2013 年 6 巻 2 号 p. 90-99
Research and development (R&D) has helped to maintain the high safety and service standards of the Tokaido Shinkansen since it first started operations almost 50 years ago. Recent R&D has involved large-scale field data collection and work by the Komaki Research Center. This paper discusses some examples of R&D innovations for the Tokaido Shinkansen, which reflect the developments in R&D approaches over time. One example is earthquake countermeasures, focusing on the derailment and deviation countermeasures for the Tokaido Shinkansen. Anti-derailing guard rails and post-derailment stoppers were developed and various experiments were conducted in order to not only confirm the efficacy of the earthquake countermeasures but also elucidate derailment mechanisms. The other example is condition monitoring systems. The bogie vibration detection system, which is one example of a condition monitoring system, is developed and installed on the Series N700A trainsets to monitor all bogies' conditions. These achievements of R&D further enhanced safe and reliable transportation of the Tokaido Shinkansen.
