Overview
The project objective is to introduce a new method of the assessment of the rail track quality by the detection of spatial deformations of the rail track with respect to the desired speed (track speed). The basic precondition is the use of a track machine for the dynamic stabilisation of the rail bed, DGS – the Dynamic Track Stabiliser. After the stabilisation mode is turned off, the so-called reference height, which is the image of continuous track stiffness, may be registered during its travel and quality limits of the rail construction may be detected by the calculation of its standard deviation. Another objective is to use the recording device for the determination of the rail cross-resistance during its stabilisation, and the output may be related to the value of the sleeper cross-resistance in order to continually assess the condition of the track construction and its safety in terms of the continuous welded rail. The use of the DGS for the rail diagnostics will reveal the weak points in the rail construction and improve the economic design of repair projects on railway lines. A component part of the research will be the utilisation (transformation) of the outputs from the track machine recorder for the dynamic stabilisation of the rail bed for the continuous diagnostics of spatial deformations of the railway track. The project will include the comparison or verification of obtained outputs with the identification of the track bed quality via GPR.
The principal outputs of the project will be: - certified methodology for the determination of spatial deformations of track rails with respect to the desired travel speed, including the quantification of parameters for three limit states, - software for the transformation of a text file obtained from the DGS into the graphic format with the rail quality assessment. The project will be carried out at two basic research levels: measurements performed on railway tracks and in laboratory conditions.