Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Real-Time Vertical Track Deflection Measurement System, Sheng Lu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Track quality is a major factor in railroad safety, and one accepted indicator of track quality is the vertical track deflection. Measuring track deflection from a moving railcar is difficult because there is no stable reference for the measurements. A system developed by researchers at the University of Nebraska to measure track deflection from a moving railcar in real-time is described in detail. The system consists of a loaded hopper with a camera/laser sensor system to detect the vertical deflection of the rail relative to the wheel/rail contact point. Modeling and simulation of the system is also presented along with …