A generic fault detection and diagnosis approach for railway assets

This paper presents a generic approach for fault detection and diagnosis for a class of railway assets with common dynamic characteristics known as single throw mechanical equipment (STME) [1]. STMEs are widely used in railway systems, examples of which include point machines, train-stops (also known as trip-cocks), train doors and level crossing barriers. These assets are used as case studies in this paper. The methodology for applying fault detection and diagnosis to an STME is based on a generic model of the class of equipment. To construct the model, data collected from the assets during laboratory experiments was analysed so that generic features of the STME could be identified. Based on a series of incremental inputs, an exponential characteristic was observed in the throw time, activation delay and trajectory profiles. As a large nonlinear load is generally moved when STME assets are operated, the throw dynamics are therefore more important than their static parameters. A generic STME dynamic model and its application to fault detection and diagnosis are discussed in this paper.