Fault Detection of Tripod Shaft using Dual Strain Sensor

Abstract

Tripod shafts used in high-speed trains transmit power of motor reduction unit to axle reduction unit. Since the load applied to the reduction units is very large during operation, it is designed as the shaft with a fuse to protect gears of reduction units. Failure of the fuse can lead to accidents and economic loss such as train service interruption and repair problem in accident site. However, it is difficult to inspect the fuse covered by the tripod shaft housing. So, it is necessary to detect the fuse of the tripod shaft in advance. In this study, torsion fatigue tests considering failure mode were carried out and strain data were collected by strain sensors at around weak point of that. Thresholds for the damage detection of the tripod shaft fuse were defined by feature extraction from sensor data. We evaluated the detection performance of the thresholds.