Monitoring Dynamic Properties of Railway Tracks Using Train-borne Vibrometer Measurement

Mechanisms and mitigation of short pitch rail corrugation

Short pitch corrugation is a (quasi-) periodic rail surface defect with shiny crests and dark valleys. It primarily occurs on tangent tracks or gentle curves with a typical wavelength in the range of 20-80 mm. Short pitch corrugation excites high-frequency wheel-rail dynamic contact forces and generates a high level of noise, which is a nuisance...

Failure prevention and restoration in power systems

In typical power system operations, failures, e.g., caused by degradation, may result in service interruption and loss of power supply. Furthermore, low-occurrence-probability but high-impact extreme events, e.g., natural disasters and cyber-attacks, may also damage the power grid. This thesis aims to develop innovative strategies for handling...

Data-based Dynamic Condition Assessment of Railway Catenaries

Railway catenary is the main infrastructure that delivers electric power for train operation. It is a structure commonly constructed along the railway line with contact wires suspended above the track. One or multiple pantographs mounted on the roof of a moving train collects electric current from the catenary through the sliding contact with a...

Intelligent rail maintenance decision support system using KPIs

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) enable the infrastructure manager to keep the performance quality of the infrastructure at an acceptable level. A KPI must include specific features of the infrastructure such as functionality and criticality. The KPIs can be classified into three performance levels: (1) technical level KPIs; (2) tactical level...