Integrated Monitoring System for Rail Damage in High Speed Railway Turnout

Turnout is a weak link in railway track and its structure is complex, so it is necessary to use advanced technology to monitor rail damage of the turnout zone. This paper studied on various existing monitoring methods, and integrated three methods to realize the compound monitoring of rail damage, i.e. fiber grating, optical imaging and Lamb guided wave. Both the relation between parameters of these monitoring technologies and the interaction between them were considered, data obtained from different information sources are proceeded comprehensively to get the accurate estimation and evaluation of the state of the detected object. Based on the workflow of this monitoring system, it is divided into five functional modules: 1)video detection systems, fiber optic detection system, Lamb guided wave detection system, 2) comprehensive analysis, 3) management of maintenance plan, 4) knowledge base/expert database, 5) reporting system. This monitoring system is installed at railway field and preliminarily tested to verify its feasibility and reliability.