Digitalization and Reliability of Railway Vehicles and Tracks—Condition Monitoring and Condition-based Maintenance

As train passengers, we value the environmental friendliness of the railroad, and it is important to us to arrive at our destination safely and on time. However, this is only possible if all technical components in the rail system work reliably and necessary inspection and maintenance can be planned efficiently. The expansion of high-speed tracks and the ever tighter travel cycles naturally also increase the material-specific requirements for safety-relevant railroad components. This in turn requires an in-depth understanding of the functionality and service life of rail vehicle and rail infrastructure components as well as the use of modern materials in order to meet the high demands. There is consequently still a great need for research in the rail sector. The challenge railroad operators are facing is to become even faster, more comfortable, more punctual, and more environmentally friendly, but to still remain economically viable. In order to reconcile the safety and punctuality (availability) characteristics initially mentioned and to increase the economic efficiency by means of extended maintenance intervals, the current status of safety-relevant railroad components must be known. This is why these components are monitored and the corresponding measurement data are logged and evaluated. Based on such condition monitoring systems, customized maintenance measures can be planned timely and carried out at the best possible time slots. Railway-related research activities at the MCL deal precisely with these topics of condition monitoring and the resulting maintenance of rail infrastructure (rails and switches) and railway wheelsets (wheels and wheelset axles). © Austrian Society for Metallurgy of Metals (ASMET) and Bergmännischer Verband Österreich (BVÖ) 2024.