Digital Solutions for Rail Profile

KLD Labs offers both automated and portable measurement systems for assessing the rail profile and rail wear conditions. The rail profile output is utilized for asset optimization, condition-based maintenance, wheel rail interface analysis including equivalent iconicity and contact patch studies. These tools play an important role in managing the rail component of the wheel rail interface that can reduce friction and decrease energy consumption which are important to greener and more cost-efficient railway operations.

AUTOMATED
KLD Labs’ ORIAN™ (Optical Rail Inspection and ANalysis) family of automated high speed rail measurement systems incorporate the latest laser and imaging technology to provide immediate feedback on the rail profile and rail wear condition while traveling at track speeds. The video cameras capture full cross-sectional rail profiles from the base/web fillet area up to the top-of-rail surface to allow comprehensive and accurate rail measurements.

The ORIAN™ sensor heads are mounted beneath a railway vehicle. The central computer and peripherals are housed inside the vehicle. As the vehicle travels down the track, a laser system illuminates each rail as a high-resolution video camera records the rail profile for processing and storage on the central computer. The computer then shows exactly how much wear the rail has suffered, as well as the overall condition of the track structure. This information is stored internally and is then transferred off the vehicle to enable data playback and analysis.

The ORIAN™ rail profile measurement systems available capabilities include identifying rail types, measuring rail height, vertical wear, rail width, lateral wear, field/gauge metal flow-lip, rail inclination, track gauge, rail can’t (rail inclination) and joint bar/fish plate presence as well as other customer defined measurements. For reasons of performance, reliability and customer service it has become the preferred rail measurement for the largest rail service providers in the world.

PORTABLE
KLD Labs is the North American representative for the entire line of MiniProf instruments. For portable wheel measurement the MiniProf BT Rail instrument is an easy to use, lightweight, hand-held wireless tool for monitoring cross sectional profiles of the rail. It is attached magnetically to the head of the rail and uses a telescopic rod for track level measurements. The user interface is any Android phone or a Window 10 notebook or tablet. The instruments are normally used with a laptop or rugged handheld computer for data collection.  For more information on the MiniProf BT please go here. For answers to questions and a product quotation contact KLD here