The use of a fuzzy expert system to increase the reliability of diagnostics of axle boxes of rolling stocks

This paper is devoted to the development of an effective system for monitoring the technical condition of the axle boxes of rolling stock. To this end, the possibility of solving problems of fault diagnostics based on the theory of fuzzy sets is considered. This allows one note such difficult-to-formalise factors as experience and intuition of a highly qualified expert specialist. It showed that an expert system-based monitoring approach allows evaluation of the technical condition of the axle boxes, characterised by internal and external operating uncertainty. It also proposed the use of parameters such as vibration and noise for comprehensive monitoring of the technical condition of axle box units together with temperature. Furthermore, the combination of these diagnostic parameters and expert system’s possibility to receive all necessary information about the condition of the most critical components of the axle boxes in real-time and analyse the changes in their operational parameters was explored. The stages of modelling an expert system in the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox package of the MATLAB computing environment are presented.