Comprehensive asset improvement solutions. Overhead Infrastructure Condition monitoringServices
The T-RIS solutions aim to identify and resolve the route-cause of any infrastructure defect that causes dynamic interface performance deterioration facilitating maintenance interventions and improvement campaigns.
Novel approach to maintenance
With the development of OLE StAT and D-RSS T-RIS champion the solutions of train borne condition monitoring and providing unprecedented insights to:
What is the mainstay in condition monitoring and maintenance?
There are currently a number of available commercial systems installed on pantograph that are running passenger services or service trains flagging locations across the network with where interface force exceedances are registered by the pantograph. The most recent systems even provide an overlay of registered ‘forces’ at a specific location by overlaying measurements from successive runs. Ultimately the asset manager will review the available information which might include information such as design records, CCTV footage, maintenance logs and the registered forces at a specific location and decide if an intervention is required. The maintainer will then be required to identify and rectify as per design requirements and maintenance tolerances the asset geometry. The infrastructure route-cause of interface issues might sometimes be challenging to identify based on the means (visual inspection, Heights and Staggers) and access times available to the maintainer. Additionally, a lot of overhead design features such as cross-overs will give notable force exceedances, but that might not be due to system dilapidation, but an inherent part of the asset interface design and performance.
What does T-RIS have to offer?
We overlay interface forces and OLE StAT analysed static wire profile that pin-points the specific feature on the wire at the highlighted location. That enables in most cases to identify the exact issue, but also the exact solution without the requirement for on-site surveys and inspection visits. Additionally, the OLE StAT output enables the direct validation of the as-fitted design to all rules. In the example below a ‘kink’ in the installed wire which is the route cause for the interface forces can help direct maintenance to the exact problem location with a clear schedule of works to be performed. Within the same wire run the z-dropper installation has resulted in a notable hogging of the wire with the respective effect to the registered interface forces. The exact process can be carried out after the installation to assess the success of the intervention.
What happens when the route-cause is more difficult to establish?
There are several locations in the existing infrastructure that are the source of excessive interface forces. Excessive forces impact the system’s resilience and availability by increasing wear rates and reducing maintenance interval requirements. Many of these locations contain components such as neutral sections that can be known sources of ‘hard spots’ into the interface. At T-RIS we have enabled the maintainer to achieve more from the infrastructure by optimisation of the existing setups which is achieved by the implementation of the OLE StAT output to D-RSS from T-RIS. The as-fitted wire geometry together with a powerful CAD interface enable any existing component configuration to be implemented within the high-resolution digital-twins generated by D-RSS.
By replicating the existing geometry and recreating the setup and interface force readings we then proceed to optimise the setup, thus overcoming the site-access restrictions to perform several iterations of on-site interventions and adjustments, and offering an optimised setup with comprehensive installation guidance.
