The railway industry is currently searching for a rapid, reliable and effective method of monitoring the structural integrity of rails during their service life in order to prevent the propagation of fatigue cracks which can lead to rail fracture. To address this problem, a new infrared method for in-service crack detection of fatigue cracks in rails is being developed. Initial data for this technique is presented for two representative contact problems. Firstly, the response of a notched prismatic rectangular beam subjected to a three-point bending load applied by a cylindrical roller, which is representative of a rail loaded by the passage of a train wheel, is shown as proof of concept for the technique. Secondly, the response of a welded section of rail subjected to three-point bend loading applied using a section of train wheel is determined, the loading of which accurately reproduced a typical rail/wheel contact. Infrared data is presented which demonstrates the identification of weld defects during loading of the wheel on the rail. The results from these two analyses are then considered in the context of a proposed train-mounted damage detection system, and the extension of the method to the identification and quantification of representative fatigue cracks in rails is outlined. The paper concludes that the proposed infrared crack detection method has been successfully demonstrated both in the analysis of artificially introduced notches in prismatic beams and weld defects in sections of rail, and is expected to form an effective tool for in-service fatigue crack detection.
In-service fatigue crack detection of rail using thermal techniques
Nachweis von Ermüdungsrissen während des Betriebs von Schienen durch Nutzung thermischer Techniken
2006
8 Seiten, 4 Bilder, 11 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Datenträger
Englisch
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