Modeling damage mechanics of railway tracks to evolve control strategies for derailment prevention
Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures
ISSN: 1573-6105
Article publication date: 30 September 2013
Abstract
Purpose
With an eye to prevent derailment of high-speed trains, vis-à-vis unwarranted loss of lives and property, this paper aims to develop a formalism of designing a suitable control system with embedded decision support system.
Design/methodology/approach
A model of rolling contact fatigue (RCF) crack propagation in railway tracks is designed, simulating the alarming stress intensity factor around the advancing fatigue cracks. COMSOL multi-physics software is employed to design the RCF crack monitoring system with acoustic emission (AE) count signals, describing the damage threshold of railway tracks.
Findings
Simulation experiment on stress intensity factor for cracks in real life rail sections has enabled to describe the maximum working stress; it has been noticed that the threshold value of stress intensity factor (∼ 41 MPa m1/2) for the onset of unstable crack propagation is reached at a fatigue crack length of 11.5 mm. It is further noticed that the observed AE count at a particular instant of time in a specific location of railway track is a true indication of the vulnerability of rail failures.
Originality/value
The proposed model, a completely new of its kind, bears a high socio-technological value as it entails the design of an intelligent control system to prevent train accidents.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to acknowledge the support received from the head of the Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Trichy. Also the author is sincerely thankful to the inputs from Dr M. Umapathy and Dr Sivakumaran.
Citation
Banerjee, U. (2013), "Modeling damage mechanics of railway tracks to evolve control strategies for derailment prevention", Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 341-358. https://doi.org/10.1108/MMMS-04-2013-0033
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited