IWT4 - European Accreditation

Interfleet's cutting edge instrumented wheelset technology (IWT4) that can accurately measure the dynamic forces between wheel and rail has received accreditation from the German federal railway authority, Eisenbahn Bundesamt (EBA). EBA's authority is renowned throughout central europe.

IWT4 is Interfleet's fourth generation of instrumented wheelset technology, giving a completely new approach to wheelset instrumentation, using advanced mathematical processing and embracing the latest in radio telemetry and signal conditioning.

The technology has been in development for nearly ten years by engineers at Interfleet's test centre in Stockholm, Sweden.

As the new technology takes a radically different approach to measuring wheel rail forces, EBA's independent assessor had to delve deep into the technology to assure its function, a process that took almost two years to undertake. Validation of the technology was exhaustive and included on track testing under a variety of vehicles, laboratory test rig investigations, as well as EMC, Vibration and Climate chamber testing.

"This is an exciting milestone for us. Our technology offering is completely unique to anything available in the market. We have really had to work hard to demonstrate to EBA that IWT4 is robust and fit for purpose," explains Greg Riggall, Interfleet's Instrumented Wheelset Product Manager.

"This accreditation will allow us to bring a new technology to Europe. Moreover, the EBA stamp of approval is renowned outside Europe, so sends a clear message that IWT4 is robust and fit for purpose. We have a world leading product in IWT4 and with Interfleet being a truly international railway consulting company there is a big potential to deliver it worldwide".

IWT4 is a cutting edge solution with the advantages of being more affordable, available for use in a much shorter lead-time and uses clients' standard wheelsets without the need for any destructive modifications to the wheel disc or axle, such as boring or milling. IWT4 will be a key contributor in fields such as the vehicle acceptance process, validation of vehicle models, demonstrating safety when increasing speed or axle load, assessing "track friendly" performance, monitoring track quality and investigating both rail and wheel fatigue issues.

The test centre in Stockholm is a centre of excellence for all types of vehicle testing, but is world leading in the field of Instrumented Wheelset Technology. It was here that the world's first instrumented wheelsets were produced in the 1950's. This tradition has continued over the last 50 years, with the test centre being at the forefront of development. IWT4 is only one example of this, but another is IWT3. IWT3 is Interfleet's traditional IW technology, which is world leading in measuring wheel rail forces at very high frequencies. This is extremely valuable when investigating wheel fatigue issues, and also enables it to be used to investigate track quality while running under a vehicle at normal line speeds.