DOCSLIB.ORG

Automated Ultrasound-Based Inspection of Rails: Review

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Automated Ultrasound-Based Inspection of Rails: Review IJR International Journal of Railway The Korean Society for Railway Vol. 10, No. 2 / December 2017, pp. 21-29 Automated Ultrasound-based Inspection of Rails: Review Suvi Santa-aho†, Antti Nurmikolu, and Minnamari Vippola Abstract The main aim of the report is to review recent progress in the utilisation of ultrasound-based automated inspection sys- tems for rails of railway tracks and to provide a basis for further research in the field of railway track inspection. This paper reviews the ultrasound technologies currently employed in the automated inspection of railway tracks, along with examples of recent field applications. The main research areas that this review focuses on are firstly, the utilisation of ultrasound inspection for rail tracks; secondly, the different automated ultrasound techniques, and, finally, the special fea- tures of the ultrasound inspection of railway tracks. In addition, there is a review of the most recent ultrasound-based systems, and future techniques that have not yet been automated or used in routine inspection. Keywords: Automated inspection, Ultrasound, Track inspection, Nondestructive testing 1. Introduction may incorporate many inspection methods, i.e. ultrasonic testing facilities [3], the induction method [3], (pulsed) Non-destructive testing (NDT) or non-destructive evalu- eddy current testing [2,5,6] and/or image processing tech- ation (NDE) is characterised as the examination of an nology for visual testing of sectional wear measurement, object without affecting the future usefulness of the and rail corrugation measurement using lasers [2]. The tar- inspected component [1]. The inspection of railway tracks get of one example project was to develop a measurement is important in order to find defects before they reach criti- system combining ultrasound, alternating current field cal size and cause failure in the railway track structure [2]. measurement (ACFM) and artificial vision [7]. Inspection The trend is to combine the NDT of the railway track with systems can be integrated with grinding test trains [5]. In preventative maintenance procedures (like rail head grind- addition, the trend in rail flaw detection is towards improv- ing) to optimise the compromise between maintenance ing the efficiency of measurements whilst minimising cost and reliability [2]. track time for maintenance, as Clark [3] suggests. Auto- Many different NDT methods are utilised for railway matic inspection systems that are able to detect rail defects track condition monitoring. Contact ultrasonic testing will increase the ability of inspection and reduce the mea- belongs to the first methods utilised for railway tracks surement time, allowing more accurate and frequent main- along with magnetic induction method [3]. Nowadays and tenance work [8]. probably even more so in the future, railway track NDT is Various mechanisms are responsible for the different being combined with measurement systems consisting of defect types that appear in rails of railway tracks. many different methods, completing the information Commonly, ultrasound inspection is used for finding gained about the defects and increasing the probability of internal defects that are formed during the cyclic load- defect detection [4]. At present, rail inspection vehicles ing of rails [4]. Ultrasound inspection is capable of searching for the inner defects that lie under the sur- face. The inspection uses a beam of ultrasonic energy † Corresponding author: Tampere University of Technology, Department of Materi- that penetrates the inspected component via a probe als Science, Tampere, Finland and a couplant in between. Ultrasound energy is E-mail : [email protected] reflected back or scattered from boundaries with differ- ⓒThe Korean Society for Railway 2017 ent acoustic emissions. The received signals are col- http://dx.doi.org/10.7782/IJR.2017.10.2.021 Vol. 10, No. 2 / December 2017 − 21 − Suvi Santa-aho, Antti Nurmikolu, and Minnamari Vippola / IJR, 10(2), 21-29, 2017 lected with receiver transducers and studied in order to 2. Basic Principle of Ultrasound find possible defects [9]. Measurements for Railway Tracks The cyclic loading of rails causes wear and wear- related changes and therefore the rails are inspected Ultrasound inspection is based on sound waves, or periodically to ensure that no possible flaws and defects vibrations, created by a piezoelectric crystal in the probe, compromise the traffic. Certain regulations for track that propagate in solids, liquids and gases, at a frequency maintenance exist and, for example, in the United above the range of human hearing, normally above 20 States, inspection for rail flaws is carried out at inter- kHz. Sound waves can propagate in different forms, of vals based on the track class and annual tonnage [10]. which the most generally used in inspections are longitudi- Ultrasound inspection for rails of railway tracks can be nal (compression) or transverse (shear) waves. The differ- carried out manually with hand-held devices or with fix- ence between these waves is the particle motion in relation tures moved by an operator that slide on top of the rail, to the sound wave direction [9]. In addition, surface waves or with automated ultrasound test fixtures towed by hi- and Lamb waves can be used in some special cases in the rail inspection vehicles or inspection trains. Some rail- inspection of thin structures. Sound waves travel with dif- way track inspection techniques can be installed on ferent velocity depending on the material. The factors commercial trains, but at the current state of inspection affecting this are density and the elasticity of the material. method development, ultrasound inspection is still In addition, different waveforms have different speeds in unsuitable for commercial trains [11]. the material; a transverse wave travels at almost