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Continuous Monitoring of Bearing Health

Monitoring of the health of bearings during train operations provides a valuable source of information for optimizing maintenance and overhaul intervals of wheelsets.
The function Acoustic Monitoring Sensor (AMS) is a highly sensitive measurement system that collects the acoustic signature of each bearing of a passing train. Defects associated with the individual components of both tapered and cylindrical roller bearings are detected at an early stage and trends for each monitored bearing are provided. Alarms are generated at user-defined tolerance levels, which supports efficient wheelset maintenance programs.
In addition to bearing defects, future phases of development will identify wheel defects, locomotive engine defects and locomotive drive train defects.

Benefits:

  • Early-stage detection of bearing defects
  • Optimizing bearing overhaul periods
  • Safety management of railway operations
  • Asset protection
  • Long-term monitoring
  • Optimized wheelset, locomotive and railcar maintenance management
  • Condition based maintenance
  • No moving parts for increased robustness and decreased maintenance
  • Measurement of out-board and in-board bearings
  • High reliability and availability due to measurement of multiple bearing rotations even under bad weather conditions
  • Easily removed and re-installed from/to any standard sleeper for easy track maintenance
  • Wide range of supported bearing types

Technical Specifications:

Train speed: 30 to 160 km/h
Defects reported: Cup, Cone, Rollers, Multiple Raceway Defects, Large Area Spalling
Double Track Installations: Yes
Reporting: zentrak Fleet Condition Monitoring
Trending: Yes
Environment: -20 to +60 °C
IP class microphones: IP67