Switch monitoring to a higher level

Posted by smart motors on Jun 17, 2022 1:16:12 PM

 

Symphonies are beautiful when the musicians, loaded with emotions, want their staging to be the best, not just another performance.

The same is true when it comes to transforming railway signaling maintenance. The smart motors team is committed to our customers and we continually seek ways to offer more.

Therefore, we present a higher level in the switch monitoring.

Our DAEN and CDX equipment, with more than 10 years in production, are one of our flagship products. But in our history, we have come across cases that have led us to understand that we could use our range of products to collect more data.

Our more than 15 years of experience in monitoring switches and rails, has led us to perfectly characterize the three elements:

- Point machine monitoring: mainly the traction functions, the coupling detection module and environmental conditions that affect the above functions

- Track and bed-side interaction: on settlement problems, tamping needs, rail defects or geometry

- Switch rods, switch rail and frog, doing the joining between the point machine and the track.

Switch monitoring4

According to a study carried out by Infrabel, 30% of failures in point machines have an electrical origin. Monitor electrical engine provides certain benefits.

The other 70% have a mechanical & environmental origin. Among them, we have found are problems such as:

- Track obstruction

- Dilation of the metal or stress on the track that affect the coupling

- Excessive wear or impacts on the frog

- Errors during maintenance

- Lack of grease

- Lack of pressure in pneumatic motors

- Failure in the fastenings

- Water or snow in the engine box

Track obstructions are easily detected by our artificial vision device, the CDX, or by our track coupling monitoring sensor, called ANVI. It can also be seen by a continuous study of the consumption of the engine. The lack of grease is also observed as a failure that develops over time.

Switch monitoring5

Temperature has a strong effect on turnout reliability at surface or tunnel exit turnouts. The clubs, the checking losses, all of these deserve to be monitored.

If you want to know more information about how our sensors prevent different types of failures, identify a failure trajectory or how a specific element can accelerate its deterioration, contact us!

Ask for more info

A large amount of maintenance resources, both preventive and corrective, are allocated to switches.

The range of smart motors sensors detects the most common breakdowns. The sensors to be installed will depend on the needs of the operator, the most common failures, the type of engine, the available budget and the communication possibilities.

The flexibility provided by the solution is a unique feature among switch monitoring solutions.

The monitoring can be punctual, or definitive, or it can change its location. All this to fit the business models of larger or smaller operators, as well as to follow the strictest security restrictions.

The data analysis is also the result of the specific knowledge of smart motors. DAVANA collects the data from the different sensors and groups them by manoeuvres. Switches are clearly characterized in the software as well as their actual condition. With the help of new management processes, the deviation maintainer will also be able to adapt the actual maintenance to save resources and, in turn, anticipate breakdowns.

Concepts as closely linked to maintenance as warnings, breakdown reports, medium-term forecasts and the automatic creation of maintenance orders are part of the added value of this solution, but not all of them.

The intrinsic knowledge of the sector allows us to make a much broader and much more attractive offer. If you want to know more about this topic, click here.

The results of the system are widely proven with improvements in availability of over 200% and savings in maintenance per equipment and year of up to 7 times.

Switch monitoring2

If you are thinking of monitoring your switches, contact us and we will make you a proposal that will not leave you indifferent.

 

Topics: Blog