Application of inverse linear parametric models in the identification of rail track irregularities

Requirements for current trains to be increasingly available have created the need to develop systems that can predict the quality of both trains and infrastructure components. The paper presents a new approach to the detection of rail truck irregularities, based on the measurements of bearing box acceleration during the operation of rail vehicles. The proposed procedure is based on an inverse problem solution, estimating track irregularities from measured acceleration of the applied model of vehicle dynamics. The simulation study of the proposed method, as well as its implementation, is presented. The method has been successfully applied for the identification of rail irregularities on a typical Polish railroad and vehicle.