Stochastic model-based analysis of energy consumption in a rail road switch heating system

Rail road switches enable trains to be guided from one track to another, and rail road switches heaters are used to avoid the formation of snow and ice during the cold season in order to guarantee their correct functioning. Managing the energy consumption of these devices is important in order to reduce the costs and minimise the environmental impact. While doing so, it is important to guarantee the reliability of the system. In this work we analyse reliability and energy consumption indicators for a system of (remotely controlled) rail road switch heaters by devel­oping and solving stochastic models based on the Stochastic Activity Networks (SAN) formalism. An on-off policy is considered for heating the switches, with parametric thresholds representing the temperatures activating/deactivating the heating. Initial investigations are carried on to understand the impact of different thresholds on the indicators under analysis (probability of failure and energy consumption).