Raising efficiency through innovation in measuring technology – Measuring data, evaluation and application

Ing. Johan Vekemans

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Summary

Renewal of rails

During 2012 Infrabel created an algorithm where objective criteria form the basis for renewal of rails. The result is a matrix that combines rail defect concentration and vertical rail wear to formulate priorities in rail renewal.

Renewal of sleepers, based on rail inclination

During 2012 Infrabel tried to find a way to find objective criteria for renewal of sleepers. There is at this time no measuring system available to assess the technical state of all sleepers. That is the reason why a different approach is applied. Rail inclination showed to be an excellent indirect indicator of the state of the sleepers and was therefore a good objective criterion to formulate priorities in sleeper renewal.

Influence of equivalent conicity on lateral accelerations of rolling stock

During test runs with an M6 double-deck passenger coach on the eastern high speed line, measurements of rolling stock show on a specific place a significant variation in lateral track accelerations. SNCB asked Infrabel to find the reason for this variation. It was found in a small variation of grinding profile of the rails. Being able to measure the rail profile lead to generalize a new nominal rail profile for future grinding actions on Infrabel network.