Preliminary Development of an ME-Based Wearing Model for the Conductor Rail in MCTS

Rubber-tired trains are powered by electricity through sliding contact between the conductor rail system and collector shoe. The sliding contact produces wear on the conductor rail and wear plate, which results in malfunctions of the electricity supply. A track management system (TMS) is usually adopted to facilitate track operation; one key component of such systems is the performance model. Generally, there are three types of performance models: empirical, mechanical, and mechanical-empirical (ME). However, there are no studies on ME-based wearing performance models for conductor rail systems at present. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop an ME-based wearing deterioration model. In this study, relevant material properties such as hardness and tensile strength, train operating parameters such as train speed, electric current, and lateral acceleration of the collector shoe, and quarterly inspection data on the wear plate and conductor rail were collected. Two ME-based wearing models were proposed, one for the wear plate and one for the conductor rail. The results showed that the performance model for the conductor rail had higher accuracy than the model for the wear plate.