Senther Technology has a long history in the field of railway industry monitoring, continuously improving its technological innovation capabilities in the monitoring of faulty wheel bearings, and comprehensively ensuring the safety of railway transportation. Nowadays, wheel measurement methods are more comprehensive and vibration measurement sensors are more advanced. The use of vibration monitoring to obtain the operating status of power station machines has been successful for many years, and the same technology has been applied to the field of railway rail transit, providing real-time operating data for railway locomotive engineers.
Railway locomotive dynamic vibration measurement can dynamically record the continuous operation of the locomotive online, which can obtain more comprehensive data than conventional static detection, and can make targeted judgments on damaged component information. This can facilitate timely maintenance and effectively reduce equipment downtime. Compared to outdated testing tools such as hot bearing or traction device detectors and vibration monitoring, the testing results are vastly different. Vibration monitoring can monitor special components and predict faults in advance, saving maintenance costs.
Engineers have attempted to develop a system for monitoring bogies and tracks, and even attempted to develop a locomotive engine monitoring device. If you carefully observe the locomotive engine components, it is easy to find that vibration monitoring has been applied in them.
(1) Main engine and generator monitoring
The diesel engine is the core component of most railway locomotives, capable of producing 3200 horsepower, which is more than 8 times the power of a high-performance car. This output power is supplied to the generator and can generate approximately 1000 residential lighting currents. In the locomotive engine, this power is transmitted to the AC or DC drive motor of the carriage. Each carriage motor is coupled to the wheels through a gearbox. This happens to be the best place for vibration sensors, which can reduce the occurrence of locomotive failures.
(2) Diesel engine
By using vibration sensors and impact counters with real peak detection circuits, continuous monitoring and recording of mechanical reciprocating motion can identify mechanical faults in the transmitter.
(3) Generator
Use vibration sensors to accurately track the status of the rotating shaft. Install a vibration sensor at each generator end, which can monitor both forward and reverse drive ends, continuously record status changes, and detect shaft alignment and looseness in advance.
(4) Wheel drive motor
These components are typically installed together with roller bearing components. Acceleration detection can continuously monitor the wear of roller bearings, and the early signs of wear will be reflected by the high-frequency energy recorded by sensors, thus predicting possible faults in advance. As the wear and tear continues to intensify, trend data is continuously recorded, and engineering personnel are notified to maintain the motor in a timely manner. For old-fashioned DC drive motors, the status of the rectifier is determined by monitoring the ignition frequency amplitude of the thyristor rectifier.
(5) Gearbox
Similar to cooling tower gearboxes, low-frequency acceleration sensors can be used to capture output shaft vibrations. Equally important is monitoring the gear meshing frequency and second and third harmonics to provide effective data for fault prediction.
(6) Front end power unit
The main power equipment is used to generate the thrust that propels the train forward, while the auxiliary power generated by the auxiliary power equipment (diesel engine and generator) is used to power the air conditioning, lighting, kitchen, and other equipment on the train. These devices are also critical equipment for passengers. Vibration sensors are also required for acceleration measurement.
(7) Car carriage
The carriages have independent wheel traction drive motors, and the weight of the locomotive is distributed among these carriages. Connect the carriage to the locomotive front through large bearings and move forward under the guidance of the front. These large bearings can be monitored using vibration sensors for high-frequency analysis. Due to the limited rotation of these bearings, using high-frequency ultrasonic acceleration sensors is the best detection method.
(8) Driver's cabin
Although the cab does not directly reflect the performance of the locomotive, it can provide a comfortable driving environment for drivers and engineers. By installing three vibration sensors in the seat suspension system for body vibration measurement, real-time monitoring of staff exposure to vibration can be achieved.
With the development of sensor technology, digital interface sensors will improve the efficiency of vibration monitoring in railway rail transit industry. The sensor directly outputs digital vibration data that has undergone analog-to-digital conversion and filtering processing to the backend computer, reducing the need for high-frequency sampling equipment and minimizing the noise that may be caused by nearby high-power devices. More importantly, digital signals can be perfectly compatible with existing platforms in the railway industry today.
The following are recommended vibration sensors for use in rail transit
816
Range: ± 10g
Frequency response: 0-100Hz
Application: Train acceleration, tilt monitoring
812T
Range: ± 200g
Frequency response: 0-1000Hz
Application: Inertial motion, low-frequency environment, dual temperature output, high-speed train
836
Range: ± 2g
Frequency response: 0-100Hz
Application: High speed trains, bogies
