Sustainable Asset Management for Turnouts: From measurement data analysis to behaviour and maintenance prediction

Due to the high costs, maintenance and inspection-intensive components, turnouts require increased attention. It does not make sense to remove individual parts from the overall system. Instead, the entire turnout must be understood and optimised. Based on strategic and network-wide considerations, methods have already been developed to make the life cycle of turnouts describable. The aim is to apply these methods in order to derive statements about different turnouts under their specific boundary conditions. To achieve this goal, a large amount of data has been validated in context to a descriptive model for describing and predicting the turnout behaviour. The measurement data provided by the EM250 track measurement car were the optimal solution, although a procedure for preparing these data for the analysis of turnouts is necessary. The method developed for this purpose (CoMPAcT) enables the exact repositioning of all available measurement signals and ensures their synchronicity. On the base of these data, a wide variety of analyses can be carried out, enabling the implementation of an integrated life cycle management approach.