Recent reliability centered maintenance (RCM) process has been increasingly applied for modern rolling stock applications to ensure the optimum maintenance of trains in its operating context. While significant benefits and tools at the appropriate stage in a new project can be achieved by applying the RCM methods, the general modeling and design framework for the RCM system implementation have to be application-specific, i.e., RCM procedures and analysis models have to be adaptive due to the upgrades/changes with complicated, modular, and smart devices equipped in the new system. Therefore, this paper investigates critical considerations in modeling and developing a new RCM system which should be implemented to the advanced urban EMU in Korea. Recommended RCM system design strategies will benefit the development of relevant large scale systems.

Rail roughness with a broad spectrum of wavelengths is always present on the running surfaces of the rails. It has been shown that there is a high dependence between the amplitude and the wavelength of the roughness. Further, the magnitude and frequency of the vertical wheel-rail contact force is depending on the amplitude and wavelength of the roughness. The standards used for monitoring roughness all use constant values as thresholds in large wavebands, see for example the coming EU standard prEN 1321-3 that controls the condition after grinding. However, in the ISO standard ISO EN 3095 the track quality has to satisfy a rail roughness limit that is based on one-third octave bands. The standard is used when measuring noise levels from railbound vehicles ensuring a minimal spread in noise level between different tracks. A new approach to present rail roughness has been implemented at the Swedish Railway Administration, Banverket. It is based on a transformation of the measured longitudinal rail profile to a one-third octave band spectrum, and a weighting of the spectrum against the limit described in ISO 3095. The result is presented as a spectrogram. By applying spectrograms on the results received, the rail roughness can be presented with both spatial and wavelength resolutions. This gives a good overview of the track quality. A handbook has been written on how to interpret the spectrograms. In the handbook, a threshold is given to assess the need for grinding. (5 pages)

The article consists of a Powerpoint presentation on train operator's view. The areas discussed include: level crossings; train operator's view; vehicle collisions; user worked crossings; signalling; train operating company; road traffic; human factors; railways; etc.

Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors have been installed along an existing line for the purposes of train detection and weight measurement. The results show fair accuracy and high resolution on the vertical force acted on track when the train wheels are rolling upon. While the sensors are already in place and data is available, further applications beyond train detection are explored. This study presents the analysis on the unique signatures from the data collected to characterise wheel-rail interaction for rail defect detection. Focus of this first stage of work is placed on the repeatability of signals from the same wheel-rail interactions while the rail is in healthy state. Discussions on the preliminary results and hence the feasibility of this condition monitoring application, as well as technical issues to be addressed in practice, are given. (6 pages)

Three inertial measurement algorithms were developed to measure the longitudinal level of tracks using a track condition monitoring device mounted on commercial Shinkansen trains. Two algorithms employ digital processing and are called "Frequency variable difference filter" and "Speed variable moving summation". The other algorithm employs analogue processing using a frequency variable low-pass filter. Test results confirmed that all methods are able to calculate a 10 m versine longitudinal level with high precision without any waveform distortion. An experimental prototype of a digital inertial device applying the "Frequency variable difference filter" with small hardware load was made, and a test was conducted to confirm its performance. As a result, the output of the prototype achieved good correlation with data from the existing track geometry car. (6 pages)

This study proposes an essential issue to construct a driver model for a railway in order to keep a safe and integral society throughout the world. As of now, no study has been made on the transfer function of train drivers and brake systems as to safety of a railway. This paper describes the stability and safety of railway vehicles controlled by train drivers. The driver model used the model as proposed by Iguchi et al., and used the transfer function that consisted of the proportion, differentiation and the integrated operation. This study describes the frequency characteristics: transfer function from a braking command to error between the reference velocity and real velocity. Moreover, overrun distances against driver model parameters are shown. According to the simulation results, an integral gain of the transfer function of the driver model is important in the brake and vehicle dynamics. (6 pages)

The article consists of a Powerpoint presentation on health management technology integration. The areas discussed include: integrated vehicle health management; aerospace industry; life cycle costs; aircraft maintenance; Boeing; etc. (19 pages)

This paper describes a new approach to the integrity management of rail infrastructure using a novel stress management technology - MAPS^TMa. The MAPS technology is an approach that offers, for the first time, a portable method for the accurate, non-destructive measurement of stress, a key parameter governing the design, performance and life of virtually all engineering structures. It is a magnetic technique so it can be applied to all materials that display some ferromagnetic behaviour including ferritic steels, cast iron, some stainless steels and some nickel super alloys. MAPS-SFT is a particular embodiment of the technology for the non destructive measurement of the stress free temperature (SFT) of continuously welded rail. The paper explains the technology that is MAPS, focussing on its relevance to rail steels, discusses a specific case study, and goes on to describe the specification of a tool to be used on the UK rail network set by Network Rail, the UK rail infrastructure manager. Some of the challenges in meeting that specification are described and, finally, a brief description of the tool itself is given. (6 pages)

This paper presents two simple and potentially powerful approaches for the condition monitoring of rail vehicle suspensions, which explore the relative changes between different dynamic motions caused by suspension faults. Damper failures in vertical (primary) suspensions of a conventional bogie are detected based on the measurements of the bounce, pitch and roll accelerations of the bogie frame. The effectiveness of the proposed fault detection methods is demonstrated. (6 pages)