half of the The German Institute for Standardization (DIN) has speed compared to a longitudinal wave [9]. Different recently published a draft standard “DIN EN 16729-1 materials have different acoustic impedance values, mean- Railway Applications - Infrastructure - NDT On Rails In ing that the ultrasound energy is refracted from the bound- Track - Part 1: Requirements For Ultrasonic Inspection ary between different media [9]. The discontinuities act as And Evaluation Principles” of ultrasonic inspection for a reflector to the ultrasonic waves, resulting in a portion of railways [12]. The draft specifies reference reflectors on the wave being reflected back to the receiver. These the test track for ultrasound inspection to produce compa- echoes are studied in order to find defects. In cases when rable results with regard to location, type and size of refer- there are no other reflectors, the reflection comes back to ence reflectors. the receiver from the back wall of the inspected compo- This paper reviews the technologies currently employed nent. If the back wall echo is missing, it might be caused along with examples of recent field applications. The main by defects masking it and in this case also there might be a aim of this report is to review the recent progress in the potential defect in the structure [13]. utilisation of automated techniques and to provide a basis The most common method for ultrasound inspection is for further research. The concept of the ultrasound inspec- called the pulse-echo method. The same transducer sends tion method for railway tracks will be presented in Sec- and receives the pulses which are studied; for example the tion 2, the ultrasound equipment and units for automated amplitude and the time that the ultrasound beams travels inspection in Section 3, rail defects and the probability of inside the inspected component. There exist different their detection and special features of the ultrasound probe configurations for the measurements. A normal inspection of railway tracks in Section 4, future inspection beam probe transmits ultrasound wave that is directed systems for railway track inspection in Section 5 and other straight to the face of the transducer. Probes can be aligned ultrasound-based inspection systems for railway track with wedges in different angles as a function of the inspection in Section 6. Conclusions are presented in Sec- inspected component surface. These probes are called tion 7. This review was carried out in liaison with the Life angle probes [1,9,14]. Cycle Cost Efficient Track research programme (TERA) Generally, NDT techniques are used to locate flaws, to implemented in co-operation with the Finnish Transport size them and to characterise material conditions. A basic Agency and Tampere University of Technology (Finland). flaw detection procedure is applied: firstly, the defects The research programme comprises ten sub-areas, one of need to be detected, secondly, the dimensions can be deter- which is research on track rail life cycle. At the moment, mined and, finally, the evaluation of the defects based on research activity on rails is concentrated on the verifica- the acceptance criteria must be performed. Usually, the tion of rolling contact fatigue and surface defects in Finn- ultrasound systems use a threshold level in a gate to record ish rails, as well as suitable analysis methods for rail the ultrasound response in cases where the reflection is inspection. above this level [12]. The preferred system for data presentation of ultrasound − 22 − Automated Ultrasound-based Inspection of Rails: Review inspection results, i.e. flaw indications, from rails has been probes can be either in direct contact to the surface [5] or the B-scan [3,15,16]. The B-scan based test system pro- there may be a belt between the probe and the vides an image of a defect in the perpendicular direction of surface [21]. The belt system protects the probe unit from the rail. It gives the cross-sectional display of the time-of- mechanical shocks and against damage caused by bad flight data from the surface of the rail to the bottom of the track conditions [21]. In the studies made by Heckel et rail [9]. Heckel et al. [5] reported the use of a Glassy-Rail- al.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • MÁV Central Rail and Track Inspection Ltd
    MÁV Central Rail and Track Inspection Ltd. PATER TRACK DIAGNOSTIC EXPERT SYSTEM Besides the knowledge of quality the safe and economical maintenance of railway tracks plays an increasingly impor- tant role these days. The „PATER” track diagnostic ex- pert software is intended to fulfil this task. PATER is a computer program that keeps records of rail- way tracks, monitors their condition and performs mainte- nance planning duties. Its purpose is to assist track mainte- nance professionals in managing the data of the technical and measurement systems, presenting the condition of the track, planning track maintenance jobs depending on track conditions, selecting the appropriate technology and per- forming cost estimates. Rail defects revealed by various inspections This is a client-server based program that ensures that data and their qualification stored in the database can be accessed from anywhere and client users can use them through the internet in case of sufficient authorisation. This model makes it possible that all data is stored and updated in one location therefore the data available to users is always up-to-date. In the engineering practice the val- ues of the isolated defects and gen- eral qualifying indices are analyzed and these values are sufficient to judge the traffic safety and quality. Nowadays we use track geometri- cal, vehicle dynamical, ultrasonic, Space and time based graphical analysis Head Checking, rail profile and rail of track geometry data corrugation measuring devices. The PATER program adapts to the re- quirements of any railway company: unlimited new measuring system, parameter, measuring limit etc. can be integrated quickly and easily.
