Technology for Experiment/Measurement to Clarify Phenomena Specific to Railway System

Abstract

Railway systems are composed of many sub-systems such as overhead contact lines, vehicles, tracks and structures, which interact with each other and show complex dynamic behavior. In order to clarify the phenomena specific to railways caused by complex behaviors, the Railway Technical Research Institute has developed its own experimental technologies and measurement technologies. In this paper, first, as examples of our experimental technologies, we introduce three newly developed large-scale test facilities. Then, we introduce some of our measurement techniques for condition monitoring of tracks and structures are explained. Finally, we present the outlook for our future R&D policies to be implemented by effectively combining experiment/measurement technologies and numerical simulation techniques.