Snow galleries on Malmbanan - Monitor snow build-up and alert when it is time to clean it
Background
The snow galleries along the Iron Ore railway line in northern Sweden have faced problems in recent years due to increasingly large snow loads with several galleries been damaged. These incidents motivated an evaluation of the maximum load supported by the galleries before collapse. In 2021, a monitoring system was installed in one of the main frames of two snow galleries built in the 1950’s to follow up with temperature and displacements. A digital twin (DT) of the snow gallery is integrated with the live sensor data from the monitoring system into a single platform to facilitate visualization and improve decision-making. With the DT, the live snow load is compared against a color-coded scheme based on the galleries’ structural capacity and finite element model simulations to facilitate interpretation of the results. Then, predictive maintenance can be performed before more costly interventions are needed or there is any risk to safety.
Aim and objectives
The aim of the project is to monitor the snow galleries load bearing structure, during the wintertime, to prevent the local or general collapse, by monitoring the critical load levels.
The objective is to develop an accurate assessment procedure for the snow galleries, by using 24/7 monitoring and automatic warnings, keeping the railroad open for safe passage.
Facts
Financer: Trafikverket
Timeline: Project start in 01-21 and Project end (planned) in 12-24.
Principal Investigator: Gabriel Sas
Team members: Cosmin Daescu, Jaime Gonzalez-Libreros, Vanessa Saback, Mats Petersson, Erik Andersson
The project has been developed together with Thingwave® External link.
Dissemination
- Saback, V., Gonzalez-Libreros, J., Daescu, C., Popescu, C., Garmabaki, A.H.S., Sas, G. (2023). Adapting to climate change: snow load assessment of snow galleries on the Iron Ore Line in Northern Sweden External link.. Frontiers in Built Environment, E-ISSN 2297-3362, Vol. 9.
- Saback, V., Gonzalez-Libreros, J., Daescu, C., Hojsten, T., Sas, G. (2023). Evaluation of the snow loads on the snow galleries on the Iron Ore Line in Northern Sweden External link.. ce/papers, ISSN 2509-7075, Vol. 6, no 5, p. 221-228
Contact
Gabriel Sas
- Professor and Head of Subject
- 0920-493835
- gabriel.sas@ltu.se
- Gabriel Sas
Jaime Gonzalez
- Associate Senior Lecturer
- 0920-492970
- jaime.gonzalez@ltu.se
- Jaime Gonzalez
Vanessa Saback
- PhD Student
- 0920-49
- vanessa.saback@ltu.se
- Vanessa Saback
Cosmin Popescu
- Adjunct University Lecturer
- 0920-492322
- cosmin.popescu@ltu.se
- Cosmin Popescu
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