A Feasibility Study of Guided Wave Technique for Rail Monitoring

  • Rose, J.L. (FBS Co., State College, Pennsylvania) ;
  • Lee, C.M. (Ultrasonics R&D Lab., Engineering Science and Mechanics Depot., The Pennsylvania State University) ;
  • Cho, Y. (School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University)
  • Published : 2006.12.30

Abstract

The critical subject of transverse crack detection in a rail head is treated in this paper. Conventional bulk wave ultrasonic techniques oftenfail because of shelling and other surface imperfections that shield the defects that lie below the shelling. A guided wave inspection technique is introduced here that can send ultrasonic energy along the rail under the shelling with a capability of finding the deleterious transverse crack defects. Dispersion curves are generated via a semi analytical finite element technique along with a hybrid guided wave finite element technique to explore the most suitable modes and frequencies for finding these defects. Sensor design and experimental feasibility experiments are also reported.

Keywords

References

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