Digital Twins – How Will They Change the Industry?

Digital twins are virtual replicas of real infrastructure. It is a model that mirrors and simulates an asset and its surrounding environment. The technology can help you answer questions such as how a specific asset (or system of assets) will react under certain conditions.

More than a prototype

The concept of the digital twin was first introduced to the world in 2002. Since then it has increasingly become relevant to both system engineering and model-based system engineering (MBSE).

The common understanding is that a digital twin is a dynamic digital representation of a physical system. It might be confused with a virtual prototype. However, unlike this, a digital twin is a virtual instance of a physical system (a twin). It is continually updated with the physical system’s performance, maintenance, and health status data throughout the system’s life cycle.

The digital twin can become part of the system itself, enhancing the original functionality of the product. In other words: a digital twin connects the real world with the virtual world.

The impact of digital twins in the railway industry

Turnouts are some of the most critical and costly components in the rail infrastructure. They are responsible for a high amount of operational costs. Up to 30 percent of the annual maintenance budget is spent to maintain and renew switches and crossings.

The interaction of a railway switch and its switch point is complex. As a result, it can be difficult to predict their future behavior.

The use of a digital twin promises an efficient and cost-effective extension of switch point systems. By capturing data via sensors, the digital twin connects railway assets and their operational technology (OT) systems to an IT environment. This enables it to monitor performance, deterioration, and failure as well as location and safety compliance. For that reason, the digital twin can monitor, manage, and maintain railway assets.

The integration of asset information is crucial

The process of creating a digital twin is not always as straightforward as one could have hoped.

The integration of product design is crucial. To assess the overall condition of the entire system, including information from design and manufacturing, engineering technology (ET) is a must. Digital twins created only with IT and OT convergence is not complete.

If the model is to succeed in making accurate health assessments – or determine unexpected or unknown asset behaviors – the integration of asset information must be available throughout the entire life cycle.

Entering the new age of designing infrastructure

Despite a few challenges, models that compromise engineering knowledge and data collected from the field will soon play a vital part in the digitalization of the world.

Hybrid models such as digital twins are more than 3D systems; it is a technique that offers a complete, comprehensive, and real-time system vision. They can be used to simplify the interaction between projects, and they can detect potential conflicts between different infrastructure objects.

Digital twins will have a great impact on the railway industry and are synonymous with radical changes within the industry. They will radicalize the way we think, act, and design our future infrastructure.

Interested to learn more about digital twins? Review the sources below.