The hardware and software approach to identify damaged cables in railway power supply systems

Objective: to implement a diagnostic method for power-supply cables by improving the accuracy of detecting the electromagnetic field components on the ground surface generated by cable currents. The project tasks included developing the device schematic, creating a prototype, conducting laboratory tests, and refining the prototype based on the test outcomes. Methods: the approach involved creating a structural diagram and electrical schematic, developing of a microprocessor-based prototype incorporating multiple algorithms and associated software, conducting laboratory experiments on the prototype, and assessing its metrological characteristics. Results: an electrical schematic and printed circuit board were developed; a prototype device was constructed and the accompanying software implemented; laboratory tests validated the device’s primary functions, in particular and qualified its metrological characteristics, which are critical to the effectiveness of the phase-based method under development depends. Practical significance: this research advances equipment for detecting faults in cables with metallic sheaths by synchronizing the signal generator and receiver via the GLONASS satellite system. The proposed phase-based method enables accurate localization of cable faults by abrupt perturbations in the magnetic field associated with discontinuities in buried cables at depths of several meters. Experimental studies corroborate the device’s applicability for implementing the phase-based diagnostic technique on power-supply system cables. The novelty lies in the introduction of a phase-based method that maintains reliable fault detection performance even in environments with substantial electromagnetic interference.