PSI - Issue 54

Francisco Afonso et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 54 (2024) 545–552 Francisco Afonso / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000 – 000

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3.1. Support structure The final version of the support structure can be found in Fig. 1. The chosen area to implement this system is a beam belonging to the undercarriage of the train, since it provides sufficient space to accommodate the sensor and its support structure, in addition, it has a direct line of sight to the railway track. Since the undercarriage contains another such beam on its opposing side, with a direct view of the other railway track, this system can be replicated in order to monitor both railway tracks simultaneously.

Fig. 1. Final version of the support structure.

Since no operations such as welding or drilling could be applied to the train’s structure for demonstration purposes, the system’s support is attached to the undercarriage beam by compressing it, fixing the sensor in place. As is observable from Fig. 1 (b), the support structure encompasses two main parts, represented in red and positioned on either side of the beam, these parts compress the beam’s sides with three M10 threaded rods, and its top and bottom with six M10x30 screws. Four auxiliary components can also be attached to the main part that overlooks the railway track, to adjust the inclination of the Gocator sensor. A final part allows the attachment of the sensor to the mentioned auxiliary parts. 3.2. Software An embedded tool was developed to process the acquired data in the Gocator. Its main operation logic is further explained in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Wheel defect detection software functioning.