-supervised learning and LSTM network (Long Short-Term Memory) methods. Finally, a technique capable of thoroughly evaluating the wear process of crossing noses is proposed.

Influence of different factors on the value of the rail wear rate

“…Also, the influence of the length of the transition curve when organising high-speed traffic and the increase of the length of the transition curve with increasing speed [2]. The evaluation and prediction of the rolling surface damage of the point frog has been studied, which can also be applied to the rail surface to ensure proper design and maintenance of both point frogs and rails [3]. The study [4] analyses the accumulation of deviations in the geometric parameters of a tramway track as a function of the axial load, with a hard surface, which is also applicable to railway tracks when the vertical and horizontal irregularities of the track increase with the tonnage transported.…”

Improving the energy efficiency of a tram’s running gear

“…If the rails are in a good condition, radial adjustment systems can be used, depending on the geometry of the connected profiles wheel and the rails, with partial use of the mass inertia. However, due to the predominantly worn state of the rail track, a negative effect of using this technical solution is possible and consists in an increased uneven wear of the wheels [40][41][42][43][44][45]. The operation of the railway vehicle and the application of the proposed PKS wheel design relate not only to the running of the rail vehicle through curves, but also to running through crossings and switches.…”