Evaluation of maintenance schedules on railway traction power system
RIS ID
82882
Abstract
In electrified railways, the traction power systems carry power to trains and their reliability is vital to the quality of train services. There are many components in the traction power system, from interface with ultility distribution netowrk to contacts with trains and they are physically located along the rail line. Subject to usage environment, and ageing, conditions of components deteriorate with time. Regular maintenance has to be carried out to restore their conditions and prevent them from failure. However, the decisions on the suitable length of maintenance intervals often lead railway operators to the dilemma of minimising both risk of failure and operation cost. On the basis of a stochastic lifetime model, this article presents a generic software evaluation tool that enables the operators to manage risk of failure and cost quantitatively in order to match their prefered levels of service quality. The lifetime model includes the effects of condition restoration because ofj maintenance of regular intervals and ageing acceleration because of the electical stress from traffic demands. Examplos of simulation results are given to illustrate the applicability of this lifetime model.
Publication Details
Ho, T. K., Chi, Y. L., Ferreira, L., Leung, K. Kit. & Slu, L. K. (2006). Evaluation of maintenance schedules on railway traction power system. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit, 220 (2), 91-102.