Electrical system of ensuring the thermal regime of railway turnout switches

Abstract

Turnout switches are an integral part of railway tracks that ensure the movement of trains and the rational functioning of the railway transport. Due to the fact that turnout switches are mainly used on open sections of track, they are exposed to the environment and, first of all, to atmospheric precipitation – rain, snow, hailstones, as well as to the influence of air temperature that can vary from negative to positive values. At the same time, snow, ice, etc. can accumulate between the moving parts of the turnout switches, on their surfaces, which in turn causes difficulty in the turnout switch operation, up to the complete termination of their functioning. To ensure the smooth operation of turnout switches, various methods of cleaning them from snow and ice are used – mechanical cleaning, heating, which provides for the melting of frozen moisture, etc. The heating of turnout switches has an indisputable advantage over cleaning, since it does not require stopping the movement of trains for the period of cleaning work. In turn, the heating of turnout switches results in constant energy consumption, which requires the creation of rational structures that make provision for the necessary temperature with minimal energy consumption. The article considers and tests one of the possible technical solutions for improving the system of automatic cleaning of turnout switches from snow and ice. This technical solution is based on ensuring the rational temperature of the critical sections of railway tracks with the help of electric heating elements with an automatic control system. The proposed technical solution was tested in St. Petersburg on the Zelenogorskaya track maintenance section of the Oktyabrskaya Railway track and is protected by the patent of the Russian Federation No. 0056908 U1.