    [Show full text]
  • Track Inspection – 2009
    Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission Track Maintenance Planning / Cost Evaluation for the Santa Cruz Branch Watsonville Junction, CA to Davenport, CA Prepared for Egan Consulting Group December 2009 HDR Engineering 500 108th Avenue NE, Suite 1200 Bellevue, WA 98004 CONFIDENTIAL Table of Contents Executive Summary 4 Section 1.0 Introduction 10 Section 1.1 Description of Types of Maintenance 10 Section 1.2 Maintenance Criteria and Classes of Track 11 Section 2.0 Components of Railroad Track 12 Section 2.1 Rail and Rail Fittings 13 Section 2.1.1 Types of Rail 13 Section 2.1.2 Rail Condition 14 Section 2.1.3 Rail Joint Condition 17 Section 2.1.4 Recommendations for Rail and 17 Joint Maintenance Section 2.2 Ties 20 Section 2.2.1 Tie Condition 21 Section 2.2.2 Recommendations for Tie Maintenance 23 Section 2.3 Ballast, Subballst, Subgrade, and Drainage 24 Section 2.3.1 Description of Railroad Ballast, Subballst, 24 Subgrade, and Drainage Section 2.3.2 Ballast, Subgrade, and Drainage Conditions 26 and Recommendations Section 2.4 Effects of Rail Car Weight 29 Section 3.0 Track Geometry 31 Section 3.1 Description of Track Geometry 31 Section 3.2 Track Geometry at the “Micro-Level” 31 Section 3.3 Track Geometry at the “Macro-Level” 32 Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission Page 2 of 76 Santa Cruz Branch Maintenance Study CONFIDENTIAL Section 3.4 Equipment and Operating Recommendations 33 Following from Track Geometry Section 4.0 Specific Conditions Along the 34 Santa Cruz Branch Section 5.0 Summary of Grade Crossing
    [Show full text]
  • Taskload Report Outline
    Track Inspection Time Study* U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad * Required by Section 403 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (Public Law 110- Administration 432, Div. A.) Office of Railroad Policy and Development Washington, DC 20590 DOT/FRA/ORD-11/15 Final Report July 2011 NOTICE This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. Any opinions, findings and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Government, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government. The United States Government assumes no liability for the content or use of the material contained in this document. NOTICE The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers‘ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the objective of this report. REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188), Washington, DC 20503.
