Use of thermal imaging technology for locomotive maintenance in Sri Lanka Railways

Abstract

Predictive maintenance is one of the most important maintenance practice which can be used for locomotive maintenance purposes. Proper predictive maintenance procedures lead to reduce the downtime of locomotives, breakdown maintenance and train delays due to technical reasons. Predictive maintenance utilizes Non Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques such as Thermal imaging technology, Vibration analysis and Oil analysis. Sri Lanka Railway uses above technologies for locomotive maintenance purposes to a certain extent at present. From the beginning of 2016 the thermal imaging technology was introduced as a pilot project in one of the locomotive depot. During the last 24 months of the pilot project, it was able to identify several areas, where the thermal imaging technology can be successfully used for maintenance of locomotives. This paper tries to elaborate on the areas identified and how the thermal imaging technology is used as predictive maintenance practice in maintenance of locomotives in Sri Lanka Railways.