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Application of Doppler LIDAR Sensors for Assessing Track Gauge Widening in Curves and Locations With High-Lateral Forces
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2023-10-01
[PDF-6.55 MB]
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Edition:Final Report VT-5
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Abstract:The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of Doppler Lidar sensors for assessing track weakening that would indicate early stages of track instability. Such track weakening could lead to gage widening or track buckling due to rail thermal expansion. A series of tests were performed at the Transportation Technology Center’s High Tonnage Loop, where two sections of track were “doctored” to have weaker lateral strength, one on a tangent and another one in a curve. Multiple tests were performed at speeds ranging from 10 – 40 mph during which the lateral and vertical deflections of the rail were measured under the weight of the passing wheels of a heavily loaded gondola. The track weakness is created by removing the rail spikes from eight consecutive ties. The measurements from the soft sections were compared with a track section on a tangent length of track that is determined to have nominally sufficient (“good”) stiffness.
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