ABSTRACT
An understanding of testing and instrumentation methods is essential to the accurate construction and validation of railway vehicle dynamic models. The dynamics engineer may need to produce specifications for test work, understand the applicability and limitations of data produced and manipulate test results to provide comparisons with modelling work. This chapter provides an overview of the situations in which the engineer may require test data, together with an introduction to common techniques and equipment used, both in the laboratory and for conducting vehicle testing on track. In addition to describing the various types of transducers commonly in use, the chapter discusses the equipment used to measure wheel and rail profiles and track geometry. The examples of test applications given largely relate to vehicle testing, which forms the most relevant body of work for the vehicle dynamics engineer. However, dynamic simulations are increasingly used in rail-/track-related investigations, where many of the same techniques may be applied.
