Continuous Time Parameter Estimation Method for a Railway Track Switch Actuator

The scheduled maintenance procedure required for the safe running of a switch system is costly and often involves large time. In the changing rail network, the scheduled maintenance process is needed to be replaced with advanced condition monitoring approaches which can predict and detect degradation in the system performance and notify the operator. The present research addresses the challenge to detect any degradation or change of performance of the switch actuation system using continuous time parameter estimation method. A switch system with an electro-mechanical actuator has been considered and the developed technique is tested with changing switch parameters. A new switch actuator is now built and validated and installed in a working test switch system. The method will be tested for different unhealthy/fault scenarios with the working actuator connected to a working switch system.