The Fundamental Approach of the Digital Twin Application in Railway Turnouts with Innovative Monitoring of Weather Conditions

Abstract

Improving railway safety depends heavily on the reliability of railway turnouts. The realization of effective, reliable and continuous observations for the spatial analysis and evaluation of the technical condition of railway turnouts is one of the factors affecting safety in railway traffic. The mode and scope of monitoring changes in geometric parameters of railway turnouts with associated indicators needs improvement. The application of digital twins to railway turnouts requires the inclusion of fundamental data indicating their condition along with innovative monitoring of weather conditions. This paper presents an innovative solution for monitoring the status of temperature and other atmospheric conditions. A UbiBot WS1 WIFI wireless temperature logger was used, with an external DS18B20 temperature sensor integrated into an S49 (49E1)-type rail as Tszyn WS1 WIFI. Measurements were made between January and May (winter/spring) at fixed time intervals and at the same measurement point. The aim of the research is to present elements of a fundamental approach of applying digital twins to railway turnouts requiring the consideration and demonstration of rail temperature conditions as a component in the data acquisition of railway turnout condition data and other constituent atmospheric conditions through an innovative solution. The research showed that the presented innovative solution is an effective support for the application of digital twins to railway turnouts and ongoing surveying and diagnostic work of other elements of rail transport infrastructure. The applicability of the TgCWRII second temperature difference indicator in the monitoring of railway turnouts was also confirmed.