TY - JOUR
T1 - Real-time non-invasive measurement and monitoring of wheel–rail contact using ultrasonic reflectometry
AU - Zhou, Lu
AU - Brunskill, Henry P.
AU - Lewis, Roger
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to appreciate the technical and equipment support by Tribosonics Ltd., UK. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019.
Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/11/1
Y1 - 2019/11/1
N2 - Rail stress levels are vital to the lifespan of rail tracks, and are responsible for the safe operation and ride comfort of train services. In particular, wheel–rail contact stress is a dominating factor affecting wear, cracking, fatigue and failure of both wheel and rail. The wheel–rail interaction problem has long been investigated, yet detailed contact information on real cases remains obscure due to the interface complexity, including the varying wheel and rail profiles and lack of effective stress characterisation methods. Ultrasound image study, as an excellent non-destructive evaluation (NDE) method, is widely used in railway systems for defect detection, stress determination and rail profile checking. Specifically, ultrasonic reflectometry has proved successful in making static machine-element contact measurements. This article introduces a novel measuring method for both short-term and long-term dynamic wheel–rail contact monitoring purposes based on ultrasonic reflectometry. The method is investigated in detail, including the study of ultrasound propagation pathways in the rail, and the optimum placement of ultrasonic elements as well as actuator–receiver combinations. The proposed monitoring technique is expected to characterise and monitor the contact behaviour of operating high-speed rail system in real-time.
AB - Rail stress levels are vital to the lifespan of rail tracks, and are responsible for the safe operation and ride comfort of train services. In particular, wheel–rail contact stress is a dominating factor affecting wear, cracking, fatigue and failure of both wheel and rail. The wheel–rail interaction problem has long been investigated, yet detailed contact information on real cases remains obscure due to the interface complexity, including the varying wheel and rail profiles and lack of effective stress characterisation methods. Ultrasound image study, as an excellent non-destructive evaluation (NDE) method, is widely used in railway systems for defect detection, stress determination and rail profile checking. Specifically, ultrasonic reflectometry has proved successful in making static machine-element contact measurements. This article introduces a novel measuring method for both short-term and long-term dynamic wheel–rail contact monitoring purposes based on ultrasonic reflectometry. The method is investigated in detail, including the study of ultrasound propagation pathways in the rail, and the optimum placement of ultrasonic elements as well as actuator–receiver combinations. The proposed monitoring technique is expected to characterise and monitor the contact behaviour of operating high-speed rail system in real-time.
KW - contact stress
KW - rail condition monitoring
KW - ultrasound
KW - Wheel–rail contact
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85061967993&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1475921719829882
DO - 10.1177/1475921719829882
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85061967993
SN - 1475-9217
VL - 18
SP - 1953
EP - 1965
JO - Structural Health Monitoring
JF - Structural Health Monitoring
IS - 5-6
ER -