High-speed train suspension health monitoring using computational dynamics and acceleration measurements

Abstract

This paper presents a novel method for the state health monitoring of high-speed train suspensions from in-line acceleration measurements by embedded sensors, for maintenance purposes. We propose a model-based method relying on a multibody simulation code. It performs the simultaneous identification of several suspension mechanical parameters. It is adapted to the introduction of uncertainties in the system and to the exploitation of numerous high-dimensional measurements. The novel method consists of a Bayesian calibration approach using a Gaussian process surrogate model of the likelihood function. The method has been validated on numerical experiments. We demonstrate its ability to detect evolutions of the health state of suspension elements. It has then been tested on actual acceleration measurements to study the time evolution of the suspension parameters.