Maintenance supplier Mantena is in full swing with an exciting condition-based maintenance project in collaboration with the optimisation group at The Research Council of Norway. The project has been named RailCBM and will contribute to improving the company’s competence in estimating and predicting the condition of components on rolling stock.
This three year long pioneering project will, among other things, be relevant for the Øresund contract, where Mantena is the total supplier of maintenance for trains running in southern Sweden and the Øresund area.
Read more about the Øresund contract here:
Developing a prototype
Systems engineer Petter Lefoka is responsible for test and measurement systems in Mantena. He says that the project is an important part of Mantena’s focus on the railway of the future.
– In order to take new steps in the maintenance of rolling stock, it is necessary to look at the systems behind it. Therefore, this is not only an important project for Mantena, but the entire industry. One of the most important goals is to develop a prototype of the so-called condition-based maintenance program, hence the name Rail CBM. Another goal is to develop algorithms for predicting the condition of components in bogies.
– As a part of this project, we are collecting data from several sources, including various measurement systems and the dynamic test bench at our workshop at Grorud. We are also working on installing vibration sensors on trains in traffic, to test algorithms on components in operation. The vibration analysis will allow us to review numbers from our machines in order to weed out unwanted vibrations and temperatures.
Developing collaboration
Research scientist Daniel Palhazi Cuervo at The Research Council of Norway is excited about the cooperation with Mantena.
– The Research Council of Norway has had a long collaboration with the railway industry, and we see condition-based maintenance as one of the most promising avenues for research. By further developing this technology, we expect to considerably reduce the need for maintenance and make train operations more efficient. We are thrilled to work together with Mantena on paving the way towards a better and more sustainable railway sector.