Thermographic Diagnostics of a DC traction railway system

Thermal mapping of electrical or machine components and building structures can provide some important information. Unconventional behavior or fault modes of structures, devices, and various components can be detected by mapping of temperature distribution in heated or cooled structures. It is possible to monitor disorders and inhomogenities, with respect to the resolution of the diagnostic device, at both microscopic and macroscopic level. The infrared (IR) thermography is a powerful tool for monitoring imperfections and damages of various types of electrical machines, devices and components of power systems (e.g. corroded electrical connections with high transient resistance, broken parts, etc.). Vast majority of damages in machinery and electrical components are accompanied by abnormal temperature distribution. The advantage of the IR thermography (IRTG) method lies in the non-contact real time measurement during the operation of the device. Over the past three decades enormously increasing number of applications of infrared thermography can be observed in such fields as construction industry (building monitoring, building energy efficiency), engineering industry (corrosion monitoring, welding damage, material deformation) and power engineering (diagnostics of machines, equipment, electrical installations, photovoltaics). The IR thermography methodology has found its place in nuclear technology, space research, food, paper and wood processing industry, too. Experimental data obtained from practical IRTG measurements on the DC traction system of the Slovak railway network are presented and analyzed in this paperwork.