Fuzzy identification of rail track parameters

The numerical values of rail track and traction line impedance and admittance are site- and environment-specific and are consequently difficult to assess except for precisely known conditions. The identification of track parameters based on fuzzy techniques represents a promising approach since only approximate qualitative knowledge of the track component and ground material properties and their environmental variations are required. Such a fuzzy model is described in this paper. The model has been calibrated using verified reference data derived by finite element analysis, and is accurate to less than 30% compared with the given reference data.