Rail transport

ASC sets you on the path to unmatched driving comfort.

Something we at ASC know all too well: Rail transport imposes particularly stringent demands on measurement technology. That’s why our development engineers strive equally hard to develop ultra-durable and reliable sensors for our rail sector customers. Sensors which prove their worth, day after day, in operations to monitor safety and wear for trams, underground trains as well as rolling stock carrying passengers and freight and meet all the key quality and safety requirements.

Leveraging many years of experience and an established presence in the rail transport sector has allowed us to develop a particularly wide range of these units for our customers, in this key sector. And when there is a need to master individual challenges, we also develop customer-specific sensor solutions that meet even the most complex of requirements.

In the rail transport sector, we offer sensor solutions of unrivalled quality, including for the following applications:

Driving comfort measurement

Assessing driving comfort involves measuring low frequencies up to 0 Hz, to personally record even the slightest impacts and vibrations, which may impinge on the comfort of passengers during the drive. The uniaxial accelerometers ASC 4311LN and ASC 4411LN boasting low frequencies and exceptional dynamics in signal and noise performance are ideally suited for assessing driving comfort and go a long way to ensuring passengers have a more pleasant ride.

Structural analyses

Within the railways sector, structural analyses are not only performed on trains, but also drawbridges, tracks and the track bed.

The task of monitoring vibration on drawbridges (structural health monitoring) in particular may require exceptionally long cabling between the sensor and measuring computer and result in unwanted signal losses in the process. The ASC CS series of capacitive sensors guarantee loss-free signal transmission over even the longest lengths of cable due to its current output of 4-20 mA. Many customers currently use the triaxial CS-1611LN sensor for such applications.

Accelerometers with lightweight, high-frequency and robust qualities are preferred for the structural analysis of complete trains as well as individual components. As satisfied customers confirm: The triaxial piezoelectric ASC P203A11 accelerometer more than meets these requirements.

Track bed vibrations are also examined, for example, to record any settling of the subsoil. In this case, underneath the entire stretch in question, the ultra-durable and hermetically sealed ASC OS series sensors are used, such as the uniaxial ASC OS-115LN or the triaxial ASC OS-315LN.

Operational stability test

In rail transport, individual components such as bogies, axles, brakes or wheel bearings, are exposed to extreme and other ambient conditions. Investigations of operational strengths help uncover potential weaknesses at an early stage and contribute decisively to ensuring the safety and reliability of rail vehicles in the process.

Our customers use numerous capacitive accelerometers from ASC to monitor individual components as well as complete trains. Both the uniaxial ASC 4421MF and the triaxial ASC 5525MF are preferred choices in this context, due to high shock resistance and an extended frequency range when measuring vibrations at the bogie and its components.

Bridging navigation

The ability to determine the position of rolling stock at all times is a safety must for modern rail transport. For example, trains may lose their GPS signal when entering tunnels. Under such circumstances, sensors can help ensure continued accurate positional determination. The ASC IMU 7.x.y. is a sensor with 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) which is often installed in rolling stock for the purpose described. The measuring unit is based on a triaxial capacitive MEMS accelerometer and triaxial angular rate sensor.

This is where you will find appropriate sensors for the rail sector: