Development of rail vehicle weighting system for nondestructive bogie monitoring

초록

According to the improvement of the train operating speed, the demand to ensure the safety of train is increased rapidly. Railway train consists of a car body to take passengers on board, the bogie to deliver the force of traction, various electronic equipments such as storage battery, air compressor, power supply for air conditioner which are installed under the bottom of the train and a pantograph to collect the overhead current on the roof. Among the components of the rail vehicle, bogie extremely influences the railway safety. If the bogie is damaged, the diagonal balance may break down which can induce the derailment of the train. To insure the structural safety of bogie, it is necessary to monitor the wheel weight and evaluate the weight balance periodically. In this paper, a method to monitor the static wheel weight of the bogie using a hydraulic pressure has been proposed. The working principle is that the hydraulic pressure from the hydraulic cylinder lifts a wheel using mechanical components connected to a pressure hosepipe. The elevated height is measured by a digimatic indicator (543-270, Mitutoyo) which is attached on the wheel. The weight is acquired for each wheel by a pressure sensor and displayed by a digital LED indicator with a resolution of 0.1 KN. The measuring range of wheel diameter is 760 ~ 920 mm and the maximum wheel load is 100 KN. Verification tests were performed on the railway track by lifting the wheel, and monitoring the weight.