The L.B. Foster Wheel Impact Load Detector is the most widely used system in the world today, with nearly 300 installed to date, to detect and alarm on excessive wheel impacts for the targeted removal of defective wheels. An essential component of any performance-based wheel management program, the WILD continually monitors rail vehicle wheel health to ensure safe and productive train operations.
WILD systems evaluate millions of wheels per day throughout the international rail industry with proven accuracy and reliability.
The WILD is a hardened electronic data collection device that measures vertical wheel forces via rail-mounted strain gages. The WILD measures impact forces cause by damaged wheels.
High impact forces damage vehicles, cargo, and infrastructure.
A series of strain gage load circuits, micro-welded directly to the neutral axis of a rail, create an instrumented zone for the measurement of vertical forces exerted by each wheel of a passing train. Signal processors, housed in a nearby enclosure, analyze the data to isolate wheel tread irregularities. If any wheel generates a force that exceeds a customer-configured alarming threshold, a report identifies that wheel for action.
Customers can configure multiple alarm thresholds corresponding to their operating procedures. These reports are distributed in real-time to such interested parties as rail traffic control centers and vehicle repair shops.