Research on the Non-Contact Detection of Internal Defects in a Rail using Ultrasonic Waves

비접촉 초음파 방식의 철도레일 내부결함 검출에 관한 연구

Non-contact detection of internal defects in a rail using ultrasonic waves is discussed in this paper. Cracks in a rail may be a cause of a serious railway accident such as derailment if left undetected. Concurrent rail inspection method based on ultrasonic testing using piezoelectric transducers has several limitations as it should keep physical contact with the rail. This work suggests a non-contact detection of internal defects in a rail using ElectroMagnetic Acoustic Transducers (EMAT) which can produce and measure ultrasonic waves in a rail without any couplant. The EMATs for rail inspection are designed and fabricated and their working performance is verified through a series of experiments on various types of internal defects in test rails. The effect of lift-off between the transducers and the rail on the generated signals is also discussed.