DEVELOPMENT OF ULTRASONIC RAILWAY INSPECTION SYSTEMS USING PHASED ARRAY METHODS

This paper presents the state of the current activities to develop an ultrasonic railway inspection system using phased array methods. The aim is to build up a system, which can perform a crack analysis and sizing. At first a probe, which was designed for the wheel disk and railway inspection, will be presented. The subject area of this paper will be the railway inspection. The probe was designed using a point source synthesis model which was used to compute the directivity pattern of the probe. A comparison will show the good congruence between the measured and computed directivity pattern of the probe for some different angles of incidence. The soundfield control using the phased array technique allows high detection probability and size estimation of cracks. The evaluation of the results obtained make easier to determine which repairing measures are required and their urgency. A phased array probe in sequence can replace different conventional probes. That implies a great variability during the inspection. However, the sequential excitation of the probes by a phased array device causes a drop of the examination velocity compared with the currently used systems. The inspection system should be optimized to cope with examination velocities of 25-30 km/h. The results obtained with rail specimens at the laboratory are presented. For the covering abstract see ITRD E123761.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0947644512
• Corporate Authors:

  ENGINEERING TECHNICS PRESS

  46 CLUNY GARDENS
  EDINBURGH,   United Kingdom  EH10 6BN
• Authors:
  • TSCHARNTKE, D
  • HECKEL, T
  • BOEHM, R
  • ERHARD, A
  • KRULL, R
  • LUTZNER, J
  • HINTZE, H
• Publication Date: 2003

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 7 p.
• Monograph Title: EMBEDDED SLAB TRACK TEST TRACK IN SPAIN: CONSTRUCTION OF A LOW MAINTENANCE CONCRETE SLAB TRACK
• Serial:
  • PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION RAILWAY ENGINEERING 2003, HELD LONDON, UK, 30 APRIL - 1 MAY 2003 - CDROM
  • Publisher: ENGINEERING TECHNICS PRESS

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Condition surveys; Conferences; Cracking; Nondestructive tests; Railroad tracks; Test procedures; Ultrasonics
• ITRD Terms: 3857: Condition survey; 8525: Conference; 5211: Cracking; 6216: Non destructive testing; 1062: Railway track; 6288: Test method; 6739: Ultrasonic
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00985577
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• ISBN: 0-947644-51-2
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Feb 4 2005 12:00AM