    [Show full text]
  • Rail Transit Track Inspection and Maintenance
    APTA STANDARDS DEVEL OPMENT PROGRAM APTA RT-FS-S-002-02, Rev. 1 STANDARD First Published: Sept. 22, 2002 American Public Transportation Association First Revision: April 7, 2017 1300 I Street, NW, Suite 1200 East, Washington, DC 20006 Rail Transit Fixed Structures Inspection and Maintenance Working Group Rail Transit Track Inspection and Maintenance Abstract: This standard provides minimum requirements for inspecting and maintaining rail transit system tracks. Keywords: fixed structures, inspection, maintenance, qualifications, rail transit system, structures, track, training Summary: This document establishes a standard for the periodic inspection and maintenance of fixed structure rail transit tracks. This includes periodic visual, electrical and mechanical inspections of components that affect safe and reliable operation. This standard also identifies the necessary qualifications for rail transit system employees or contractors who perform periodic inspection and maintenance tasks. Scope and purpose: This standard applies to transit systems and operating entities that own or operate rail transit systems. The purpose of this standard is to verify that tracks are operating safely and as designed through periodic inspection and maintenance, thereby increasing reliability and reducing the risk of hazards and failures. This document represents a common viewpoint of those parties concerned with its provisions, namely operating/ planning agencies, manufacturers, consultants, engineers and general interest groups. The application of any standards, recommended practices or guidelines contained herein is voluntary. In some cases, federal and/or state regulations govern portions of a transit system’s operations. In those cases, the government regulations take precedence over this standard. The North American Transit Service Association (NATSA) and its parent organization APTA recognize that for certain applications, the standards or practices, as implemented by individual agencies, may be either more or less restrictive than those given in this document.
    [Show full text]
  • Rolling Contact Fatigue: a Comprehensive Review Administration
    U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Rolling Contact Fatigue: A Comprehensive Review Administration Office of Railroad Policy and Development Washington, DC 20590 DOT/FRA/ORD-11/24 Final Report November 2011 NOTICE This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. Any opinions, findings and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Government, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government. The United States Government assumes no liability for the content or use of the material contained in this document. NOTICE The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers‘ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the objective of this report. REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188), Washington, DC 20503. 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Railroad Track Condition Monitoring Using Inertial Sensors and Digital Signal Processing: a Review
    This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/JSEN.2018.2875600, IEEE Sensors Journal 1 Railroad Track Condition Monitoring Using Inertial Sensors and Digital Signal Processing: A Review Leonard Chia, Bhavana Bhardwaj, Pan Lu*, Raj Bridgelall and cost-efficiency of railroad operations [4]. Federal track Abstract— Inertial sensors such as accelerometers and safety regulation require railroads to inspect all tracks in gyroscopes have been widely used since the early 1990s to monitor operation as often as twice weekly. Railroad companies deploy the condition of transportation assets. Recent improvements in expensive and relatively slow methods using human inspectors their performance, a reduction in cost, and sensor miniaturization and expensive automated inspection vehicles to inspect and has resulted in a growing interest expanding their use. This monitor their rail tracks. The current practice is expensive and research is an extensive and systematic review of their application also decreases the rail productivity by reducing track time for considerations, challenges, and opportunities for improvements in railroad track condition monitoring. Research questions were railroad industry to perform inspection which also increases the developed to guide the selection of relevant articles from safety risk for railway inspection workers. databases. The authors report key findings in the areas of sensor Sensors such as inertial sensor, accelerometers, gyroscopic specification, sensor location, and sensor signal processing. sensors, and global position system (GPS), are carried on a Index Terms— Digital signal filtering, Sample rate, Sensors, railway vehicle to continuously monitor and inspect rail assets Track geometry monitoring to meet the growing needs of safety improvement, reliable and low-cost rail operations.
    [Show full text]
  • ENSCO Rail, Inc
    For more than 45 years, ENSCO’s team of engineers has led the rail industry in developing new, advanced technologies for transportation. ENSCO technology and services help customers improve the quality of their operations while making travel safer. ENSCO Rail, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of ENSCO, Inc. Table of Contents Track Inspection Technologies 3 Vehicle Track Evaluation 23 Track Inspection Vehicles 4 Instrumented Wheel Set (IWS) 25 Track Measurement Systems 5 Vehicle/Track Interaction Consulting Services 26 Deployable Gage Restraint Measurement System Train Control Safety 27 (DGRMS) 6 Signal and Communication Inspection System (SCIS) 29 RailScan Lite Track Geometry Measurement System Next Generation Receiver Coil (NGRC) 30 (RSL-TGMS) 7 Track Imaging Systems 8 Rail Safety and Security 31 Vehicle/Track Interaction (V/TI) Monitor 10 Rail Emergency Evacuation Simulator 32 Autonomous Track Geometry Measurement System (ATGMS) 11 Portable Track Loading Fixture (PTLF) 12 Track Inspection Services 13 Track Data Management 15 Track Data Management Suite 16 Digital Track Notebook® (DTN) 3.0 17 TrackIT® 18 Automated Maintenance Advisor (AMA) 19 GeoEdit 8 20 Virtual Track Walk (VTW) 21 VAMPIRE® 22 ENSCO Rail, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of ENSCO, Inc. Since 1970, ENSCO engineers have led the rail industry in developing new, advanced technologies for transportation. ENSCO technology and services help customers improve the quality of their operations while making travel safer. 2 Track Inspection Technologies ENSCO is an international leader in track inspection technologies. Our engineers have pioneered the use of technologies, such as advanced rail inspection sensors, high-resolution imaging technology, and autonomous inspection systems to improve track maintenance.
