Train speed estimation from track structure vibration measurements

Abstract

This paper proposes a new method for train speed estimation from track structure vibration measurements for field track structural health monitoring. This method employed image treatment techniques, wavelet transform, and short-time Fourier transform into the signal processing. Afterward, the train speed was estimated by the combination of the extracted features and the geometrical parameters of the passing trains. A total of 240 measurements, gotten from 20 trains measured by 12 sensors, were implemented to verify the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed method. The results showed that the average differences of the train speed calculating by phase differences and the proposed method were 0.61% for slab displacement measurements, 1.39% for rail acceleration measurements, and 2.97% for slab acceleration measurements, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed method was proved to be effective in different test locations and track structure state. Therefore, it is concluded that the proposed method can estimate train speed from the vibration measurements automatically, reliably, and in real time with no need for additional speed measurement modules, which meets the requirement of speed estimation in the short-term, multi-location, and tough environment of structural health monitoring.