Modern Condition Monitoring Systems for Railway Wheel set Dynamics: Performance Analysis and Limitations of Existing Techniques

The rapid rise in railroad transport across the world demands an improved service in form of safety, comfort, reliability, and cost effectiveness. For the improvement of reliability, safety, and efficiency; sophisticated Condition Monitoring Systems (CMS) have become an important part of modern railway operations. CMS for railway vehicles involves techniques including model-based and signal-based techniques for the detection of faults. These techniques assist in preventing the system from any major failure. The core element of a CMS is the use of suitable algorithms to evaluate system behavior for achieving a solution to avoid accidents of railway vehicles. This paper attempts to compare and evaluate the existing state-of-the-art condition monitoring techniques applied for real-time monitoring of railway wheel-set dynamics. In addition, recommendations are presented for future research efforts in this area.