Research and development of monitoring system for railway track condition : 1st report; Easy method for measuring of wheel/rail contact forces

Abstract

Measurement of wheel/rail contact forces, such as wheel load and lateral force is very important for railway safety, but it is difficult to measure them. Conventionally strain gauges attached on wheels have been used in the measurement, and slip rings or telemeters, which are difficult to handle, have been also used for the transmitter of the data. In this paper we propose a new method for measurement of contact forces between wheel and rail. The new method does not use strain gauges on wheels and complicated transmitters, but uses simple non-contact gap sensors for measuring lateral force. By using new method contact forces can be measured more easily, and continuous observation of derailment coefficient may become possible by advanced studies.