Novel Fibre Accelerometer for Railway Condition-monitoring

This novel accelerometer can monitor defects of a railway track or a train in real time to pinpoint problems before an accident occurs. Based on the Sagnac interferometer configuration and principle, the device uses a polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fibre (PMPCF). With the interferometric configuration, it can acquire precise information about the vibrations that would indicate defects in the track from the changes in the light inside the fibre.

While it maintains constant sensitivity in a large frequency range, it is not affected by electromagnetic interference noise and does not require expensive shielded cables. It has the advantages of both traditional fibre-optic accelerometers (e.g. FBG) and piezoelectric accelerometer. It works well in noisy and high-voltage environments found in railway applications. It can also be integrated with artificial intelligence to analyze massive data in order to prevent train derailments and other railway accidents.