The application of Long Range Ultrasonic Testing (LRUT) to inspect railway tracks

Carmen Campos Castellanos Yousef Gharaibeh NDT Technology Group TWI

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Contents
MonitoRail Project overview
Rail industry need and market potential Limitation of current inspection methods. Project challenges

Long range ultrasonic testing (LRUT) The application of guided waves as an inspection technique.
Previous work Deformation shape of guided waves. Investigation of different excitation conditions. Experimental trials

Conclusion and Future work.

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MonitoRail project overview

MONITORAIL: Long range inspection and condition monitoring of rails using guided waves Partly funded by the FP7 programme (Research for the benefit of SMEs) over two years Project manager: Carmen Campos Castellanos -TWI Ltd

Jackweld

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Rail industry need & market potential

Recent advances in inspection and NDT techniques have drastically reduced the incidence of rail breaks. However, a residual number of rail breaks still occurs

Rail breaks England, Wales and Scotland (source: Network rail)

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Limitations of the existing NDT techniques

Limitation in terms of reliability of defect detection (e.g. internal defects) Inspection speed Maintenance is carried out in difficult conditions and often at night Inspection can be risky and dangerous operation Can not cover the whole section of the rail (constraints in detecting defects in the rail foot)

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Current inspection method

RSU Tyre

70 Degree Probe Coverage

37 Degree Probe Coverage

0 Degree Probes Coverage

0 Degree Probe 37 Fw Degree Probe 37 Rev Degree Probe

70 Rev G, C & F Degree Probes 70 Fw G, C & F Degree Probes

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Limited defect sensitivity in the foot

Possible

Not Possible

Not Possible

Currently there is no method to detect foot defects other than those directly beneath the web of the rail. Detection of defects in the rail head and web will also be investigated in order to provide a cost effective solution.

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Project objectives
To inspect critical areas where the probability for defects is high and there is limited access to carry out the conventional NDT techniques. To inspect long lengths of rail track from a limited number of access points. To achieve full volumetric coverage of the rail. To develop a cost efficient technique for condition monitoring. To extend the life of the rail through early repairs of rail tracks.

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Project challenges
Accessibility

Environmental conditions:
Rain/snow Temperature -20 to 60 Celsius degrees.

Interface to rail engineering/ operation staff Existing features on the rail attenuates the signal

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LRUT- Ultrasonic Guided Waves

0 20 Hz 20 kHz
Ultrasonic

1GHz
Hyper sonic

Frequency

Infra sound Audible sound

Much lower frequency than conventional ultrasonics Equivalent to Lamb waves Use a wave guide - a regular cross section Complex due to large number of wavemodes

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Conventional Vs LRUT
Conventional Transducer Localised Inspection Weld Metal loss Teletest Tool 100% Inspection Weld Metal loss Guided Wave Flange Flange

Metal loss

Metal loss

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Adopting Guided waves as Long Range Ultrasonic Inspection technique

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Railway track cross sectional surface (BS113A)

69.9mm 35.9mm 158.75mm Head

Web

86.7mm

11.11mm

Foot 139.7mm
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Dispersion Curves (modelling results)

Y Gharaibeh, et allInvestigation of the behaviour of selected ultrasonic guided wave modes to inspect rails for long-range testing and monitoring Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit, pp. 225: 311 (2011) Copyright TWI Ltd 2011

Different possible wave modes for different sections in the railway track.

Sole existence in each section in the railway track. Similar vibration patterns. Displacement in the entire section suggests 100% coverage of the cross sectional surface of the railway track.
Y Gharaibeh, et allInvestigation of the behaviour of selected ultrasonic guided wave modes to inspect rails for long-range testing and monitoring Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit, pp. 225: 311 (2011) Copyright TWI Ltd 2011

Wave mode characterisation (Dispersion Curves in the foot)

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Wave mode (F7) characterisation

Displacement distribution across the width of the foot of F7 wave mode

Deformation shape of the F7 wave mode

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Wave mode (F4) characterisation

Displacement distribution across the width of the foot of F4 wave mode

Deformation shape of the F4 wave mode

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Wave mode (F2) characterisation

Displacement distribution across the width of the foot of F2 wave mode

Deformation shape of the F2 wave mode

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Investigating different excitation conditions

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Excitation of F2 scenario 1

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Excitation of F2 scenario 2

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Excitation of F2 scenario 3

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Experimental trials
TWI rail
feature free

Birmingham University rail

features: weld and clips

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TWI sample -Transducer arrangement

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Surface preparation and Sensor attachment

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Defect addition

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Defect detection sensitivity

Time Domain Signal 6 5 A m p litu d e (m v ) 4 Dead Zone 3

0 0

300

500

1,000

1,500 Time (us)

2,000

2,500

3,000

(a)
Time Domain Signal 6 5 A m plitude (m v)

4 Dead Zone

defect 2mm

0 0

300

500

1,000

1,500 Time (us)

2,000

2,500

3,000

(b)
Time Domain Signal 6 5 Amplitude (mv)

defect 4mm
Dead Zone

0 0

300

500

1,000

1,500 Time (us)

2,000

2,500

3,000

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Birmingham University rail sample

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Work plan
To determine the effect in the wave mode propagation caused by common rail features such as clips and welds. To identify responses due to the rail features and to monitor the signal over time in order to detect any significant change over time that might indicate the presence of a defect. This work is still in progress.

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Conclusion
The characteristics of ultrasonic guided waves in the rail complex geometrical profile have been identified A suitable wave mode with full volumetric coverage in has been identified for each section of the rail.
F2 has been selected as the wave mode most suitable to inspect the foot

An improved excitation/reception conditions has been proposed. Defect detection sensitivity test have been conducted Experimental validations of the models are in progress

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Future work
Improving of the quality of the propagated wave by using: Minimise coherent noise. Apply phase delay. Apply signal weighting technique. Enhanced signal to noise ratio. Further experimental validations using Railway track with feature free specimen Railway track with clamps mounted on the specimen. Further signal processing analysis is needed. Investigate exisiting wave modes in the rail head with respect to the problem definition.
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MONITORAIL acknowledgement
MONITORAIL is collaboration between the following organisations: TWI Ltd, Vermon SA, OpenPattern, Aerosoft S.p.A, Jackweld Ltd, Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd, Cereteth and Brunel University. The Project is co-ordinated and managed by TWI Ltd. and is partly funded by the EC under the Collaborative project programme- Research for SMEs & Research for SME Associations. Grant Agreement Number. 26219.

Jackweld

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Thanks for your attention

Questions?

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