Research and Focus Areas
Projects at Railway Technologies Laboratory (RTL) include a wide mix of technologies related to different engineering disciplines:
- Rolling stock tangent track and curving dynamics
- Vehicle-rail interface dynamics
- Railway car bogies analysis
- Wayside vehicle and rail health monitoring
- Advanced rail vehicle suspensions
- Advanced insulated joints for railway applications
- Application of smart materials to rail systems
- In-situ measurement of rail-wheel forces
- Laser measurement systems for detecting locked or partially locked wheels
- Smart systems for detecting rail lateral movement
- Systems for enhanced crew in-cab communication
- Smart systems for detecting crew alertness
Current Projects
Innovative design concepts for insulated rail joints
Evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of designing a "jointless" insulated joint.
Broken rail detection using smart materials and impedance
Provide a self-contained wireless system that will warn operators and maintenance personnel of anomalies in rail tracks (cracks, breaks)
Effective methods for detecting crew alertness
Assess non-intrusive systems for detecting physical and/or psychological signs of lowered alertness
Optical fiber Doppler sensors for measurement of rail friction
Investigating simple optical fiber sensors for monitoring rail friction
Automated measurement of curve movement
Identify the existing technologies and their constraints for measuring or monitoring curve movement. Specify the path for prototype development of the most promising technology