    [Show full text]
  • Feasibility in Assessing the Dipped Rail Joint Defects Through Dynamic Response of Heavy Haul Locomotive
    J. Mod. Transport. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40534-018-0159-9 Feasibility in assessing the dipped rail joint defects through dynamic response of heavy haul locomotive 1 1 1 1 2 Yan Quan Sun • Maksym Spiryagin • Qing Wu • Colin Cole • Wei Hua Ma Received: 10 January 2017 / Revised: 19 January 2018 / Accepted: 23 January 2018 Ó The Author(s) 2018. This article is an open access publication Abstract The feasibility of monitoring the dipped rail defects appear more often than ever before. Short-wave- joint defects has been theoretically investigated by simu- length wheel and rail defects such as wheel flats, squats on lating a locomotive-mounted acceleration system negoti- the rail top surface, rail welds with poor finishing quality, ating several types of dipped rail defects. Initially, a insulated rail joints, rail corrugations cause large dynamic comprehensive locomotive-track model was developed contact forces at the wheel–rail interface, leading to fast using the multi-body dynamics approach. In this model, the deterioration of the track. locomotive car-body, bogie frames, wheelsets and driving The development of squat defects has become a major motors are considered as rigid bodies; track modelling was concern in railway systems throughout the world. The also taken into account. A quantitative relationship findings of extensive field investigations into squat and between the characteristics (peak–peak values) of the axle related rail defects covering the Sydney metropolitan and box accelerations and the rail defects was determined interurban areas are reported [1]. The results of grinding rail through simulations. Therefore, the proposed approach, evidencing squats and the measures proposed to reduce the which combines defect analysis and comparisons with potential for further squat development are also reported.
    [Show full text]
  • TCRP Report 71 –Track-Related Research, Volume 5
    TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH TCRP PROGRAM REPORT 71 Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration Track-Related Research Volume 5: Flange Climb Derailment Criteria and Wheel/Rail Profile Management and Maintenance Guidelines for Transit Operations TCRP OVERSIGHT AND PROJECT TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2005 (Membership as of March 2005) SELECTION COMMITTEE (as of February 2005) OFFICERS CHAIR Chair: Joseph H. Boardman, Commissioner, New York State DOT SHARON GREENE Vice Chair: Michael D. Meyer, Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sharon Greene & Associates Georgia Institute of Technology Executive Director: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board MEMBERS LINDA J. BOHLINGER MEMBERS HNTB Corp. ROBERT I. BROWNSTEIN MICHAEL W. BEHRENS, Executive Director, Texas DOT Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc. LARRY L. BROWN, SR., Executive Director, Mississippi DOT PETER CANNITO DEBORAH H. BUTLER, Vice Pres., Customer Service, Norfolk Southern Corporation and Subsidiaries, Metropolitan Transit Authority—Metro North Atlanta, GA Railroad ANNE P. CANBY, President, Surface Transportation Policy Project, Washington, DC GREGORY COOK JOHN L. CRAIG, Director, Nebraska Department of Roads Ann Arbor Transportation Authority DOUGLAS G. DUNCAN, President and CEO, FedEx Freight, Memphis, TN JENNIFER L. DORN NICHOLAS J. GARBER, Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville FTA ANGELA GITTENS, Consultant, Miami, FL NATHANIEL P. FORD GENEVIEVE GIULIANO, Director, Metrans Transportation Center, and Professor, School of Policy, Metropolitan Atlanta RTA Planning, and Development, USC, Los Angeles RONALD L. FREELAND Parsons Transportation Group BERNARD S. GROSECLOSE, JR., President and CEO, South Carolina State Ports Authority FRED M. GILLIAM SUSAN HANSON, Landry University Professor of Geography, Graduate School of Geography, Clark University Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority JAMES R.
