Development of a field condition monitoring system in high speed railway turnout

To study the law of wheel set lateral displacement (WSLD), a test system is equipped with lasers for the switch and crossing panel instrumentation. Some measurements including passing a train with different speeds of 250, 270, 290 and 310 km/h were performed to prove the feasibility of this arrangement of sensors, establish the relation between measured lateral displacement and frequency in the switch and crossing panels and specify the critical wheel set. The results determine the critical spots in the switch and crossing panels. The lateral dominant frequency ranges of the wheel set are 50 and 200 Hz at the switch panel and 50 and 300 Hz at the crossing panel while the train is passing. Moreover, the first wheel set should be considered a critical one for the switch panel at all speeds and the last wheel set in the crossing panel with a speed less than 290 km/h.