Research on the Measurement Method of Value Reduced for Switch Rail Based on Line Laser Sensor

doi:10.3901/JME.260190

Abstract

Abstract: Switch wear directly affects the stability and safety of trains passing through turnout. Value reduced for switch rail is a key indicator of switch wear, and its measurement accuracy is a crucial prerequisite for ensuring the normal operation and safety of switch rail. To solve the problem of low detection accuracy and difficulty in ensuring repeatability in the current measurement of value reduced for switch rail, a method based on line laser sensors is proposed. First, point cloud of the switch rail collected from two angles are processed. Redundant noise and edge noise are removed using pass-through filtering and radius filtering, respectively, while bilateral filtering is used to smooth the point cloud. Point cloud simplification is achieved using farthest point sampling and random sampling, depending on the curvature of the points. Next, the common regions from two acquisition angles are extracted, and the point clouds are coarsely aligned using the PCA algorithm. Fine alignment is then achieved using a point-to-plane ICP algorithm optimized with a robust loss function. Finally, a NURBS curve is employed for curve fitting of the switch rail, enabling the calculation of the value reduced for switch rail. Comparative experiments validate the effectiveness of this measurement method, showing that the repeat measurement errors for 5mm and 20mm cross-sections are reduced by 42.6% and 43.3%, respectively.

Key words: turnout, value reduced for switch rail, line laser sensors, point cloud, curve reconstruction

CLC Number:

TG156

QIN Bin, LIU Yueming, DING Yixian, HOU Luyao, CHEN Guopeng. Research on the Measurement Method of Value Reduced for Switch Rail Based on Line Laser Sensor[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2025, 62(6): 237-246.

Add to citation manager EndNote|Reference Manager|ProCite|BibTeX|RefWorks

URL: http://www.cjmenet.com.cn/EN/10.3901/JME.260190

http://www.cjmenet.com.cn/EN/Y2025/V62/I6/237

References

[1] WANG P，WANG S，WEI X，et al. Research on dynamic analysis and maintenance strategy for hard bending of high-speed turnout switch rail[J]. Engineering Failure Analysis，2024，167：109076.
[2] GE X，LING L，GUO L，et al. Dynamic derailment simulation of an empty wagon passing a turnout in the through route[J]. Vehicle System Dynamics，2022，60(4)：1148-1169.
[3] LAI J，XU J，LIAO T，et al. Investigation on train dynamic derailment in railway turnouts caused by track failure[J]. Engineering Failure Analysis，2022，134：106050.
[4] 胡松涛，石文泽，卢超，等. 高速铁路道岔尖轨轨底伤损SH导波原位检测方法研究[J]. 机械工程学报，2021，57(18)：2-14. HU Songtao，SHI Wenze，LU Chao，et al. Research on in-situ detection of damage in the high-speed railway turnoutbottom based on shear horizontal guided wave[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering，2021，57(18)：2-14.
[5] LIU W，WANG S，YIN Z，et al. Structural damage detection of switch rails using deep learning[J]. NDT & E International，2024，147：103205.
[6] LIU Z，SUN J，WANG H，et al. Simple and fast rail wear measurement method based on structured light[J]. Optics and Lasers in Engineering，2011，49(11)：1343-1351.
[7] 史红梅，张志鹏，李富强. 钢轨磨耗动态测量中轨廓自动配准方法研究[J]. 铁道学报，2021，43(10)：84-90. SHI Hongmei，ZHANG Zhipeng，LI Fuqiang. Study on automatic registration of rail profile during dynamic measurement of rail wear[J]. Journal of the China Railway Society，2021，43(10)：84-90.
[8] CAO X，XIE W，AHMED S M，et al. Defect detection method for rail surface based on line-structured light[J]. Measurement，2020，159：107771.
[9] ALIPPI C，CASAGRANDE E，SCOTTI F，et al. Composite real-time image processing for railways track profile measurement[J]. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement，2000，49(3)：559-564.
[10] SUN J H，WANG H，LIU Z，et al. Rapid extraction algorithm of laser stripe center in rail wear dynamic measurement[J]. Opt. Precis.，Eng.，2011，19(6)：690-696.
[11] TORABI M，MOUSAVI S G M，YOUNESIAN D. A high accuracy imaging and measurement system for wheel diameter inspection of railroad vehicles[J]. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics，2018，65(10)：8239-8249.
[12] LIU H，LI Y，MA Z，et al. Recognition and calibration of rail profile under affine-distortion-based point set mapping[J]. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement，2016，66(1)：131-140.
[13] 樊文刚，吴昌昕，吴志伟，等. 尖轨复杂型面激光测量与三维重构方法研究[J]. 机械工程学报，2024，60(23)：329-340. FAN Wengang，WU Changxin，WU Zhiwei，et al. Research on laser measurement and three-dimensional reconstruction methods for complex profiles of switch rail[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering，2024，60(23)：329-340.
[14] SA J M，GU Y J，SUN A C，et al. The switch rail detection system based on laser sensor[J]. MATEC Web of Conferences，2016，63：01026.
[15] 马晓川，王平，王健，等. 尖轨降低值超限对转辙器动力特性的影响研究[J]. 铁道学报，2016，38(3)：98-105. MA Xiaochuan，WANG Ping，WANG Jian，et al. Study on impact of over-limit reduced value of switch rail on dynamic characteristics of switch[J]. Journal of the China Railway Society，2016，38(3)：98-105
[16] TOMASI C，MANDUCHI R. Bilateral filtering for gray and color images[C]// Sixth International Conference on Computer Vision (IEEE Cat. No. 98CH36271)，January 07，1998，Ombay，India. NewYork：IEEE，1998：839-846.
[17] HODSON T O. Root mean square error (RMSE) or mean absolute error (MAE)：When to use them or not[J]. Geoscientific Model Development Discussions，2022，2022：1-10.
[18] PAGANI L，SCOTT P J. Curvature based sampling of curves and surfaces[J]. Computer Aided Geometric Design，2018，59：32-48.
[19] ABDI H，WILLIAMS L J. Principal component analysis[J]. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews：Computational Statistics，2010，2(4)：433-459.
[20] ZHANG J，YAO Y，DENG B. Fast and robust iterative closest point[J]. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence，2021，44(7)：3450-3466.
[21] WU T，PAN L，ZHANG J，et al. Balanced chamfer distance as a comprehensive metric for point cloud completion[J]. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems，2021，34：29088-29100.
[22] 舒林森，曹华军，许磊，等. 离心压缩机再制造叶轮结构特征三维建模方法及应用[J]. 机械工程学报，2014，50(3)：184-190. SHU Linsen，CAO Huajun，XU Lei，et al. 3D characteristic modeling method and application for remanufactured impeller of centrifugal compressor[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering，2014，52(3)：184-190.