What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to develop and validate a thermographic wayside monitoring system for detecting rail-wheel tread defects, comparing it against traditional accelerometer methods.

July 31, 2026Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part F Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit

A wayside monitoring system for rail wheel defect detection using thermography and dynamic measurements

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This research aims to develop and validate a thermographic wayside monitoring system for detecting rail-wheel tread defects, comparing it against traditional accelerometer methods.
Developed a thermographic system for wheel-tread defect detection under depot conditions.
Conducted an experimental campaign with two X’Trapolis Mega train sets to gather evaluation data.
Used a combination of accelerometers and statistical features for performance benchmarking.
Achieved F1-scores of 0.96 at 3 km/h and 1.00 at 10 km/h with the accelerometer-based system.
Thermography achieved perfect detection at 3 km/h and uncovered defects missed by manual inspections.
Performance of thermography degraded at high speeds, with a mean error of 8.7% at 20 km/h.

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Implication

Randomized trial shows high detection accuracy for rail wheel defects using thermography and accelerometers, suggesting a reliable monitoring method.

Cite This Study

Lubbe et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a6c46e6747664a1aa73bdde https://doi.org/10.1177/09544097261469246

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Implication

Randomized trial shows high detection accuracy for rail wheel defects using thermography and accelerometers, suggesting a reliable monitoring method.

A wayside monitoring system for rail wheel defect detection using thermography and dynamic measurements

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Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

A wayside monitoring system for rail wheel defect detection using thermography and dynamic measurements

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

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