    [Show full text]
  • Visual Inspection of Railroad Tracks
    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2009 Visual Inspection Of Railroad Tracks Pavel Babenko University of Central Florida Part of the Computer Sciences Commons, and the Engineering Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Babenko, Pavel, "Visual Inspection Of Railroad Tracks" (2009). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 3990. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/3990 VISUAL INSPECTION OF RAILROAD TRACKS by PAVEL BABENKO M.S. University of Central Florida, 2006 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2009 Major Professor: Mubarak Shah © 2009 by Pavel Babenko ii ABSTRACT In this dissertation, we have developed computer vision methods for measurement of rail gauge, and reliable identification and localization of structural defects in railroad tracks. The rail gauge is the distance between the innermost sides of the two parallel steel rails. We have developed two methods for evaluation of rail gauge. These methods were designed for different hardware setups: the first method works with two pairs of unaligned video cameras while the second method works with depth maps generated by paired laser range scanners.
    [Show full text]
  • 100 Part 213—Track Safety Standards
    § 212.233 49 CFR Ch. II (10–1–11 Edition) deemed to meet all requirements of PART 213—TRACK SAFETY this section and is qualified to conduct STANDARDS independent inspections of all types of highway-rail grade crossing warning Subpart A—General systems for the purpose of determining compliance with Grade Crossing Signal Sec. System Safety Rules (49 CFR part 234), 213.1 Scope of part. to make reports of those inspections, 213.3 Application. and to recommend institution of en- 213.4 Excepted track. 213.5 Responsibility for compliance. forcement actions when appropriate to 213.7 Designation of qualified persons to su- promote compliance. pervise certain renewals and inspect [59 FR 50104, Sept. 30, 1994] track. 213.9 Classes of track: operating speed lim- § 212.233 Apprentice highway-rail its. grade crossing inspector. 213.11 Restoration or renewal of track under traffic conditions. (a) An apprentice highway-rail grade 213.13 Measuring track not under load. crossing inspector shall be enrolled in a 213.15 Penalties. program of training prescribed by the 213.17 Waivers. Associate Administrator for Safety 213.19 Information collection. leading to qualification as a highway- rail grade crossing inspector. The ap- Subpart B—Roadbed prentice inspector may not participate 213.31 Scope. in investigative and surveillance ac- 213.33 Drainage. tivities, except as an assistant to a 213.37 Vegetation. qualified State or FRA inspector while accompanying that qualified inspector. Subpart C—Track Geometry (b) Prior to being enrolled in the pro- 213.51 Scope. gram the apprentice inspector shall 213.53 Gage. demonstrate: 213.55 Alinement.
    [Show full text]
  • Visual Measurement System for Wheel–Rail Lateral Position Evaluation
    sensors Article Visual Measurement System for Wheel–Rail Lateral Position Evaluation Viktor Skrickij 1 , Eldar Šabanoviˇc 1,* , Dachuan Shi 2, Stefano Ricci 3 , Luca Rizzetto 3 and Gintautas Bureika 1 1 Transport and Logistics Competence Centre, Transport Engineering Faculty, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Sauletekio˙ al. 11, 10223 Vilnius, Lithuania; [email protected] (V.S.); [email protected] (G.B.) 2 Institute of Land and Sea Transport Systems, Technical University of Berlin, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany; [email protected] 3 Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Edile e Ambientale (DICEA), Sapienza Università di Roma, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Roma, Italy; [email protected] (S.R.); [email protected] (L.R.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +370-5-274-4805 Abstract: Railway infrastructure must meet safety requirements concerning its construction and op- eration. Track geometry monitoring is one of the most important activities in maintaining the steady technical conditions of rail infrastructure. Commonly, it is performed using complex measurement equipment installed on track-recording coaches. Existing low-cost inertial sensor-based measurement systems provide reliable measurements of track geometry in vertical directions. However, solutions are needed for track geometry parameter measurement in the lateral direction. In this research, the authors developed a visual measurement system for track gauge evaluation. It involves the detection of measurement points and the visual measurement of the distance between them. The accuracy of the visual measurement system was evaluated in the laboratory and showed promising results. The initial field test was performed in the Vilnius railway station yard, driving at low velocity on the straight track section.
    [Show full text]