Railway track monitoring using drive-by measurements

This paper presents the possibility of detecting considerable changes in track stiffness using the measurements from a laser vibrometer installed on a passing train. A numerical model of a two-dimensional train-track system is implemented in Matlab using the finite element method. The loss of stiffness in the track is modeled by reducing the stiffness of the sub-ballast layer of the track at specified points. The instantaneous velocity of the rail under the train is measured using four laser vibrometers mounted on the train. The simulations show that a change in the sub ballast stiffness of the track can be detected and located from the drive-by measurements.