A railway measurement system to evaluate the wheel-rail interaction quality

This paper deals with the problem of measuring the wheel-rail interaction quality in real time using a suitably designed and realized railway measurement system. More specifically, the measured parameter is the equivalent conicity, as defined in the International Union of Railways UIC 518 Standard, and the measurement system is based on suitable processing of geometric data that is acquired by a contactless optical unit. The measurement system has been verified according to the test procedures described in the UIC 519 Standard. This paper shows how it is possible to obtain, in real time and with comparatively simple algorithms, measurements that are perfectly compliant with the UIC 519 Standard, with regard to the required measurement uncertainty as well.