Title: Wheel maintenance in rolling stock: safety challenges in the defect detection process

Authors: Maria Mikela Chatzimichailidou; Alberto Martinetti; Arnab Majumdar; Leo A.M. Van Dongen; Washington Yotto Ochieng

Addresses: LRF Transport Risk Management Centre, Imperial College of London, UK; Centre for Systems Engineering and Innovation, Imperial College London, UK ' Design, Production and Management Department, University of Twente, The Netherlands ' LRF Transport Risk Management Centre, Imperial College of London, UK ' Design, Production and Management Department, University of Twente, The Netherlands; Netherlands Railways, The Netherlands ' Centre for Transport Studies, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College of London, UK

Abstract: The proper and timely maintenance of railway rolling stock is essential for the safety of railway operations. Inaccurate inspection can lead to inadequate repair of defects and to great safety challenges in respect to the entire railway system. The detection and repair of any defect, such as cracks, in the wheels prior to a failure can significantly reduce train derailments and improved operational performance. This paper examines the wheel maintenance process in maintenance depots in the Netherlands on the basis of literature review, observations and interviews. First, it highlights various detection methods, including the risks of the incorrect detection of a flawed wheel profile. This paper introduces a flowchart as a concise illustration of the maintenance process; that is, both the detection and treatment of defects. With this in hand, the authors, as well as anyone involved in maintenance, are able to identify the points where the process is vulnerable and may be prone to incidents/accidents. Based on this procedure, improvements to the current wheel maintenance process can be proposed. The method that the flowchart is based on is also presented herein, along with the findings obtained throughout its steps.

Keywords: maintenance; safety; wheel defect; rolling stock.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSE.2018.094558

International Journal of System of Systems Engineering, 2018 Vol.8 No.4, pp.387 - 397

Received: 04 Aug 2017
Accepted: 16 Jan 2018

Published online: 06 Sep 2018 *

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