Comparison of Onboard Condition Monitoring System Mounting Location for Freight Railcar Bearing Defect Detection Using Vibration Signatures

Prior research at the University Transportation Center for Railway Safety (UTCRS) has demonstrated that onboard sensor technology can make early and accurate detections of defect initiation in railcar bearings and wheels. Vibration thresholds were developed using the extensive history of acceleration data gathered from an accelerometer mounted at the preferred Smart Adapter (SA) location on the bearing adapter. This location is not available on many adapter types. Data acquired at alternate locations on the adapter indicates that there are systematic differences in recorded vibration waveforms that are significant enough to require compensation in order to find equivalent threshold levels. We propose a study using multiple, simultaneously sampled accelerometers on adapters at several different locations of the adapter surface, to determine the required compensation functions. This large-scale study will be conducted at the UTCRS lab but will be supplemented with field data expected to be gathered at the MxV Rail Fast Loop facility. The test will directly acquire data from (a) the SA location, (b) face-mounted top dead center (TDC) location, (c) and face-mounted at a location 45o off top-dead center (Mote). It will also be compared with statistical data from commercial vibration sensors with alternate mountings. The lab testing will take place concurrently with other previously committed experiments on a combination of healthy bearings and bearings with known early-stage and progressing defects. The outcomes of this project would include quantitative, calibrated comparisons of vibration signatures from the SA location to the alternate as well as potential improvements to existing thresholds and algorithms.

• Record URL:
  • https://www.utrgv.edu/railwaysafety/research/mechanical/index.htm
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Hum Industrial Technologies and MxV Rail are partners for this project.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $196,634.00
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348340

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

  1201 W. University Dr
  Edinburg, TX  United States  78539
• Managing Organizations:

  University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

  1201 W. University Dr
  Edinburg, TX  United States  78539
• Project Managers:

  Stearns, Amy

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

  1201 W. University Dr
  Edinburg, TX  United States  78539
• Principal Investigators:

  Foltz, Heinrich

  Montalvo, Joseph

  Tarawneh, Constantine

• Start Date: 20250601
• Expected Completion Date: 20260831
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bearing tests; Bearings; Railcar structural components; Railroad safety; Vibration tests; Wireless sensors
• Subject Areas: Maintenance and Preservation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01960668
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: University Transportation Center for Railway Safety
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348340
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jul 14 2025 6:51PM