Real-Time Fast Fourier Transform Implementation for Analyzing Railway Vehicle Vibrations

Monitoring the vibration level for railway vehicles is an important topic of study in the transport industry. The level and pattern of these vibrations are indicative of various types of defects, such as irregularities in the rail or voids under the pavement of the track. Using this information, various measures can be taken to avoid accidents. This paper presents a real-time implementation of the Fast Fourier Transform, used to analyze such vibration signals. The measurements are made using three-axis accelerometers equipped on board a special vehicle used to analyze rail track parameters.